Japanese Language Blog

Last week I was asked by a friend how to ask if someone is married and she also asked how to say cousin and grandchild in japanese. So I thought I’d post a thread about family members and family-related phrases. One tricky thing is that you use different words for family members depending on if you are talking about your family or someone else’s family.

There are also casual ways to call family members. Some examples which are often used by young people are:

Mother: かあちゃん、おかあちゃん、お母ん(okan – often used in Kansai region), お袋 (ofukuru)

Father: おとうちゃん、とうちゃん、お父ん (oton – often used in Kansai region), 親父 (oyaji)

Other :

Family – 家族 (kazoku)

Parents – 両親 (ryoushin)

Child – 子供 (kodomo)

Siblings /Brothers -兄弟 (kyoudai)

Sisters – 姉妹 (shimai)

Relatives – 親戚 (shinseki)

Married couple -夫婦 (fuufu)

Cousin – いとこ (itoko)

Useful phrases:

結婚していますか。(kekkon shite imasuka) – Are you married.

あなたの家族は何人ですか。(anata no kazoku ha nan nin desuka) How many people are there in your family.

子供 / 兄弟がいますか。(kodomo / kyoudai ga imasu ka) -Do you have children / siblings.

結婚しています。(kekkon shite imasu) – I am married.

独身です。(dokushin desu) – I am single

Finally, you can feel it in the air, it’s springtime 春だ (haru da). When I think of spring in Japan, I think of cherry blossom viewing 花見 (hanami). Talking about the weather 天気 (tenki) is an easy way to break the ice and start a conversation. So I thought I’d post some useful spring-related vocabulary and I will list some phrases to talk about the weather.

You can start a conversation by saying: 今日はいい天気ですね。(kyou wa ii tenki desu ne) – The weather is nice today, isn’t it. You can also say: 最近暑いですね (saikin atsui desu ne) – It’s been hot lately, don’t you think. You can confirm the statements by saying: そうですね (soudesu ne) – “You’re right” or “Yes, indeed”

Some other useful phrases are:

今日の天気予報はなんですか。(kyou no tenkiyohou ha nan desu ka) What’s the weather forecast for today.

今日の天気はどうですか。(kyou no tenki ha dou desu ka) How is the weather today?

雪/雨が降りそうです。(ame/yuki ga furisou desu) It looks like snow/rain.

気温は何度ですか。(kion ha nando desu ka) What is the temperature?

雨 (ame) rain

傘 (kasa) umbrella

雪 (yuki) snow

暖かいです (atatakai desu) It’s warm

暑いです(atsui desu)  It’s hot

蒸し暑いです(mushi atsui desu) It’s humid

晴れです (hare desu) It’s sunny

良い天気です(ii tenki desu) It’s nice

寒いです (samui desu) It’s cold

風が強いです(kaze ga tsuyoi desu) It’s windy

曇りです(kumori desu) It’s cloudy

ひどい雨です(hidoi ame desu) It’s terrible rainy weather

By adding the prefix とても (totemo) you can emphasize that it is very cold or very hot. For example:

とても寒いです(totemo samui desu) It’s very cold

とても暑いです(totemo atsui desu) It’s very hot

By adding the prefix 少し (sukoshi) you can emphasize that it is a little cold or a bit hot. For example:

少し寒いです(sukoshi samui desu) It’s a little cold.

少し暑いです(sukoshi atsui desu) It’s a little hot.

Since hanami 花見 is a very popular leisure activity in spring, the following vocabulary and phrases should be useful.

桜　(sakura) cherry blossom

桜前線 (sakura zensen) cherry blossom front (= the cherry blossom forecast)

伝統 (dentou)  tradition

咲く (saku)  to bloom

散る (chiru) to fall (flower petals)

花見弁当 (hanami bentou) bento for cherry blossom viewing

夜桜 (yozakura) hanami at night

つぼみ (tsubomi)  buds

満開 (mankai) full bloom

開花する (kaika suru) to bloom out

花見へ行こう！(hanami e ikou) Let’s go to hanami!

桜の木はとてもきれいです (sakura no ki wa totemo kireii desu)- The cherry blossom trees are very pretty.

桜の木の下に座る (sakura no ki no shita ni suwaru) – to sit under the cherry blossom tree

5.) Pirate Empress Boa Hancock 海賊女帝 ボア･ハンコック (kaizoku jotei boa hankokku)(One Piece) is the Snake Princess 蛇姫 (hebi hime) of the island 島 (shima) Amazon Lily and a member of the Oka Shichibukai 王下七武海 (ouka shichibukai) who falls in love with Monkey D. Luffy. I like her character because on the one hand she appears tough and arrogant, on the other hand she appears emotional and vulnerable when she is around Luffy.

Boa Hancock - One Piece

4.)  Lupin III ルパン三世 (rupan sansei) is one of the world’s greatest thief. Together with his ally Jigen Daisuke 次元 大介 and the master swordsman Ishikawa Goemon XIII 十三代目 石川 五ェ門 (juusan-daime Ishikawa Goemon) they have a lot of great adventures 冒険 (bouken). They are chased by Inspector Zenigata Koichi 銭形 幸一 whose life’s goal is to arrest 逮捕する (taiho suru)  them. Lupin is a real gentleman and his ability to build useful gadgets is amazing. His biggest weakness are women, especially his infatuation with Mine Fujiko 峰 不二子 gets him often in big trouble.

Lupin III

3.) Nadia ナディア (The secret of Blue Water ふしぎの海のナディア): The anime was inspired by Jules Verne’s 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea. Nadia is a circus performer and a very stubborn and short tempered girl until she meets Jean, who falls in love with her. I like her character and the way she grows up during the whole story. In the end she grows up to a young woman, who has learned to trust and care about people.

Nadia - The secret of blue water

2.) Doraemon ドラえもん: I love this character, maybe because I grew up with this adorable blue cat-like robot. Doraemon was sent back in time to help out with Nobita’s trouble. Doraemon’s magic pocket 四次元ポケット(yojigen pocketto) is able to produce useful gadgets 道具 (dougu) from the future. Although I am a bit too old, I still watch every movie 映画 (eiga) with Doraemon and his friends 友達 (tomodachi).

Doraemon

1.) Roronoa Zoro ロロノア・ ゾロ (One Piece) is definitely my favorite anime character. He is a member of the Straw Hat Pirates 麦わらの一味 (mugiwara no ichimi). Zoro is a master swordsman whose dream is to become the world’s greatest swordsman 世界一の剣豪になる (sekai ichi no kengou ni naru). I like his cool and serious personality as well as the fact that he loses his temper in a funny and goofy way.

Roronoa Zoro

What is your favorite anime character?