50 Daily Japanese Conversation Phrases (With Readings)

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Below are 50 daily Japanese conversation phrases, grouped by the situation you'll actually need them in, each with kana, a romaji reading, the English meaning, and a one-line note on when to use it. That last part matters more than the list: most beginner mistakes in Japanese aren't wrong words, they're right words at the wrong politeness level.

In this guide: greetings · small talk · shops and restaurants · help and directions · at work · phone and messages · opinions · apologies and thanks · farewells · politeness levels · how to memorize

Greetings and first meetings

1. おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu) — "Good morning." Standard until roughly late morning. In workplaces it's also used whenever you first arrive for a shift, even at 9pm. Shorten to おはよう only with close friends and family.

2. こんにちは (konnichiwa) — "Hello / good afternoon." Daytime default. Note it's written with は but pronounced "wa". Japanese speakers generally don't use it to greet their own family at home.

3. こんばんは (konbanwa) — "Good evening." From dusk onward. Same は-pronounced-"wa" rule.

4. はじめまして (hajimemashite) — "Nice to meet you." Only ever on a first meeting. Saying it to someone you've met before is a small but noticeable error.

5. たなかと もうします (Tanaka to mōshimasu) — "My name is Tanaka." Humble self-introduction; swap in your own surname. In casual settings たなかです (Tanaka desu) is fine, but もうします is the safe register for business.

6. よろしく おねがいします (yoroshiku onegaishimasu) — "I look forward to it / please treat me well." Closes every self-introduction, and also every request. There's no clean English equivalent — treat it as the standard full stop after introducing yourself.

Small talk and listening noises

7. おひさしぶりです (o-hisashiburi desu) — "It's been a while." For someone you haven't seen in weeks or longer. Casual version: ひさしぶり.

8. おげんきでしたか (o-genki deshita ka) — "How have you been?" Important correction: おげんきですか is not the everyday greeting that "how are you?" is in English. Japanese speakers use it after a real gap, not daily. Past tense is the natural form after time apart.

9. きょうは あたたかいですね (kyō wa atatakai desu ne) — "It's warm today, isn't it?" Weather is the safest opener in Japanese. The ね invites agreement and hands the conversation back.

10. しゅみは なんですか (shumi wa nan desu ka) — "What do you do for fun?" Standard first-conversation question, and safer than asking about age, salary or marital status.

11. そうなんですか (sō nan desu ka) — "Oh, really?" An あいづち — a listening noise. Buys you thinking time while signalling engagement, which Japanese conversation expects far more frequently than English does.

12. なるほど (naruhodo) — "Ah, I see." Fine with peers and juniors. With a boss or client it can sound slightly evaluative — そうなんですね is the safer swap.

At the convenience store and restaurant

These are the phrases you'll use in your first week in Japan, and they're almost entirely fixed — learn them as single units, not as grammar.

You'll also constantly hear いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase — "welcome") on entering a shop. It's staff-to-customer only: you don't reply, and you never say it.

Asking for help and directions

21. すみません (sumimasen) — "Excuse me / sorry / thanks." The most useful word in the language. It gets attention, apologises lightly, and thanks someone for trouble taken on your behalf. If you learn one phrase, learn this.

22. えきは どこですか (eki wa doko desu ka) — "Where is the station?" The reusable frame is 〜は どこですか. Swap the noun: トイレ (toire, toilet), コンビニ (konbini), バスてい (basu-tei, bus stop).

23. ちょっと わからないんですが… (chotto wakaranai n desu ga…) — "I'm not quite sure…" Trailing off with が is a deliberate softener in Japanese, not an unfinished sentence. It invites help without demanding it.

24. もう いちど おねがいします (mō ichido onegaishimasu) — "One more time, please." Say this instead of nodding through something you didn't catch — a habit that quietly stalls a lot of learners.

25. ゆっくり はなして いただけますか (yukkuri hanashite itadakemasu ka) — "Could you speak slowly?" 〜て いただけますか is the polite-request template. Memorise the shape and you can request almost anything.

26. てつだって いただけますか (tetsudatte itadakemasu ka) — "Could you help me?" For ordinary favours. Keep たすけて ください (tasukete kudasai) for genuine emergencies — it's much stronger than English "help me".

At work: keigo-lite phrases

Full keigo takes years. These five carry an office day.

27. おつかれさまです (otsukaresama desu) — "Thanks for your work / hello / bye." The all-purpose workplace phrase: greeting, farewell and acknowledgement in one. Caution: ごくろうさまです means the same thing but flows downward only — never say it to a superior.

28. しつれいします (shitsurei shimasu) — "Excuse me." Say it entering and leaving someone's room or office, and when ending a phone call.

29. おさきに しつれいします (o-saki ni shitsurei shimasu) — "Excuse me for leaving before you." Said when you go home while colleagues are still working. The expected reply is おつかれさまでした.

30. かくにんして いただけますか (kakunin shite itadakemasu ka) — "Could you check this?" Same 〜て いただけますか template as #25 — one shape, endless uses.

31. しょうちしました (shōchi shimashita) — "Understood." For superiors and clients. わかりました is fine with colleagues; りょうかいです is peer-and-below only and sounds careless upward.

Phone calls and messages

32. もしもし (moshi moshi) — "Hello?" Phone-only, and casual — with friends. Do not open a business call with it; answer with はい、〜です (hai, ~ desu) and your name or company instead.

33. いつも おせわに なって おります (itsumo o-sewa ni natte orimasu) — "Thank you for your continued support." The standard opening line of business calls and emails in Japanese. Nearly meaningless literally, socially essential.

34. いま、だいじょうぶですか (ima, daijōbu desu ka) — "Is now a good time?" Say it before launching into your reason for calling.

35. あとで れんらくします (ato de renraku shimasu) — "I'll get in touch later." Neutral and polite. れんらく covers call, message or email.

36. おへんじが おそく なり、もうしわけありません (o-henji ga osoku nari, mōshiwake arimasen) — "I'm sorry for the late reply." The standard opener when you've taken days to answer a message. Copy it verbatim.

Opinions and disagreeing politely

37. わたしは 〜と おもいます (watashi wa ~ to omoimasu) — "I think ~." Note the grammar: the clause before と goes in plain form — たかいと おもいます (takai to omoimasu), never たかいですと.

38. たしかに そうですね (tashika ni sō desu ne) — "That's certainly true." The setup move. In Japanese you almost always agree before you disagree.

39. そうかも しれませんが… (sō kamo shiremasen ga…) — "That may be so, but…" The disagreement itself, cushioned. The trailing が does most of the work.

40. ちょっと むずかしいですね (chotto muzukashii desu ne) — "That's a bit difficult." This is usually a no, not a request for help. Recognising it in others' speech is as valuable as saying it yourself.

41. べつの ほうほうも あると おもいます (betsu no hōhō mo aru to omoimasu) — "I think there's another way too." Suggest an alternative rather than rejecting the first one — the も ("also") is what keeps it friendly.

Apologies and thanks: the levels that matter

Japanese has a ladder of gratitude and apology, and using the wrong rung is the most common register mistake beginners make.

42. ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu) — "Thank you." Present tense for something happening now or ongoing. Use ありがとうございました (past) when the thing is finished — leaving a shop, ending a lesson.

43. どうも すみません (dōmo sumimasen) — "Thanks / sorry about that." For when someone went to trouble for you. Sits between thanks and apology, which is a very Japanese place to sit.

44. もうしわけありません (mōshiwake arimasen) — "I'm very sorry." Work-grade apology, considerably heavier than ごめんなさい. もうしわけございません is the most formal version.

45. ごちそうさまでした (gochisōsama deshita) — "Thank you for the meal." Said after eating — at home, at a restaurant, and especially when someone paid. Its partner いただきます (itadakimasu) goes before eating.

46. おかげさまで (okagesama de) — "Thanks to you / I'm doing well, thankfully." Modest response when someone asks how you or your work are going. Warm, humble, and very commonly used.

Farewells

47. では、また (dewa, mata) — "See you." Neutral, safe with almost anyone. Casual version: じゃあね (jā ne).

48. また らいしゅう (mata raishū) — "See you next week." Swap the time word: また あした (mata ashita — tomorrow), また こんど (mata kondo — next time).

49. きを つけて (ki o tsukete) — "Take care / get home safe." Said to the person leaving. Politer: きを つけて ください.

50. さようなら (sayōnara) — "Goodbye." The textbook word, but heavier than English "goodbye" — it implies a longer parting. Japanese adults rarely use it with colleagues or friends they'll see tomorrow; it survives mainly in school settings. Default to #47 or おつかれさまです instead.

Politeness levels: what you can shorten and what you cannot

Nearly every phrase above has a shorter casual form, and using it at the wrong moment is the fastest way to sound rude without meaning to.

Three rules that keep beginners safe:

1. Default to です・ます with everyone until you know a person well. Nobody has ever been offended by excess politeness.
2. Follow, don't lead. If the other person is speaking casually to you, you may match them — but let them drop first, especially if they're older or senior.
3. Never mix levels in one conversation. Polite then casual then polite reads as careless. Pick a register and hold it.

One extra caution for the workplace: ごくろうさまです (#27) and りょうかいです (#31) both sound fine in a textbook and both flow downward only. With a boss, use おつかれさまです and しょうちしました.

How to actually memorize these phrases

Re-reading this list will make you recognise all 50 and produce almost none. Recognition and production are different skills, and only one of them gets you through a conversation.

What actually works:

• Say each phrase out loud ten times, in one burst, at natural speed. Silent reading trains your eyes; conversation is a motor skill of the mouth.
• Learn them in situation blocks, not alphabetically. Your brain retrieves by context — "at the register" pulls up #13 to #16 as a set.
• Attach each one to a real trigger. Decide now that every coffee you buy this week gets an internal これ、おねがいします.
• Use a new phrase within 48 hours. A phrase used once in a real exchange outlasts a phrase reviewed twenty times.
• Shadow native audio so the rhythm comes with the words. NHK News Web Easy offers free short articles with slow audio, which is ideal early material.

That "use it within 48 hours" step is where most learners get stuck — you need someone to say it to. That's the gap SoraSpeak fills: you speak out loud in the browser, an AI Japanese teacher replies in natural Japanese with subtitles, and corrections on particles, conjugation and politeness come back in simple English while the mistake is still fresh. Honestly stated: it's a new product and a complement to real human conversation, not a replacement — but it removes the scheduling excuse for daily reps. If you'd rather build a solo routine first, our guide to practising Japanese alone covers shadowing, self-talk and recording in detail, and the app comparison weighs tutors, exchanges and audio courses side by side.

The bottom line

Fifty phrases is more than enough raw material for a first month of real conversations — greetings, a shop, a meal, directions, an office day, an apology and a goodbye. What turns them from a list into speech is out-loud repetition plus early real use, and what keeps them from backfiring is register: です・ます by default, casual only when the other person leads.

Once the fixed phrases are automatic, the next step is generating your own sentences instead of retrieving stored ones — that's what our Japanese conversation practice guide for beginners is built around, with the core sentence patterns and a four-week plan. If you're also chasing a certificate, remember that the JLPT tests no speaking at all — you can confirm the exam's scope at jlpt.jp, while the Japan Foundation publishes learner materials organised around real communicative situations rather than exam sections.

Pick five phrases from this page. Say each one ten times right now. Use one of them today.

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SoraSpeak is an independent Japanese speaking-practice app. Example sentences are written for learners; regional and situational usage can vary.

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