Top 50 phrases to get by Japan: Essential communication

💬 [すみません] does double duty: use it both to get someone's attention and to apologize lightly. You'll hear it a lot in Japan in situations where English might use either "excuse me" or "sorry."

🇯🇵 [どういたしまして] is correct, but in everyday Japan people often just smile, nod, or say something softer instead. Don't worry if you rarely hear it back after saying [ありがとうございます].

💬 [はい] is often closer to "yes / that's right / I'm listening" than a strong personal agreement. In real conversations it can simply mean "I heard you."

💬 [お願いします] is a very flexible "please" for asking for a service or request, not just for handing someone an object. You can swap in what you want before it: [お水をお願いします], [タクシーをお願いします].

💬 [ください] is the useful part for asking someone to give you something; put the thing before [をください]. The [を] is often said very lightly, so [これをください] may sound almost like [これください].

💬 [いくら] means "how much," and [ですか] turns it into a polite question. You can reuse the pattern with other question words, like [どこですか] for "where is it?"

💬 [は] is written [は] but here it's said (wa): [駅はどこですか]. This pattern is easy to reuse: put the place or thing first, then ask [どこですか] for "where is ...?"