Presenting your work at the office: Explaining results from a chart

💬 二十 is said (nijū), with a long (ū). パーセント (pāsento) also has a stretched first vowel.

💬 The opposite is 下がりました (sagarimashita) "went down". Learn the two as a pair for describing any chart.

💬 The は here is said (wa), not (ha). The amount goes right before the verb with no particle: 二十パーセント上がりました.

💬 何ですか is said (nan desu ka). Before です, 何 is read (nan), not (nani).

💬 Words ending in い go straight before a noun with nothing in between: 新しい商品, 新しいパソコン "a new computer".

💬 売れる (ureru) means "to sell" in the sense of the product getting sold, so the product itself is the subject. Compare 売る (uru), which is what a person does.

💬 が marks the product as the new information, the answer to "why?". Swap in another cause: 広告がよかったです "The advertising was good."

💬 Color words like 青い go straight before the noun with no の: 赤い線 "red line". But 緑 "green" needs の: 緑の線.

💬 Japanese drops "it" when it's obvious. 去年の売上です alone answers "what is this line?" with no subject needed.

💬 わかりました is past tense, but it means "I understand" or "Got it" right now. Japanese treats understanding as something that has just happened.

🇯🇵 Coworkers say this constantly: as a greeting in the hallway, after a presentation, or when someone leaves. It isn't really praise, more a nod of thanks for each other's effort.

🇯🇵 Say this as you step away from your boss's desk or out of a meeting room, often with a slight bow. Leaving without it feels abrupt in a Japanese office.