50 Easy Japanese Phrases for Expressing Your Opinion or Feeling in Japanese!

Last updated: 15 July 2020

Japanese is a challenging language to learn, but that shouldn’t stop you from expressing yourself!

Here we’ll introduce some words and Japanese language phrases you can use when you want to express your opinion or feeling in Japanese (physical or otherwise), as well as how to ask others.

Table of Contents

Describing How You Feel in Japanese
How To Describe Things Using Japanese
“She's Nice. He’s Cool.” How to Describe Other People in Japanese
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Asking about someone's feeling in Japanese

How are you? (Literal meaning: Are you well?): genki desu ka? /元気ですか。

For the most basic way to say how you feel in Japanese, use the following pattern:
"adjective + desu"
Feel free to omit the pronoun (I, you, he, etc.), as it is usually implied in most situations when using Japanese. You should generally try to avoid the word 'you' (あなた anata) altogether when speaking Japanese, as it can denote over-familiarity. When in doubt, the person's name with a 'san' (さん) attached is always a safe bet.

Describing How You Feel in Japanese

(I am)___ . / (She is)___ . /(He is)____ .
(watashi wa) / (kanojo wa) / (kare wa)___ desu.
(私は) / (彼女は) / (彼は) ___です。

fine, well: 元気 (genki)

not feeling well: 気分が悪い (kibun ga warui)

sleepy: 眠い (nemui)

tired: 疲れた (tsukareta)

excited: わくわくする・ワクワクする (waku waku)

bored: 退屈 (taikutsu)

sad: 悲しい (kanashii)

lonely: 寂しい (sabishii・samishii)

angry: 怒っている (okotteiru)

Examples of ...

I'm sleepy: (私は)眠いです / (watashiwa) nemui desu

You can use the following expressions to talk about hunger or thirst. In Japanese, you won't find direct translations of the terms "hungry" or "thirsty." Instead, these concepts are described in relation to one's stomach or throat.

hungry (Literal meaning: stomach is empty.): お腹が空いた / onaka ga suita

thirsty (Literal meaning: throat is dry.): のどが渇いた / nodo ga kawaita

full (Literal meaning: stomach is full.): お腹がいっぱい / onaka ga ippai

How To Describe Things Using Japanese

If you would like to describe something else, you can use the following format:

(It) is___.: ___desu. / ___です。

good: 良い (ii)

nice: ナイス (naisu)

not good: 良くない (yokunai)

bad: 悪い (warui)

fun: 楽しい (tanoshii)

difficult: 難しい (muzukashii)

funny, interesting: 面白い (omoshiroi)

not funny, not interesting: 面白くない (omoshirokunai)

boring: つまらない (tsumaranai)

strange: おかしい (okashii)

hot (weather): 暑い (atsui)

hot (object): 熱い (atsui)

warm: 温かい (atatakai)

cold (weather): 寒い (samui)

cold (object): 冷たい (tsumetai)

quiet: 静か (shizuka)

expensive: 高い (takai)

cheap: 安い (yasui)

cute, pretty: 可愛い (kawaii)

beautiful: 綺麗 (kirei)

lovely: 素敵 (suteki)

wonderful: 素晴らしい (subarashii)

terrible: 酷い (hidoi)

the worst: 最悪 (sai aku)

suspicious, shady: 怪しい (ayashii)

unfair: 狡い (zurui)

Examples of ...

It's hot.: 暑いです。 / atsui desu

“She's Nice. He’s Cool.” How to Describe Other People in Japanese

You can also use the same sentence structure to describe people, using either a pronoun, or a name. Once again, the pronoun is considered optional, although it can clarify who you are speaking about, depending on the situation.