The 1000 Most Common Japanese Words: 901–1000

Frequency-ordered vocabulary list · kanji, reading, romaji and meaning

The final stretch: society, work and life stages, professions, and the grammar-like expressions that shape meaning — should, must, might, despite, thanks to. Learning these makes written Japanese far easier to follow.

Every entry below shows the word as it is normally written, its reading in hiragana or katakana, the romaji transcription and the English meaning. You can turn this exact range into printable flashcards with the free tool — set the range to 901–1000 and print.

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#	Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
901	ことに		koto ni	In particular
902	必ず	かならず	kanarazu	Without fail / Always
903	大抵	たいてい	taitei	Usually
904	どうやら		douyara	It seems
905	なんとか		nantoka	Somehow
906	ようやく		youyaku	Finally / At last
907	まさに		masa ni	Exactly
908	さらに		sara ni	Furthermore / Additionally
909	一方	いっぽう	ippou	On the other hand
910	いずれ		izure	Someday / Either way
911	代わりに	かわりに	kawari ni	Instead / In return
912	主に	おもに	omo ni	Mainly / Primarily
913	他に	ほかに	hoka ni	Additionally / Besides
914	中でも	なかでも	naka de mo	Among them / Especially
915	特に	とくに	toku ni	Especially / In particular
916	ぜひ		zehi	By all means
917	いっそ		isso	Rather / It would be better
918	まさか		masaka	No way! / Surely not
919	なんと		nanto	What a …! / Surprisingly
920	やはり		yahari	As expected
921	よく		yoku	Often / Well
922	あまり		amari	Not very (with neg) / Too much
923	あまりにも		amari ni mo	Way too much
924	今さら	いまさら	imasara	Now of all times / Too late
925	そのため		sono tame	For that reason
926	それ以来	それいらい	sore irai	Ever since then
927	一応	いちおう	ichiou	For now / Just in case
928	とにかく		tonikaku	Anyway / At any rate
929	たとえ		tatoe	Even if
930	おそらく		osoraku	Probably
931	おそらく		osoraku	Perhaps
932	あるいは		aruiwa	Or / Alternatively
933	かつ		katsu	And also / Moreover
934	ならば		naraba	If that is the case
935	ような		you na	Like / As if
936	らしい		rashii	Seems / Apparently
937	そうだ		sou da	I heard that / It seems
938	はずだ		hazu da	Should be / Expected to
939	かもしれない		kamoshirenai	Might be / Perhaps
940	に違いない	にちがいない	ni chigai nai	Must be / No doubt
941	だろう		darou	Probably / I think
942	べきだ		beki da	Should / Ought to
943	てはいけない		te wa ikenai	Must not
944	なければならない		nakereba naranai	Must / Have to
945	てもいい		te mo ii	It's okay to / May
946	た方がいい	たほうがいい	ta hou ga ii	It's better to
947	というより		to iu yori	Rather than
948	のに		noni	Even though / Despite
949	ながら		nagara	While doing
950	てから		te kara	After doing
951	前に	まえに	mae ni	Before doing
952	間に	あいだに	aida ni	During / While
953	について		ni tsuite	About / Regarding
954	にとって		ni totte	For (someone's perspective)
955	によって		ni yotte	By / Depending on
956	に対して	にたいして	ni taishite	Toward / Against
957	にもかかわらず		ni mo kakawarazu	Despite / In spite of
958	おかげで		okage de	Thanks to
959	せいで		sei de	Because of (negative)
960	ために		tame ni	In order to / For
961	変わる	かわる	kawaru	To change
962	増える	ふえる	fueru	To increase
963	減る	へる	heru	To decrease
964	進む	すすむ	susumu	To advance / Progress
965	戻る	もどる	modoru	To return / Go back
966	育つ	そだつ	sodatsu	To grow
967	縮む	ちぢむ	chijimu	To shrink
968	伸びる	のびる	nobiru	To extend / Grow
969	広がる	ひろがる	hirogaru	To spread / Expand
970	狭まる	せばまる	sebamaru	To narrow
971	まとめる		matomeru	To summarize / Organize
972	分ける	わける	wakeru	To divide / Separate
973	合わせる	あわせる	awaseru	To combine / Match
974	比べる	くらべる	kuraberu	To compare
975	選ぶ	えらぶ	erabu	To select / Choose
976	並べる	ならべる	naraberu	To arrange
977	重ねる	かさねる	kasaneru	To stack / Overlap
978	貯める	ためる	tameru	To save up / Accumulate
979	使い果たす	つかいはたす	tsukaihatasu	To use up
980	受け入れる	うけいれる	ukeireru	To accept
981	酒	さけ	sake	Rice wine / Alcohol
982	紅茶	こうちゃ	koucha	Black tea
983	ミネラルウォーター		mineraru wootaa	Mineral water
984	天才	てんさい	tensai	Genius
985	普通人	ふつうじん	futsuujin	Ordinary person
986	主人公	しゅじんこう	shujinkou	Main character / Protagonist
987	仲間	なかま	nakama	Companion / Fellow
988	ライバル		raibaru	Rival
989	先輩	せんぱい	senpai	Senior (in school/work)
990	後輩	こうはい	kouhai	Junior (in school/work)
991	同期	どうき	douki	Same year / Peer cohort
992	伝統	でんとう	dentou	Tradition
993	文化	ぶんか	bunka	Culture
994	文明	ぶんめい	bunmei	Civilization
995	歴史	れきし	rekishi	History
996	哲学	てつがく	tetsugaku	Philosophy
997	科学	かがく	kagaku	Science
998	芸術	げいじゅつ	geijutsu	Art
999	人間	にんげん	ningen	Human being
1000	命	いのち	inochi	Life

All 1000 words

1–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500 501–600 601–700 701–800 801–900 901–1000