Hiragana

Hiragana is one of the foundational Japanese scripts, used primarily for native Japanese words, grammatical endings, and some particles. It consists of 46 basic characters, along with variations like tenten (゛) and maru (゜) for modified sounds. Mastering Hiragana is essential for reading and writing basic Japanese sentences.

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Katakana

Katakana is another essential Japanese script, typically used for foreign loanwords, onomatopoeia, and emphasis. Like Hiragana, it has 46 basic characters with variations for modified sounds. Learning Katakana is crucial for reading words borrowed from other languages, such as names and technical terms.

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Numbers

Numbers in Japanese are fundamental for everyday communication, such as telling time, counting objects, or discussing prices. At the N5 level, you'll learn to count from 1 to 10,000, including how to read and write numbers in kanji (e.g., 一 for 1, 十 for 10) and understand basic counters for different objects.

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Basic Vocabulary & Phrases

At the N5 level, you'll master around 800 words and phrases essential for daily life. Here's a breakdown using mostly hiragana:

Greetings

  • おはようございます (ohayou gozaimasu) - Good morning (polite)
  • こんにちは (konnichiwa) - Hello
  • こんばんは (konbanwa) - Good evening
  • じゃあね (jaa ne) - See you (casual)

Family

  • かぞく (kazoku) - Family
  • ちち (chichi) - Father
  • はは (haha) - Mother
  • おとうと (otōto) - Younger brother
  • いもうと (imōto) - Younger sister

Common Nouns

  • ほん (hon) - Book
  • みず (mizu) - Water
  • いぬ (inu) - Dog
  • ねこ (neko) - Cat
  • がっこう (gakkō) - School

Adjectives

  • おおきい (ōkii) - Big
  • ちいさい (chiisai) - Small
  • たかい (takai) - Tall/Expensive
  • やすい (yasui) - Cheap

Phrases

  • ありがとう (arigatou) - Thank you
  • すみません (sumimasen) - Excuse me/Sorry
  • おねがいします (onegaishimasu) - Please
  • わかりません (wakarimasen) - I don't understand

Basic Japanese Grammar

N5 grammar covers the essentials for forming basic sentences using mostly hiragana:

Sentence Structure

  • SOV: Subject-Object-Verb - e.g., わたし は みず を のみます (watashi wa mizu o nomimasu - I drink water)

Particles

  • は (wa) - Topic marker
  • が (ga) - Subject marker
  • を (o) - Object marker
  • に (ni) - Location/Time/Direction
  • で (de) - Place of action

Verb Conjugations

  • たべる (taberu) - To eat (plain)
  • たべます (tabemasu) - To eat (polite)
  • たべません (tabemasen) - Don't eat (polite)
  • のむ (nomu) - To drink (plain)
  • のみます (nomimasu) - To drink (polite)

Questions & Copula

  • ですか (desu ka) - Is it? (polite question)
  • です (desu) - To be (polite)
  • じゃありません (ja arimasen) - Is not (polite)

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Time

At N5, you learn to tell time using hiragana. For minutes, some numbers have special pronunciations when combined with ふん/ぷん (fun/pun). These exceptions are marked with * below.

Note: Normally, you add ふん (fun) to numbers, but for 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10, the sound changes to ぷん (pun) and sometimes blends with the number (e.g., いち + ふん becomes いっぷん).

Hours

  • れいじ (rei ji) - noon or midnight
  • いちじ (ichi ji) - 1 o'clock
  • にじ (ni ji) - 2 o'clock
  • さんじ (san ji) - 3 o'clock
  • よじ (yo ji) - 4 o'clock
  • ごじ (go ji) - 5 o'clock
  • ろくじ (roku ji) - 6 o'clock
  • しちじ (shichi ji) - 7 o'clock
  • はちじ (hachi ji) - 8 o'clock
  • くじ (ku ji) - 9 o'clock
  • じゅうじ (juu ji) - 10 o'clock
  • じゅういちじ (juichi ji) - 11 o'clock
  • じゅうにじ (juni ji) - 12 o'clock

AM/PM

  • ごぜん (gozen) - AM (before noon)
  • ごご (gogo) - PM (after noon)

Minutes

  • *いっぷん (ippun) - 1 minute
  • にふん (ni fun) - 2 minutes
  • *さんぷん (san pun) - 3 minutes
  • *よんぷん (yon pun) - 4 minutes
  • ごふん (go fun) - 5 minutes
  • *ろっぷん (roppun) - 6 minutes
  • ななふん (nana fun) - 7 minutes
  • *はっぷん (happun) - 8 minutes
  • きゅうふん (kyuu fun) - 9 minutes
  • *じゅっぷん (juppun) - 10 minutes
  • じゅういっぷん (juippun) - 11 minutes
  • じゅうにふん (juni fun) - 12 minutes
  • じゅうごふん (jugo fun) - 15 minutes
  • にじゅっぷん (nijuppun) - 20 minutes
  • さんじゅっぷん (sanjuppun) - 30 minutes

Examples

  • ごぜん はちじ (gozen hachi-ji) - 8:00 AM
  • ごご さんじ さんじゅっぷん (gogo san-ji sanjūppun) - 3:30 PM
  • しちじ ごふん (shichi-ji gofun) - 7:05

Days & Dates

Days of the Week

All days follow the pattern of "day name + ようび (yōubi)" with no exceptions.

  • げつようび (getsuyoubi) - Monday
  • かようび (kayoubi) - Tuesday
  • すいようび (suiyoubi) - Wednesday
  • もくようび (mokuyoubi) - Thursday
  • きんようび (kinyoubi) - Friday
  • どようび (doyoubi) - Saturday
  • にちようび (nichiyoubi) - Sunday

Dates

Use にち (nichi) after numbers. Some dates have special readings, marked with * below.

Note: Normally, you add にち (nichi) to numbers (e.g., じゅう にち for 10th), but for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 20th, and 24th, the pronunciation changes completely or slightly.

  • *ついたち (tsuitachi) - 1st
  • *ふつか (futsuka) - 2nd
  • *みっか (mikka) - 3rd
  • *よっか (yokka) - 4th
  • *いつか (itsuka) - 5th
  • *むいか (muika) - 6th
  • *なのか (nanoka) - 7th
  • *ようか (yōka) - 8th
  • *ここのか (kokonoka) - 9th
  • *とおか (tōka) - 10th
  • じゅういちにち (jūichinichi) - 11th
  • じゅうににち (jūninichi) - 12th
  • じゅうさんにち (jūsannichi) - 13th
  • *じゅうよっか (jūyokka) - 14th
  • じゅうごにち (jūgonichi) - 15th
  • じゅうろくにち (jūrokunichi) - 16th
  • じゅうしちにち (jūshichinichi) - 17th
  • じゅうはちにち (jūhachinichi) - 18th
  • じゅうくにち (jūkunichi) - 19th
  • *はつか (hatsuka) - 20th
  • にじゅういちにち (nijūichinichi) - 21st
  • にじゅうににち (nijūninichi) - 22nd
  • にじゅうさんにち (nijūsannichi) - 23rd
  • *にじゅうよっか (nijūyokka) - 24th
  • にじゅうごにち (nijūgonichi) - 25th
  • にじゅうろくにち (nijūrokunichi) - 26th
  • にじゅうしちにち (nijūshichinichi) - 27th
  • にじゅうはちにち (nijūhachinichi) - 28th
  • にじゅうくにち (nijūkunichi) - 29th
  • さんじゅうにち (sanjūnichi) - 30th
  • さんじゅういちにち (sanjūichinichi) - 31st

Months

Month Names

Use がつ (gatsu) after numbers. There are no pronunciation exceptions; all follow the same pattern.

  • いちがつ (ichigatsu) - January
  • にがつ (nigatsu) - February
  • さんがつ (sangatsu) - March
  • しがつ (shigatsu) - April
  • ごがつ (gogatsu) - May
  • ろくがつ (rokugatsu) - June
  • しちがつ (shichigatsu) - July
  • はちがつ (hachigatsu) - August
  • くがつ (kugatsu) - September
  • じゅうがつ (jūgatsu) - October
  • じゅういちがつ (jūichigatsu) - November
  • じゅうにがつ (jūnigatsu) - December

Phrases Using Time, Days, Dates, and Months

  • なんじ ですか (nan-ji desu ka) - What time is it?
  • きょう は なんようび ですか (kyō wa nan-yōbi desu ka) - What day is it today?
  • きょう は なんにち ですか (kyō wa nan-nichi desu ka) - What's today's date?
  • いま なんがつ ですか (ima nan-gatsu desu ka) - What month is it now?
  • さんがつ じゅうごにち は すいようび です (sangatsu jūgonichi wa suiyōbi desu) - March 15th is Wednesday
  • ごぜん じゅうじ に がっこう に いきます (gozen jū-ji ni gakkō ni ikimasu) - I go to school at 10 AM