Japanese study guide
Beginner Japanese Vocabulary: Question Words, Time, and Frequency
Beginner Japanese vocabulary that word-frequency lists undercount — question words, time expressions, and frequency adverbs you need from week one.
Some of the most useful beginner words in Japanese are also the easiest to under-rank on a pure frequency list, because they're function words rather than content words — but you'll reach for them in nearly every real exchange. Question words and time expressions are the clearest example. Here they are, grouped for quick reference.
Question words
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 何 | なに / なん | what |
| 誰 | だれ | who |
| どこ | どこ | where |
| いつ | いつ | when |
| なぜ / どうして | なぜ / どうして | why |
| どう | どう | how |
| どのくらい | どのくらい | how much/long |
| いくら | いくら | how much (cost) |
| どれ | どれ | which one |
| どちら | どちら | which (of two) |
なに vs なん both mean "what" — なん is used before です/ですか and before counters (なんじ, what time), なに elsewhere. It's a small quirk, but a common early trip-up.
Basic time words
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今 | いま | now |
| 今日 | きょう | today |
| 明日 | あした | tomorrow |
| 昨日 | きのう | yesterday |
| 毎日 | まいにち | every day |
| 今週 | こんしゅう | this week |
| 来週 | らいしゅう | next week |
| 先週 | せんしゅう | last week |
| 今朝 | けさ | this morning |
| 今晩 | こんばん | tonight |
Frequency and sequence adverbs
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| いつも | いつも | always |
| よく | よく | often |
| ときどき | ときどき | sometimes |
| たまに | たまに | occasionally |
| あまり | あまり | not very (needs a negative) |
| ぜんぜん | ぜんぜん | not at all (needs a negative) |
| まず | まず | first |
| それから | それから | after that, and then |
| 最後に | さいごに | lastly |
| 一度 | いちど | once |
あまり and ぜんぜん need a negative to close them. Both are negative-polarity adverbs: they open a frame that a negative ending has to finish. あまり食べない (I do not eat much) is correct; あまり食べる is not a sentence. Likewise ぜんぜん分からない (I do not understand at all).
Why these come early
Question words let you ask for anything else you don't know yet — どこですか (where is it?) unlocks whole conversations before you have the vocabulary to say much else. Time and frequency words are what turn a bare verb into a usable sentence: 勉強する (to study) is a fragment, 毎日勉強する (I study every day) is a sentence. Neither category shows up at the very top of raw word-frequency counts the way content nouns do, but you'll use both from your first week onward.
Building on this list
These words work best learned alongside real sentences, since a question word or adverb only really clicks in context — どのくらい means little in isolation, but どのくらいかかりますか (how long does it take?) is immediately usable. Pair each with an example sentence and audio, and review on a spaced schedule so they don't fade; spaced repetition for Japanese covers the mechanics.
For content words to pair with these, see essential JLPT N5 vocabulary or common Japanese vocabulary for everyday conversation.