N3 · 40 words

Post office and bank

Letters, parcels and stamps, and opening an account and taking money out.

Japanese post offices also handle savings and transfers, so the two belong on one page. Money is "lowered" out of an account — お金(かね)を下(お)ろす — and a transfer straight into someone else's account, 振(ふ)り込(こ)み, is how rent and many bills are paid. An address is written from the largest unit to the smallest, the reverse of English, with the postcode first.

The words

Verb (6)

下ろすto withdraw (money); to take downVerbN4

銀行(ぎんこう)でお金(かね)を下(お)ろしました。I took some money out at the bank.

Letting someone off a vehicle is written 降(お)ろす.

振り込むto transfer (money into an account)VerbN4

家賃(やちん)を大家(おおや)さんの口座(こうざ)に振(ふ)り込(こ)みました。I paid the rent into the landlord's account.

引き出すto withdraw; to pull outVerbN3

口座(こうざ)から一万円(いちまんえん)を引(ひ)き出(だ)しました。I withdrew ten thousand yen from my account.

The written word; in conversation 下(お)ろす is more usual.

貯めるto save up (money)VerbN4

旅行(りょこう)のためにお金(かね)を貯(た)めています。I am saving up for a trip.

貼るto stick; to put onVerbN4

封筒(ふうとう)に切手(きって)を貼(は)りました。I stuck a stamp on the envelope.

引き落とすto debit (by direct debit)VerbN2

電気代(でんきだい)は毎月(まいつき)口座(こうざ)から引(ひ)き落(お)とされます。The electricity bill is taken from my account every month.

Mostly in the passive, since the bank does the debiting.

This list belongs to Shopping, money and services — seven lists and 280 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 40 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.