N3 · 40 words

Commuting and public transport

Passes, platforms, delays and the words of a daily train journey.

A Japanese commute runs on trains, and the station speaks its own register: announcements and signs use a formal kanji word where conversation uses a plain verb — 乗車(じょうしゃ) for 乗(の)る, 遅延(ちえん) for 遅(おく)れる. Lines also have a direction built into them: 上(のぼ)り trains run towards the capital or the main terminus and 下(くだ)り trains away from it, which is worth knowing before you choose a platform.

The words

Verb (3)

乗り越すto ride beyond (the stop on one's ticket)VerbN3

一駅(ひとえき)乗(の)り越(こ)したので、降(お)りた駅(えき)で差額(さがく)を払(はら)った。I rode one station further than my ticket, so I paid the difference where I got off.

Mostly heard with the fare: 乗(の)り越(こ)し精算(せいさん) is paying for the extra stretch. Missing your stop by accident is 乗(の)り過(す)ごす.

乗り過ごすto miss one's stopVerbN3

スマホを見(み)ていて、降(お)りる駅(えき)を乗(の)り過(す)ごした。I was looking at my phone and missed my stop.

駆け込むto rush in (at the last moment)VerbN3

閉(し)まりかけたドアに駆(か)け込(こ)むのは危(あぶ)ないです。It is dangerous to rush through doors that are closing.

Station posters warn against 駆(か)け込(こ)み乗車(じょうしゃ), dashing aboard as the doors close.

This list belongs to Getting around and going away — ten lists and 401 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.