Japanese Language: Nouns
Japanese nouns do not change form for singlar or plural: you have to get the distinction from the context. Unlike many European / romance languages, nouns in Japanese do not have a gender associated with them (e.g.: 'la' or 'el' in Spanish).
Clicking on text that is red reads the sound of the word.
Challenge: can you identify which words below are "katakana words" (that is, words borrowed from English)? (Well, actually, Japanese borrows words from many languages, but this list happens to only include words borrowed from English.)
General thing-ys
- kuruma - car
- tokei - watch, clock
- kagi - key
- megane - glasses
- denwa - telephone
- terebi - television
-
kasa - umbrella
- shimbun - newspaper
- hon - book
- niwa - garden
- hana - flower
- bi - fire
- hana bi - fireworks
Tourist thing-ys
- kaban - suitcase, briefcase, bag
- pasupooto - passport
- shashin - picture, photograph
-
kamera - camera
- hagaki - postcard
- kitte - stamps
- binsen - stationery
- fuutoo - envelope
- hoteru - hotel
- yubinkyoku - post office
- ginko - bank
- byooin - hospital
Hotel thing-ys
- heya - room
- heya no kagi - room key
- otearai - lavatory (note: the bathroom is the room where you take a bath; rarely has a toilet in it, except maybe in a hotel.)
- benjo - lavatory
- ofuro - bath
- showa - shower
- otenugui - towel
- taoru - towel
- isu - chair
- hangaa - hanger
- uketsuke - reception desk
- shokudoo - dining room