Casual Patterns & Slang

Vocabulary

  1. 何 【なに・なん】 – what
  2. する (irregular) – to do
  3. 言う 【い・う】 (u-verb) – to say
  4. いい (i-adj) – good
  5. 好き 【す・き】 (na-adj) – like
  6. すごい (i-adj) – amazing
  7. やばい (i-adj) – dangerous, crazy
  8. うまい (i-adj) – delicious, skilled
  9. 遅刻 【ち・こく】 – being late
  10. 優しい 【やさ・しい】 (i-adj) – kind, gentle

Spoken Japanese involves a lot of slurring and contractions.

Contractions

～ている → ～てる 

何してる？ - What are you doing?
食べてる？ - Are you eating?
見てる。 - I'm watching.

～ておく → ～とく 

やっとく。 - I'll do it (in advance).
買っとく。 - I'll buy it (in advance).
言っとくね。 - I'll tell them (beforehand).

～という → ～って 

何て言った？ - What did you say?
それって本当？ - Is that true?
彼女って優しいね。 - She's kind, isn't she?

Sentence Enders

じゃん (Short for じゃない)

Means “Isn’t it?” or “Right?”

いいじゃん。 - That's fine, isn't it?
かわいいじゃん。 - That's cute!
できるじゃん。 - You can do it!

っけ (Recall particle)

“What was it again?”

あれは何だっけ？ - What was that again?
名前は何だっけ？ - What was the name again?

もん (Cutesy/childish reason marker) 

だって好きだもん。 - Because I like it!
知らないもん。 - I don't know! (childish)

Guys’ Slang

  • すげー / すげ - Awesome (from すごい)
  • やべー / やべ - Crazy/Bad (from やばい)
  • うめー - Delicious (from うまい)
すげー！ - Awesome!
やべー、遅刻した。 - Crap, I'm late.
これ、うめー！ - This is delicious!