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).

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-y things

 

• 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-y things

 

• 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