In this lesson you will learn how to find out the name of a building or a food dish, respond appropriately to information you receive, order a dish at a restaurant using words like “this,” “that,” and “that one over there, please,” check if a train is the one you want, say that you don’t speak Japanese well, and ask someone for the Japanese equivalent of an English word.

Dialogues (会話)

Situation 1 — Ordering food at a restaurant

Ms. Jones enters a restaurant and sees someone eating something that looks appealing. She doesn’t know the name of the dish but would like to order the same thing.

Romaji	English
Joonzu: Are wa nan desu ka?	What’s that over there?
Ueetoresu: Sukiyaki desu.	It’s sukiyaki.
Joonzu: Jaa, are onegaishimasu.	Then I’d like to have some of that, please.
Ueetoresu: Hai, kashikomarimashita.	Certainly.

Situation 2 — Is that the right train?

Ms. Kelly is on a platform waiting for a Yamanote Line train. She sees a train coming in and checks with a Japanese person standing nearby.

Romaji	English
Kerii: Sumimasen. Are wa Yamanote-sen desu ka?	Excuse me. Is that the Yamanote line over there?
Nihonjin: Iie, Yamanote-sen jaa arimasen. Yamanote-sen wa san-bansen desu yo.	No, it’s not the Yamanote line. The Yamanote line comes on Track 3.
Kerii: Sumimasen. Yoku wakarimasen.	I’m sorry. I don’t understand very well.
Nihonjin: Soo desu ka. Komatta na… Noo Yamanote-sen.	Oh. What shall I say… That is not the Yamanote line.
Kerii: Aa, wakarimasu. Doomo arigatoo.	Oh, I see. Thank you very much.
Nihonjin: Doo itashimashite.	You’re welcome.

Situation 3 — Identifying a building

Mr. Davis is walking back to the American Embassy. He looks for the Hotel Okura, a tall building near the Embassy, as a landmark. He sees a tall building and asks a passerby.

Romaji	English
Deibisu: Sumimasen. Are wa Okura Hoteru desu ka?	Excuse me. Is that Hotel Okura over there?
Nihonjin: Iie, Okura Hoteru wa are desu.	No, Hotel Okura is that one over there. (pointing)
Deibisu: Aa, soo desu ka. Doomo arigatoo.	Oh, I see. Thank you very much.
Nihonjin: Doo itashimashite.	You’re welcome.

Situation 4 — What is this building?

Ms. Robinson comes across an old, traditional Japanese building that looks like a shrine and asks a passerby what it is.

Romaji	English
Robinson: Sumimasen. Kore wa nan desu ka?	Excuse me. What is this?
Nihonjin: Jinja desu yo.	It’s a shrine.
Robinson: Sumimasen. Nihongo ga yoku wakarimasen. Moo ichi-do itte kudasai.	I’m sorry. I don’t understand Japanese very well. Please say it again.
Nihonjin: Jinja desu.	It’s a shrine.
Robinson: Soo desu ka. Doomo arigatoo.	I see. Thank you very much.
Nihonjin: Doo itashimashite.	Don’t mention it.

Key Vocabulary (語彙)

Dialogue vocabulary

Romaji	Kana	English
are	あれ	that (thing over there)
sukiyaki	すきやき	sukiyaki (a beef and vegetable dish)
jaa	じゃあ	well (then)
onegaishimasu	おねがいします	(may I have it) please
kashikomarimashita	かしこまりました	certainly, of course
Yamanote-sen	やまのてせん	Yamanote line train
jaa arimasen	じゃありません	am/is/are not
…bansen	…ばんせん	(track) number …
yoku	よく	well
komatta na	こまったな	it’s a problem; I don’t know what to say
aa	ああ	oh!
jinja	じんじゃ	shrine
Nihongo	にほんご	Japanese language
ga	が	(subject marker particle)

Japanese food

Romaji	Kana	English
tenpura	てんぷら	tempura (deep-fried food)
teriyaki	てりやき	teriyaki (meat broiled with teriyaki sauce)
katsudon	かつどん	a bowl of rice topped with a fried pork cutlet
tendon	てんどん	a bowl of rice topped with fried prawns
(o-)sashimi	(お)さしみ	sashimi (sliced raw fish)
raamen	ラーメン	ramen (Chinese noodles)
soba	そば	soba (buckwheat noodles)
(o-)sushi	(お)すし	sushi (vinegared rice topped with raw fish)

This, that, and that over there

Romaji	Kana	English
kore	これ	this (near the speaker)
sore	それ	that (near the listener)
are	あれ	that over there (away from both)

Japanese objects

Romaji	Kana	English
kimono	きもの	Japanese native clothing
obi	おび	Japanese sash used for kimono
(o-)hashi	(お)はし	chopsticks
origami	おりがみ	folding paper
(o-)kane	(お)かね	money
soroban	そろばん	abacus
uchiwa	うちわ	Japanese fan
geta	げた	wooden clogs
ningyoo	にんぎょう	doll
furoshiki	ふろしき	square cloth for wrapping things

Grammar & Usage Notes

Kore, sore, are — “this,” “that,” “that over there”

Japanese has a three-way distinction for pointing to objects:

kore — used for an object near the speaker (comparable to “this”)
sore — used for an object near the listener (comparable to “that”)
are — used for an object away from both speaker and listener (“that one over there”)

To ask what something is called: Kore / sore / are wa nan desu ka?

Ordering and requesting with onegaishimasu

When you want to order a dish or buy something, use:

Jaa, sore onegaishimasu. — “Well then, that one please.”
Sukiyaki onegaishimasu. — “Sukiyaki, please.”

Onegaishimasu literally means “I make a request (for)” and is comparable to “please.”

Acknowledging information — Soo desu ka

Aa, soo desu ka? looks like a question but is really an acknowledgement. It means “Oh, is that so?” / “I see” / “Good.” Use it to indicate you’ve understood what was said.

Saying “I don’t understand Japanese well”

(Yoku) Nihongo ga wakarimasen. — “I don’t understand Japanese (well).”
Nihongo ga (yoku) wakarimasen. — (same meaning, different word order)

Wakarimasen is the negative form of wakarimasu (“to understand”).

Asking for a word in Japanese

“Radio” wa Nihongo de nan desu ka? — “What is ‘radio’ in Japanese?”

The particle de here means “in” (as in “in Japanese”).

Practice Exercises (練習)

Transformation drill

Change kore to sore in each sentence:

Original	Transformed
Kore wa sukiyaki desu ka?	Sore wa sukiyaki desu ka?
Kore wa (o-)sashimi desu ka?	Sore wa (o-)sashimi desu ka?
Kore wa raamen desu ka?	Sore wa raamen desu ka?
Kore wa tenpura desu ka?	Sore wa tenpura desu ka?
Kore wa teriyaki desu ka?	Sore wa teriyaki desu ka?
Kore wa katsudon desu ka?	Sore wa katsudon desu ka?

Restaurant ordering practice

Look at a menu and practice asking what each item is, then ordering:

Romaji	English
Kore wa nan desu ka? (pointing to a menu item)	What is this?
Sukiyaki desu.	It’s sukiyaki.
Aa, soo desu ka. Kore wa nan desu ka? (pointing to another item)	I see. What is this?
Katsudon desu.	It’s katsudon.
Jaa, kore onegaishimasu.	Then this one, please.

Japanese	Price
すきやき (sukiyaki)	¥2,500
おすし (o-sushi)	¥1,500
おさしみ (o-sashimi)	¥1,200
てんぷら (tenpura)	¥1,000
てりやき (teriyaki)	¥900
かつどん (katsudon)	¥850
てんどん (tendon)	¥700
ラーメン (raamen)	¥550

Cultural Notes

The particle ga ordinarily marks the subject of the sentence. In Nihongo ga wakarimasen (“I don’t understand Japanese”), the literal meaning is closer to “Japanese is not understandable to me” — so ga does mark the subject.
The particle de has several meanings. In this lesson it means “in” as in Nihongo de (“in Japanese”). In later lessons you will see it also means “by means of.”
When asking what a building is called, use Are wa nan desu ka? for buildings far away, and Kore wa nan desu ka? for things near you.
The prefix o- before words like sushi, sashimi, hashi, and kane adds politeness. It is commonly used in everyday speech.

Identifying Objects

What You Will Learn

Lesson Material