by the way; in this connection; incidentally; in passing
right?; isn't it?; hey; say; you know; you see; will you?
information; news; intelligence; information; data contained in characters, signals, code, etc.
by means of; due to; because of; according to
if; when; and; with; used for quoting (thoughts, speech, etc.); promoted pawn; indicates a question
ball; sphere; bead (of sweat, dew, etc.); drop; ball (in sports); pile (of noodles, etc.); bullet
also; too; not ... either; (it's not possible) no matter what; although one might wish otherwise
as a matter of fact; by the way; to tell you the truth; to be honest; frankly
secret; secrecy; mystery; secret (e.g. to success); esoteric teachings
indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; regardless of; whether (or not)
to be; to exist; to have; to be located; to be equipped with; to happen
what; you-know-what; that thing; whatsit; whachamacallit; (not) at all; (not) in the slightest
so; therefore; accordingly; like I said; I told you already
shellfish; seashell; shell
to do; to undertake; to send; to dispatch; to put; to move; to give (esp. to someone of equal or lower status)
is not; am not; are not; isn't it?
the expectation is that ...; the reason is that ...; the fact is that ...; the explanation is that ...; it is that ...
this; this one; this person; now; this point (in time); here; used to stress the subject of a sentence
latter period; second half; late stage; third trimester; second semester
big catch (fishing); good haul
at (place, time); in; to (direction, state); toward; for (purpose); because of (reason); for
to take; to catch; to capture
why?; what for?; how?; by what means?
to put in; to let in; to admit; to accept; to accept; to comply; to include
door (Western-style, car, etc.)
indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question
to open; to undo; to bloom; to unfold; to open (for business, e.g. in the morning); to be wide (gap, etc.); to widen
sound; noise; note; fame; Chinese-derived character reading
sound of footsteps; sense or sign that something is approaching
Mr.; Mrs.; Miss; politeness marker
indicates sentence topic; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis
still; as yet; (not) yet; more; (more) still; at least
life; life force; lifetime; lifespan; most important thing; foundation
something unusual; something wrong; mishap; accident; serious condition (e.g. after an injury); different situation
that being the case; because of ...; the reason is ...; given that ...
soon; shortly; before long; nearly; almost
indicates a question; or; whether or not; some- (e.g. something, someone); hmm; huh; very
angle; square; cube; bishop; third degree (of the Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scale); Chinese "horn" constellation (one of the 28 mansions); jiao (monetary unit of China; one-tenth of a yuan)
light; illumination; ray; happiness; hope; influence
to get up; to rise; to wake up; to be awake; to occur (usu. of unfavourable incidents); to happen
first of all; first thing
contacting; (making) contact; connection (with a train, bus, etc.); joining (a railway line, etc.); connection (between matters, incidents, etc.); relation
volume (of book); reel (of film); scroll (of books or paintings); roll (paper, etc.)