How to Say “I speak a little Japanese.” in Japanese

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。


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