| ちょっと | chotto | a little (generally more abstract) |
| ちょうど | choudo | exactly |
| 少し | sukoshi | a little; a few (generally more concrete; contrast with "ちょっと"/"chotto") |
| 少々 | shoushou | a little (diminutive) (note that the second kanji indicates "repeat preceding character") |
| 中々 | nakanaka | especially (note that the second kanji indicates "repeat preceding character") |
| すみません | sumimasen | sorry |
| お待ちください | omachi kudasai | please wait ("o" is an honorific prefix, "machi"/"mati" is the stem of "matsu"/"matu" which means "wait", and "kudasai" is explained next) |
| ください | kudasai | special polite conjugation of "give"; ritualistically added after -te form of verbs to indicate a polite request |
| お願いします | onegai shimasu | please (literally: "o" is the honorific prefix, "negai" is the stem of "negau" which means "wish", and "shimasu" is the affirmative, imperfect, distal form of "suru" which means "do"; "I do wish") |
| ありがとうございます | arigatou gozaimasu | thank you very much ("gozaimasu" is the affirmative, imperfect, distal form of "gozaru" which is the humble polite form of "aru" [see verbals section]) |
| いらっしゃいませ | irasshaimase | welcome |
| 誰 | dare | who |
| どなた | donata | who (more polite) |
| 何 | nan/nani (depending on what sound follows it) | what |
| どうして | doushite | why (~literally "how do") |
| 何で | nande | why (~literally "by what") |
| なぜ | naze | why |
| いつ | itsu | when |
| どこ | doko | where (review the other demonstratives) |
| どう | dou | how |
| いかが | ikaga | how (more polite) |
| 大きい | ookii | big |
| 小さい | chiisai | small |
| 見る | miru | see |
| 見せる | miseru | show |
| ある | aru | exist (inanimate objects only); have |
| いる | iru | be, exist (anthropomorphs only) |
| 要る | iru | need |
| 待つ | matsu | wait |
| 願う | negau | wish |
| 休む | yasumu | rest |
| 同じ | onaji | same |
| 傘 | kasa | umbrella |
| 雨 | ame | rain |
| 風 | kaze | wind |
| 雷 | kaminari | thunder |
| 電光 | denkou (alternatively, raikou) | lightning |
| 封筒 | fuutou | envelope |
| ボールペン | boorupen | ball-point pen |
| ノート | nooto | notebook |
| 本 | hon | (used for round, cylindrical thing, e.g. pencils) |
| 冊 | satsu | (used for bound volumes, e.g. books and magazines) |
| 枚 | mai | (used for thin, flat objects, e.g. sheets of paper and envelopes) |
Be careful -- some of these are adjectivals, and some are nominals.
| shiroi | 白い | white |
| haiiro | 灰色 | gray (literally "smoke color") |
| kuroi | 黒い | black |
| akai | 赤い | red |
| orenjiiro | オレンジ色 | orange (literally "orange color") |
| kiiroi | 黄色い | yellow |
| guriin | グリーン | green |
| midori | 緑 | green |
| aoi | 青い | blue (green) (for more information, see wikipedia article for "grue") |
| murasaki | 紫 | purple |