Hello hello hello! I see you came here to enjoy another Ghibli perfect weekend watch! Amazing! If you are here, it means you’ve already watched Totoro and learned over 300 Japanese words! If you haven’t click here, we advice you to at least revise the vocabulary, as we are snowballing the vocabulary with each movie (we do not repeat the words from Totoro in our Ponyo vocabulary)! So… PONYO

Who is Ponyo? Unlike Totoro, I have a feeling a lot of you are not familiar with Ponyo. Well, the story is about a boy Sasuke, who one day sees a goldfish with a human face. He names her Ponyo, and we kind of go from there. Ponyo uses her magic to become a human girl and the world has to deal with the consequences.

Where to watch? I again recommend watching it on Netflix, as there are Japanese subtitles, and once again, all the kanji have hiragana over them, so if you like to read, its perfect for you!

What level is it? Although, the grammar in Ponyo is very similar to Totoro, i.e, quite basic and easy to grasp, the vocabulary might seem a bit more challenging, as many N3, N2 and N1 words are introduced. Do not get discouraged just yet! These words are mostly used whenever “adults” talk about the events of the movie, such as tsunami, faith of the ocean and other… So please don’t stress if you find it difficult to memorise words like じゅうりょくば – gravitational field. It is much more important to get familiar and comfortable with N5 and N4 words, like ねつ – fever, うんめい – fate, destiny, ひざ – knee, etc.

BEFORE WE START

Once again, you are going to get a 300+ word vocabulary! You can also download it, or use a Quizlet! PLUS, you can get your own printable flashcards with 72 nouns from Ponyo!

Tip: if you feel overwhelmed and confused by the vocabulary, and you have never watched Ponyo before, watch the movie in English to grasp the idea and context.

Nouns

きんぎょ – goldfish
エンジン – engine
にんげん – human being; human
うみ – sea, ocean
かんそう – dryness; dehydration; desiccation
ほいくえん – preschool
ふね – ship, boat
けが – injury, wound
まほう – magic; witchcraft
ハム – ham
いす – chair
ねつ – fever
ひまわり – sunflower
デブ – fat; chubby
わるぐち – slander; bad-mouthing
こえ – voice
いろ – colour
あか – red
じんめんぎょ – fish with a human-looking face
つなみ – tsunami
はま – seashore, beach
ふく – clothes
うんめい – fate, destiny
ひとくち – bite
バケツ – bucket
おき – open sea
しんごう – signal, traffic light
がけ – cliff; precipice
にょうぼう – wife (esp. one’s own wife)
こんや – tonight
そと – outside, other place; somewhere else
でんき – electricity, lights
てんさい – genius
おくさん – wife
ぶじ – safety; security
おなじ – same; identical; equal
ごはん – meal
ぶん – part, portion
のうじょう – farm
いき – breath; breathing
いきもの – living thing; living creature
いのち – life
ち – blood
こたい – individual; specimen
いんし – factor
おせん – pollution; contamination
かくせい – waking up; awakening; arousal; revival
パワー – power
ちから – power, strength
けっかい – barrier
せいたいけい – ecosystem
バランス – balance
せいせい – refining; purification
しあがり – finish; end
いど – water well
じだい – epoch; era
カンブリアき – Cambrian period
せいめい – life; existence
ばくはつ – explosion
は – tooth
たつまき – tornado; waterspout
せんちょう – captain
なみ – wave
レーダー – radar
むせん – radio, wireless
ぬけあな – secret passage; underground passage, loophole
ドア – door
ていでん – power outage
おとまり – sleepover; overnight stay
あらし – storm
はっせい – occurrence; incidence
たいふう – typhoon; hurricane
せいりょく – power; might; force
テレビ – TV
きしょうだい – meteorological observatory
てんきよほう – weather forecast
バッタ – grasshopper
ベルト – belt, seat belt
ひなん – taking refuge; finding shelter
めいれい – taking refuge; finding shelter
レインコート – rain coat
はだし – barefoot
におい – scent; smell
おちゃ – tea (usually green)
あかり – light
おか – hill
すいどう – water supply
タンク – tank (of fluid)
ガス – gas
はつでんき – power generator
つうしん – communication; transmission
まほうつかい – magician; wizard
ガソリン – gasoline; petrol
アンテナ – antenna
でんぱ – radio wave
とうだい – lighthouse
つき – moon
しんろ – course; direction
アメリカ – USA
みなと – harbour, port
はかば – graveyard; cemetery
いりぐち – entrance, gate
ていし – coming to a stop; standstill
しお – tide, current
シーアンカー – sea anchor
うしろ – back; behind; rear
デボンき – Devonian period
ぜんぶ – all; entire; whole; altogether
せかい – world, society
ボーイフレンド – boyfriend
しまつ – dealing with; settlement; cleaning up
じんこうえいせい – artificial satellite; man-made satellite
ほし – star
じゅうりょくば – gravitational field
ほうかい – collapse; crumbling; breaking down
こころ – heart

ほうほう – method; process
あわ – bubble; foam
くだ or かん – pipe; tube
ロケット – rocket
かじ – rudder; helm
こだい – ancient times
やりかた – way (of doing); manner; method
ボート – boat
なまえ – name
あかちゃん – baby, infant
スープ – soup
オッパイ – breast milk
ふなまつり – boat festival
てつだい – help, assistance
せんだん – fleet, group of ships
ホテル – hotel
いどう – movement; transfer
ぶじ – safety
ひ – fire, flame
のこり – residue; remaining; left-over
こうえん – park
ふんとう – strenuous effort; hard struggle; working hard
きたい – expectation; anticipation; hope
ろうそく – candle
カー – car
くるま – car
ひざかげ – lap blanket
ひざ – knee
くじら – whale
あつまり – gathering; meeting
あい – love, affection
しれん – test; trial; ordeal
しんせい – holiness; sacredness; sanctity; dignity
たちあいにん – witness; observer
みかた – friend; ally; supporter
らんぼう – violence; assault; rowdiness; wildness
じつ – truth; reality
ほんとう – truth; reality
すがた – figure; form; shape
はんぎょじん – merman; half man-half fish
しょうたい – true character; true form
みもとひきうけにん – guarantor; surety; person responsible for another’s behavior
ちじょう – above ground; on the ground
キス – kiss
くるまいす – wheelchair

Verbs

いきる – to live, to come to live
かける – to turn on (an engine, radio, etc.)
つかまる – to be caught; to be arrested
ちこくする – to be late, to arrive late
ひろう – to pick up; to gather
さける – to avoid
もっていく – to take (something) along; to bring with one
まもる – to protect; to guard
はいる – to enter, to come in
なおる – to get better; to recover, to heal
きめる – to decide; to choose
かう – to buy
たす – to add (something); to top up (with something)
もつ – to hold (in one’s hand); to take; to carry
なくなる – to disappear
よぶ – to call, to summon
あがる – to rise; to go up; to come up; to ascend
あやまる – to apologise
かえる – to change; to alter
うまれる – to be born
たれる – to hang; to droop, to drip
がっかりする – to be disappointed
おりる – to go down; to come down
おく – to put to place, leave behind
たのむ – to request, to ask
ことわる – to refuse; to reject
ほおりだす – to abandon; to neglect
あいする – to love
いのる – to pray, to wish, to hope
よごれる – to become sullied; to become corrupted
おしえる – to tell; to inform; to show, to teach
きこえる – to be heard; to be audible
うばいとる – to grab; to snatch
やめる – to resign; to retire; to quit
ためる – to taste, to lick
たりる – to be sufficient; to be enough
しずまる – to calm down; to die down, to quiet down
ちをひく – to inherit
おさえる – to pin down; to hold down; to press down
もらう – to receive
すぎる – to pass through; to pass by
ゆるむ – to become loose
くずす – to destroy; to demolish
おちつける – to quiet; to calm down; to compose oneself
おわる – to end; to come to an end; to finish
なおす – to repair; to fix
はじまる – to begin, to start
ひけんする – to rank equal with; to compare favourably with
あげる – to give
たもつ – to hold; to maintain
とばす – to make fly; to send flying
ふくらむ – to expand; to swell (out); to get big
ちんぼつする – to sink, to submerge

わたる – to cross over; to go across
はしる – to run
おどろく – to be surprised; to be astonished
ぬぐ – to take off, to undress
ふく – to wipe, to dry
つかまる – to be caught; to be arrested
ぬれる – to get wet
せきにつく – to sit on a seat
おこす – to start; to begin; to launch
とじこめる – to lock up; to shut up; to imprison
くさる – to go bad; to spoil
つまる – to be blocked (road, pipe, nose, etc.); to be clogged;
いれる – to put in, to insert
めしあげる – to eat; to drink
はげむ – to work hard; to try hard
あつまる – to gather; to collect
おろす- to take down; to bring down; to lower
はる – to stick; to paste, to form
ばける – to take the form of
みちる – to fill; to become full (of)
たくわえる – to store; to save up
はめつする – to ruin; to destroy;
ゆらぐ – to swing; to sway; to shake; to tremble
うしなう – to lose
しくじる – to fail; to blunder; to mess up; to screw up
うく – to float
みはる – to stand watch; to stand guard; to look out
くれる – to give; to let (one) have
つづける – to continue; to keep on
こわがる – to be afraid of; to fear
つらい – painful; bitter; heart-breaking
だます – to trick; to deceive
すくう – to rescue from; to help out of; to save
とぶ – to jump, to leap
すてる – to abandon; to desert; to leave
あるく – to walk

Adjectives

へん – strange
マズイ – awkward; problematic; troublesome
かど – excessive; immoderate
きれい – clean; clear; pure
ぶきみ – weird; ominous; eerie
きたない – dirty; filthy
きれい – pretty, beautiful
だいなし – spoiled; ruined;
つらい – painful; bitter; heart-breaking; difficult (emotionally), tough
あやしい – suspicious; dubious; questionable
いまわしい – unpleasant; disgusting
ほしい – wanting (to have); desiring; wishing for
せんてんてき – inborn; innate; inherent
れっとう – inferiority; low grade
よこしま – wicked; evil
つよい – strong
おさない – very young; little
むく – pure; innocent
あぶない – dangerous; risky
くるしい – distressing
へいき – cool; calm
もうれつ – intense; severe; violent　
だらしない – weak, feeble
くしゃくしゃ – crumpled; wrinkled; creased
たかい – high, tall
ふしぎ – wonderful; marvelous
うるさい – noisy, loud
あつい – hot
ほんかくてき – genuine; real; authentic
しずか – quiet; silent
まるい – round; circular
あちい – hot (colloquial)
すばらしい – wonderful, splendid
ちかい – near, close
ひどい – cruel; heartless, terrible, awful

Adverbs

まえに – ahead; before
たしかに – surely; certainly
まったく – really; truly; entirely
どれほど – how much; how many
あれほど – to that extent
かつて – once; before; formerly
さすが – as one would expect
やはり – as expected; sure enough
ふたたび – once more; a second time
とつじょ – suddenly
ひじょうに – very; extremely
とにかく – anyway; anyhow
こう – in this way
とおく – far away; distant place
せったい – absolutely; definitely; unconditionally
しばらく – for a moment, for a while
まっすぐ – straightforward, frank, honest
うまいこと – nicely; skillfully

Other

うるさい！ – shut up!
しかし – however

Save the Ocean with Ponyo