· 9 lists · 361 words
People, family and feelings
Family, friends, relationships, character, feelings.
What holds these lists together
The family words are the first place where Japanese draws a line English does not: there are two sets of them, one for your own family and one for other people’s. Your own mother is 母 when you speak about her to somebody else; somebody else’s mother is お母さん, and so is your own when you speak to her. The same line, between your side and the other side, runs under all the polite language on this site, and this is where it is learned. Feelings bring a second surprise. An adjective such as うれしい or 寂しい describes the speaker’s own state; said of somebody else it needs a softener, as in うれしそう, because Japanese does not claim to know what is going on inside another person. The lists climb from happy and sad to nostalgia, envy and the words of a psychology textbook.
The nine lists
Spread across the levels
The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.
| Level | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| N5 | 35 | 10 % |
| N4 | 39 | 11 % |
| N3 | 170 | 47 % |
| N2 | 117 | 32 % |
Practise this category
Multiple choice and gaps, across all nine lists and all 361 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.