Learn Japanese
Japanese mixes three writing systems and rewards steady, patient study — its grammar is regular and its sounds are gentle on English speakers.
Below you'll find 10,180 native-checked Japanese phrases organized by theme, the essential phrases to learn first, and a self-guided path from beginner to advanced. Browsing is free — the real progress comes when you say these out loud with a person.
Start here
Essential Japanese phrases for beginners →
The handful of phrases worth learning first, with pronunciation and usage.
Self-guided
The Japanese mastery path →
A sequenced A1→C2 path: the Core 3000 words, graded readers, conversations and games.
Common Japanese phrases people ask about
- How do you say “Where's the president?”? 社長はどこですか。
- How do you say “I'm hungry.”? お腹が空いています。
- How do you say “Where shall we eat tonight?”? 今夜はどこで食事をしようか。
- How do you say “Where is the police station?”? 警察はどこですか。
- How do you say “What shall we eat tonight?”? 今夜は何を食べようか。
- How do you say “I'm hungry today.”? 今日はお腹が空いていますね。
- How do you say “Where are you going to eat lunch?”? 昼食はどこで食べるんですか。
- How do you say “His car is really cool.”? 彼の車は大変カッコイイ。
Browse Japanese phrases by theme
A path from beginner to fluent
Phrases are the start. flountain's self-guided path sequences your whole journey across the CEFR levels:
A1–A2 · Beginner
Survival Japanese: greetings, courtesy, numbers, ordering food and asking directions — the phrases on this page.
B1–B2 · Intermediate
Real conversations: opinions, plans, stories and small talk, plus the Core 3000 vocabulary and graded readers.
C1–C2 · Advanced
Nuance and fluency: idiom, register and culture — built through reading, conversation and tutor feedback.
Ready to actually speak Japanese?
Browsing phrases is the start. Practice out loud with native-speaker peers for free, or book a 1-1 video lesson with a vetted Japanese tutor.