Every word comes with furigana, romaji, and an original example sentence from real life in Japan.
808 words · JLPT N5
JLPT N5 vocabulary
Words 1–10
kaisha
company
毎日、会社に行きます。
まいにち、かいしゃに いきます。
mainichi, kaisha ni ikimasu
I go to the company every day.
会社 is the company as both a place and an organization — where you 行く every morning and who pays your salary.
Read the full tip →shigoto
work / job
仕事は九時に始まります。
しごとは くじに はじまります。
shigoto wa kuji ni hajimarimasu
Work starts at nine.
仕事 is the work itself — the job, the tasks, the thing that fills your weekdays. 仕事があります: I have work to do.
Read the full tip →iku
to go
明日、東京へ行きます。
あした、とうきょうへ いきます。
ashita, toukyou e ikimasu
I will go to Tokyo tomorrow.
行く points away from you — going somewhere else: the office, Tokyo, a friend’s place. If the movement is toward you, that’s 来る instead.
Read the full tip →kuru
to come
友達が日本に来ます。
ともだちが にほんに きます。
tomodachi ga nihon ni kimasu
My friend is coming to Japan.
💡 Irregular verb: きます, きて, こない.
Picture the last situation where you needed the idea of “come” — at work, at the station, online — and attach 来る to that exact scene.
Read the full tip →miru
to see / to watch
夜、映画を見ます。
よる、えいがを みます。
yoru, eiga o mimasu
I watch a movie at night.
見る stretches from a quick glance to a full movie night — anything your eyes take in on purpose.
Read the full tip →taberu
to eat
昼ご飯を食べました。
ひるごはんを たべました。
hirugohan o tabemashita
I ate lunch.
If you chew it, you 食べる it; if it simply flows down, you 飲む it. Solid food, meals, and snacks all take 食べる.
Read the full tip →nomu
to drink
同僚とコーヒーを飲みます。
どうりょうと こーひーを のみます。
douryou to koohii o nomimasu
I drink coffee with my coworker.
飲む covers anything that goes down in a swallow — water, coffee, even medicine. Japanese “drinks” medicine: 薬を飲む.
Read the full tip →hito
person
あの人は新しい社員です。
あのひとは あたらしい しゃいんです。
ano hito wa atarashii shain desu
That person is a new employee.
Picture the last situation where you needed the idea of “person” — at work, at the station, online — and attach 人 to that exact scene.
Read the full tip →jikan
time / hour
時間がありません。
じかんが ありません。
jikan ga arimasen
There is no time.
時間 is time you can count or run out of — an hour, free time, 時間がありません. Clock time, not the abstract flow of history.
Read the full tip →kyou
today
今日は忙しいです。
きょうは いそがしいです。
kyou wa isogashii desu
I am busy today.
Tie 今日 to one concrete moment from your own week in Japan where “today” came up — a word anchored to a real scene sticks far better than a definition.
Read the full tip →Full-level practice
Ten sets, fifty randomly selected questions in every set.
Randomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final setRandomly selected from the full N5 vocabulary level, with four answer choices for every question.
Start final set