by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “I speak a little Japanese.” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
I speak a little Japanese.
日本語少し話せます。
nihongo sukoshi hanasemasu
- I speak ＝ 私は話せます watashiwa* hanasemasu
- a little ＝ 少し sukoshi
- Japanese ＝ 日本語 nihongo
*We do not usually say “私は (watashiwa) = I” in everyday conversation.
日本語
Japanese
＋
少し
a little
＋
話せます
speak
You can say “ちょっと (chotto)” instead of “少し”. They have the same meaning, but “ちょっと” sounds more casual than “少し”.
When you talk to a friend, you can say like this :
日本語ちょっと話せるよ。
nihongo chotto hanaseruyo
(polite)
日本語少し話せます。
(casual)
日本語ちょっと話せるよ。