A
aa: (sound of agreement)
abunai! / abune! : Look out! (literally: dangerous)
aki: autumn / fall
aki yasumi: autumn vacation / fall break
aitsu: that guy (it varies in intensity, and could be more like 'that bastard,' too.)
ai shiteru: (ai shiteiru) I love you. (the stronger form)
ame: rain
amerikajin: an American
Ane / aneki: short for older sister. (informal, so generally you refer to your own sister this way. Also, aneki is used less than aniki is.)
ani / aniki: short for older brother. [ie. Toguro Ani] (informal, so generally you refer to your own brother this way)
ano / anou...: Um... / Uh...
anou na / anou ne / anou sa: now see here... / well now... / listen up...
ara: oh my
are?: Huh? What?
arigatai: I'm grateful (alternate for arigatou, but kinda quirky)
arigatou (gozaimasu / gozaimashita): thank you
arubaito: part-time job
asa: morning
asagohan: breakfast
ashita: tomorrow.
atsui: hot
attakai / atatakai: warm, pleasant
B
baachan: granny.
baka: Idiot, fool, stupid, nonsense
bakazaru: (Saiyuki) Stupid monkey.
baka yarou: idiot / jerk / asshole
baito: job (see arubaito)
ban: evening
bangohan: dinner
betsu ni: nothing much... / nothing in particular... / not especially...
biseinen: beautiful young man
bishoujo: beautiful girl
bishounen: beautiful boy
C
che: a muttered curse, not positive what exactly it means
chibi: little / dwarf
chigau: different / wrong (chigau yo!: that's not true! / that's not how it is!)
chikushou!: SHIT! / GODDAMNIT!!!!
chotto: (technically means "a bit / a little", but it's often used as a short form of chotto matte. Could come out as "Hey--!")
chotto matte: wait a minute
D
daijoubu: safe, secure etc. As a question (Daijoubu?, Daijoubu ka? or Daijoubu desu ka?) it means "are/is you/he/she/it all right?" As a statement, "I/he/she/it am/is all right."
dai suki (da): BIG suki (see suki below) ^_-
dakara: so...
dakedo: but...
dame (da / desu): no good / wrong
dare da?: who is it? / who's there?
dare ka!: someone, anyone! (help!)
de doushite? (Flatline) so... why? (In that case/ well then, why?)
dekiru: is capable of / can do (so the opposite is dekinai)
demo: but (demo yo / demo sa: but...! / but...)
doko: where
doko e iku no?: (Flatline) where are you going?
dore: which one?
dou omou?: what do you think?
doumo: very much. Sometimes short for "doumo arigatou gozaimasu" => thank you very much; in other words "thanks!"
doushita: (doushita no? / doushita n da? / doushita n dai?) what's wrong? What happened?
doushite: why?
doushite ore ni?: (Flatline) Why (are you doing this) to me?
douzo: go right ahead, be my guest
douzo yoroshiku: please treat me favourably (something you say when you first meet someone)
E
ecchi: this is just the Japanese pronunciation of the letter 'H', standing for hentai, so they mean about the same. Ecchi almost seems to be a more affectionate term
ee: yes (slightly less formal than "hai")
eeee~eee: Huhhhhh?!
etou / e~tou: Ummm... / uhhh...
F
fuyu: winter
fuyu yasumi: winter vacation
G
gaki: brat
gaijin: foreigner
gambatte: Hang in there / keep going / persevere. (Also: Gambarimasu or Gambaru: I'll hang in there, etc.)
genkan: the entryway of a Japanese house (where you take off your shoes and change to house slippers)
genki: healthy, energetic
(o)genki desu ka: how are you (lit. are you well?)
gi: clothes--usually the outfit/uniform for some discipline, such as a martial art.
gochisousama (deshita): What you say after someone has either made you a meal or treated you to one.
gomen (nasai): sorry / I'm sorry.
H
hai: yes
hajimemashite: pleased to meet you for the first time. (what you often say when introducing yourself)
hanasanaide: don't let go
hanasé(e)!: let go!
haru: spring
haru yasumi: spring vacation
hayai: Fast.
hayaku(!): hurry up(!)
héé: expression of surprise/disbelief
hen: strange. ("hen na hito" => a strange person)
hentai: pervert (a little stronger than sukebe, I believe)
hidoi: mean, cruel.
himitsu: secret.
Hiragana: the primary Japanese alphabet
hiru: noon
hirugohan: lunch
hisashiburi (da) (da ne) (da naa)!: long time no see!
hito: person
hitori (de): alone
hontou ka yo: oh yeah?/I wonder if that's really true/etc
hontou ni: really, truthfully
ho~ / hou~: reeeeeallly, you don't saaaaaay... (sort of incredulous and cocky tone of voice, mosta the time ^_~)
I
ikanaide: don't go
ikimashou: let's go (more formal)
ikou: let's go
iku zo! / iku wa yo: let's go! (masculine / feminine)
(i)ie: no.
ii na / ii ne!: This is great! / isn't this nice!
iinazuke: fiancée
ii yo: It's all right (!).
Imouto: Younger sister. (-chan or -san can be added)
inu: dog
irasshaimasse!: welcome! (said when welcoming customers, usually)
itadakimasu: (lit. I humbly accept) Let's eat!
itooshi: darling
ittai: ow!
itte: ow!
itte irasshai: the reply to itte kimasu. (lit. Go and come)
itte kimasu: what you say before going to school/ work / do an errand, etc. (lit. I'll go and come back.)
iya: 1. casual form of "iie", meaning "no". 2. distasteful, unpleasant, etc. "Iya da"--that's horrible! (etc), or even "NO!!!" 3. iyaaaa...: sort of a hesitation noise, akin to "naaahhhh..." or "weeeeellll...."
J
jaa na / ja ne!: basically short for "jaa, mata ne!" , meaning, "Well, later!" Sometimes you just say "ja!" or "mata ne!" instead. ^_^
jan-ken-pon: Rock, scissors, paper. (janken's short for that)
jibun: oneself (jibun de: by oneself, one one's own power, etc.)
jishin: earthquake
juubun (da): is enough / is sufficient
K
(O)kaasan: Mother. O- for added respect. -san can be replaced with -sama or -chan.
Kami: a god. Kami-sama: God. but also...
kami: paper. Or, hair. (of course, they all have different Kanji...)
Kanji: (you knew this already, right?) borrowed Chinese characters used in Japanese.
Katakana: the secondary Japanese alphabet, used for writing words borrowed from another language, or for putting emphasis on a word, like bolding a word in English ^_~
katana: A japanese sword, long, thin, relatively light, with a pretty plain handle. Samurai used these.
kawaii: cute.
kaze: wind
ke: see che, above.
ki: life-energy.
kimochi: feelings
kimochi warui (kimochi wariiii!): disgusting / makes me sick
kirei: pretty
kisama: Like "teme," this also means "you," but it's extremely rude, and translates to something like "you bastard," etc...
kitsune: fox.
kodomo: child
kodomo-mitai: childish / like a child
koi!: come (here)! (the imperative form)
koi: love
koibito: lover / boyfriend / girlfriend.
konaide: don't come / stay away
konbanwa: good evening
konnichiwa: hello! (good afternoon)
kono: this (something)
kono chibi...: (Flatline) why you little...
kore: this one
korosu: (I) will kill (you) ("Omae o korosu" => "I'm going to kill you")
kudasai: please
kure: informal, semi-rude form of kudasai
kuso: shit
kuso gaki: rotten little brat
kuso jiji: old coot / rotten old man / old fart / etc.
(O)kyakusan (/sama): customer (respectful)
M
maa, maa...: calm down... (trying to downplay something)
mada: still
mada mada: not yet
maebure: advanced announcement / heralding in advance (according to my dictionary, anyhow)
masaka: it can't be, no, no way, impossible, etc.
mata ne / mata na: Later!
mattaku: completely, really. By itself, as an exclamation, it's kind of like "Really!" Something you say in a huff, or when you're annoyed.
matte (yo): wait(!)
mazui: this is no good / this is bad / we're in trouble / etc. (It can also mean "tastes bad", the opposite of "oishii", depending on context)
mina / minna: everyone (add a -san, or -sama for respect)
minna doko?: (Mada Mada) where is everyone?
miro!: look! (imperative form)
miru: (to) look
miru na: don't look!
mite: look (as in, asking someone to look)
mochiron: of course
mou: more or already . By itself, or as an exclamation at the beginning of a sentence, it's almost like a verbal pout ^_- ("Mou, Youji-kun!" => "Youji, come on already!")
mou ichi-do: one more time
mou ii: enough already! / enough
N
na(a): a casual equivalent of "ne"
naginata: a long wooden pole with a medium-length blade mounted on top of it; a bit like a spear. Used to be used by samurai, came to be used more by women since the light weight and length made use of centrifugal force. (Also, this weapon just happens to be insanely cool. In my opinion, one of the sexiest weapons around! ^_^)
nakama: comrade, friend
nakanaide: don't cry
naite iru: (someone is) crying
(o)namae wa?: what's your name?
nan da?: what is it? / what is this?
nan da to?: what did you say?!
nande: why?
nan desu tte?: (same as above, more formal)
nan deshou / nan darou: what do you suppose that is? / I wonder what that is? / what can I do for you? / And what might that be?
nan de mo nai: it's nothing
nani?: what?
nani mo nai: nothing
naruhodo: I see
natsu: summer
natsu yasumi: summer vacation
naze?: why?
ne: at the end of a sentence, 'right?' or 'isn't that so?' At the beginning of a sentence, 'hey', or 'say' , either to get someone's attention or preface a thought.
(O)neesan: Older sister. O- for added respect. -san can be replaced with -sama or -chan. The 'ee' is pronounced as if saying the letter 'A'.
neko: cat.
Nihongo: Japanese language
Nihonjin: a Japanese person
(O)niisan: Older brother. O- for added respect. -san can be replaced with -sama or -chan.
Ningen: Human.
ninmu kanryou: Mission accomplished.
ninmu ryoukai: Mission accepted/acknowledged.
O
Note: If you're looking for an "o" word and don't find it here, try looking for the word without the "o", because that is sometimes an honourific or polite prefix.
ohayou (gozaimasu): good morning
okaeri (nasai): welcome home / welcome back . The response to tadaima.
oishii: delicious / tasty
Omedetou (gozaimasu)!: congratulations!
onegai (-shimasu): please
onegai da: it's a favour (I'm asking of you)
Oni: Devil/Ogre.
osoi: late / slow
ossu!: yo, wassup!
otaku: someone insanely obsessed with something (to the point of not leaving your house is where the term comes from, since "otaku" is a polite word for "house"). Anime fans tend to refer ourselves as that, but you can actually be an otaku of anything, a sports otaku, a martial arts or weapons otaku
Otouto: Younger brother (-chan or -san can be added)
oyasumi: good night
owari: the end
owatta: finished
R
-ra: the rougher form of "-tachi", a plural marker. "Kisama ra!" => "You bastards!"
'rusee, na: Shaddap. (short and slurred together form of urusai na)
ryoukai: roger.
S
saa...: Well... / Let's see... / come on
saa!: I dunno!
saigo: the last / the end
samui: cold
sei: fault. ("Ore no sei da" = "It's my fault")
seme: this is a Japanese fan-term, as far as I can tell. In any case, it designates the dominant partner, or top, in a yaoi, or gay relationship. Put bluntly, the seme gets to fuck the other guy in the ass. He doesn't often take it himself. (This is fandom, not real life, after all.)
-shihan: Master
shikata ga nai: more formal version of shou ga nai, same changes can be applied, too.
shimatta: Literally--"I ended up doing it". It has the connotation, "I messed up, I made a mistake, etc..." and is often translated as just "Shit!" or "Damn!"
shiné!: die!
shinitai no ka?: you wanna die?
shinjirannai (shinjirannee): short for shinjirarenai.
shinjiraren: short for shinjirarenai.
shinjirarenai (shinjirarenee): I can't believe it.
shou ga nai: nothing to be done / can't be helped shou ga nai (darou? / deshou? / ne? / na?): nothing to be done, right? / I guess it can't be helped / etc. (the nai here can be replaced with nee or arimasen)
shuriken: throwing stars
soba: noodles
sonna!: (as an exclamation, by itself) But! / That's...! (It's basically a protest, or an exclamation at how mean/unfair/bad/etc. something is. You could translate it a lotta different ways.)
sore: that
sou da na: (= sou desu ne) That's true, isn't it? (Yeah, I agree) sou datta na: past tense; "that's how it was, huh?"
sou deshou/sou darou: that's how it is, isn't it? Isn't that right?
sou ja nai: it's not so (you can apply na, ka and darou/deshou just the same as with the positive form)
sou (desu) ka: really? / is that so? sou kai: just a more informal version of sou ka
sukebe: pervert (not quite as strong as hentai, I think...)
suzushii: cool (temperature-wise), pleasant
sugoi: amazing, wonderful, uncanny, weird.
suki da: I love you. (the slightly less intense form--maybe more like "I like you" than "I love you"... also, I'm guessing it's more appropriate for family members to use about each other.)
sumanai: informal for sumimasen
sumimasen: excuse me / I'm sorry
T
-tachi: a suffix that makes something plural. Watashi-tachi is "we", for exampe, anata-tachi is a plural "you" (like "vous" in French), and Urameshi-tachi would be the group associated with Yuusuke, in other words, the Reikai Tantei.
tadaima: I'm home / I'm back (and the response is okaeri.)
taihen (da): it's awful, it's serious, it's hard, it's terrible...
'taku: short for mattaku, see above.
tami: sake ("dare no tame ni" = "for whose sake")
tanomu: (Flatline) I'm begging you
tanoshii: is fun
tanoshimi: it will be fun / I'm looking forward to it
tasukete!: help!
teme(e): Extremely strong "YOU!", which, because it's extremely rude in Japan, often translates to "bastard" or the like...
tenshi: angel
-(t)te ba: puts extra emphasis on whatever comes before it. So if "wakatta" => "I understood", then "wakatta tte ba!" is "I underSTOOD, I'm telling you!" Similarly, (Flatline) "Aya tte ba..." => "AYA..." (in other words, he wasn't listening the first time, let's try and get his attention now)
(O)tousan: Father. O- for added respect. -san can be replaced with -sama or -chan.
U
uke: this is a Japanese fan-term, as far as I can tell. In any case, it designates the submissive partner, or bottom, in a yaoi, or gay relationship. Put in plainer terms, this is the guy who takes it in the ass. (In yaoi, these categories tend to be pretty defined, and the characters don't often switch positions. It's a fandom thing. *shrug*)
un: yeah
ureshii: happy / I'm so happy!
urusai: noisy, annoying. urusai, na!: shut up!
uso: a lie. uso da: it's a lie/it's not true!. uso darou?!: you're kidding, right?! / this can't be true!
usotsuki: liar
utsukushii: beautiful
W
wakaranai / wakannai / wakannee: I don't know / I'd'nno (the less syllables, the more slang, just like English ^_-)
wakarimashita: formal of wakatta
wakatta (yo): I understand / understood (!)
wakizashi: a short katana, usually held in the left hand while fighting with a katana in the right.
warui: bad / evil
Y
ya: another informal greeting, like yo
yabai: quite similar to mazui
yabee: informal for yabai
yada / yadda: contraction of iya da.
yahari: As I thought / after all / as expected
yamero (yo)!: stop!
yamete (yo)!: stop! (Note: if something bad [*cough* Flatline *cough*] was happening to a guy, they'd say yamero, which is a lot rougher and more direct, not yamete. Yamete is gentler, more polite, and a lot more characteristic of female speech, I just rather enjoyed having a guy say it in that situation... *evil laughter*)
yappari: Exactly the same as above.
yare-yare: well, well... / so that's how it is...
yarou: jerk
'yasumi: short for oyasumi, see above
yasumi: vacation
yasumu: take a rest
yatteranee ze!: I can't take it anymore! (very informal; I just love it! Youji sounds so cute when he says it!! ^___^)
yo: tack it onto the end of just about anything, it works like an exclamation point (!). It can also be an informal greeting just like in English, "Yo, wassup" style ^_~
yoroshiku (na): (short and informal for "yoroshiku onegai-shimasu" or "douzo yoroshiku") Nice to meet you. (lit. please treat me well.)
yoshi / yosh: OK! / all right!
youkai: demon
yokatta: literally, "it was good", but also "thank goodness," "thank god," etc...
youki: demonic energy (life energy) possessed by (duh) demons, the inhabitants of the Makai.
Youko: A fox-demon, humanoid but with fox-ears and tail. (Kurama in his silver-haired form)
yumemiru: dream of
yurushite: forgive (me)
Z
zannen (da): it's a shame / it's too bad
zen-zen: not at all
zettai ni: absolutely, surely
zutto: always / to a great extent
Note: This is not my glosary I can't remember where I found this but I'm sorry for copying something without permission.It's not something I really like to do. I just wanted to have a glossary of Japanese words. If the owner of this wishes for me to take this down then I will just leave me message at the guest book.