Collins Japanese 3000 Words and Phrases

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

A practical Japanese learning guide focused on essential vocabulary and everyday phrase patterns. The introduction explains how Japanese is romanized using the Hepburn system, outlines core grammar features such as past/non-past verb forms and the absence of gender and articles, and emphasizes politeness levels and the safest use of -masu. It also teaches sentence structure through particles (wa, ga, o, ni, de, ni, etc.) and provides usable starter phrases such as greetings and farewells.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages150

Reading Time6 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

the essentials

transport

in the home

at the shops

day-to-day

leisure

sport

health

planet earth

celebrations and festivals

introduction

writing systems and romanization

core grammar and verb forms

politeness and -masu usage

particles and sentence structure

basic word order

the basics

greetings and common responses

japanese 3000 words and phrases Published by Collins An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Westerhill Road Bishopbriggs Glasgow G64 2QT First Edition 2019 Version: 2019-05-02 © HarperCollins Publishers 2019 ISBN 978-0-00-832384-4 Collins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Limited Typeset by Jouve, India All rights reserved. No part of this title maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the Publisher. This title is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the Publisher’s prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Entered words that we have reason to believe constitute trademarks have been designated as such. However, neither the presence nor absence of such designation should be regarded as affecting the legal status of any trademark. HarperCollins does not warrant that any website mentioned in this title will be provided uninterrupted, that any website will be error free, that defects will be corrected, or that the website or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs. For full terms and conditions please refer to the site terms provided on the website. If you would like to comment on any aspect of this title, please contact us at the given address or online. E-mail [dictionaries@harpercollins.co.uk](dictionaries@harpercollins.co.uk) [www.facebook.com/collinsdictionary](www.facebook.com/collinsdictionary) @collinsdict Acknowledgements We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data. All images from Shutterstock. managing editor Maree Airlie for the publisher Gerry Breslin Gina Macleod Kevin Robbins Robin Scrimgeour contributors Tessa Carroll Harumi Currie Anna Stevenson technical support Claire Dimeo contents 5 the essentials | 19 | transport | | --- | --- | | 35 | in the home | | 49 | at the shops | | 73 | day-to-day | | 89 | leisure | | 101 | sport | | 117 | health | | 133 | planet earth | | 147 | celebrations and festivals | introduction The following points have been given to help you when using Japanese: 1) There are several systems for writing Japanese in Roman characters, but the most understandable for English speakers is called the Hepburn system, which has been adapted slightly for use in this dictionary. Long vowels (pronounced with twice the length of normal vowels) have been written with a bar over the top, except for the double i: ā ii ē ō ū bus stop バス停 basu-tē street 通り tōri 2) Japanese grammar is simple in many ways compared to European languages: there is no gender and there are no definite or indefinite articles; there is no difference between singular and plural; and verbs 3 only have past and non-past (present or future) forms and do not change according to who is performing an action. 3) There are different levels of politeness in Japanese, but polite forms suitable for general use have been used in the phrases in this book. Verbs are shown in the “plain” form. This is the form used among family members and close friends, and to form more complex structures, so you may hear people using it. However, it is safest to stick to using the polite form to avoid appearing over-familiar or rude. In the polite form, Japanese verbs end in “-masu”. Negative forms and past tenses are made by changing the verb ending. 4) Japanese uses small words called particles to show how different parts of the sentence relate to each other. Some are similar to English preposit

FAQs

Which romanization system does the book recommend for Japanese learning by English speakers?

It recommends the Hepburn system, adapted slightly for use in the dictionary and written with a bar for long vowels (with the double i exception).

What are the key grammar points introduced in the book?

Japanese has no gender and no definite/indefinite articles, no singular/plural verb changes, and verbs use past and non-past (present or future) forms rather than changing by who performs the action.

How does the book advise handling politeness in Japanese phrases?

It uses polite forms for general use, explains that verbs in polite form end in -masu, and advises sticking to polite forms to avoid sounding over-familiar or rude.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel