Useful expressions when you want to ask someone out in Japanese

Feb 01 | Evan | No Comments |

Have you ever thought about asking a Japanese girl or guy out? Well, if you ever thought about it, this is going to be a very useful article as there will be some useful expressions you can use to ask a Japanese girl or guy out! Of course, you can try these in Japan when you are on a photo tour of Japan or if you have a love interest in your country who is Japanese, why don’t you impress her/him with these Japanese phrases!! 

Give compliments in Japanese

Just like any language/culture, giving compliments is what you want to do to get your girl/guy’s attention in Japan. More compliments you know, it’ll be better as they can often be used as an opening to get to know the person more or simply to start a conversation. 

Below are some of the useful phrases to give compliments in Japanese. 

That’s a lovely name. 

Suteki na namae desu ne.

すてき　な　なまえ　です　ね。

素敵な名前ですね。

It’s really lovely. 

Sugoku suteki desu. 

すごく　すてき　です。

すごく素敵です。

That suits you so well. 

Totemo niattsute imasu. 

とても　にあって　います。

とても似合っています。

Your nails are so cute. 

Nail kawaii desu ne.

ネイル　かわいい　です　ね。

ネイル可愛いですね。

Today’s clothes are lovely. 

Kyou no fuku kawaii desu ne.

きょう の　ふく　かわいい　です　ね。

今日の服可愛いですね。

Of course, some of these may not be useful to ask a guy out, but if you know more Japanese, get inspired to tweek here or there so that you can use these compliments in Japanese to be more suitable to your love interests. For example, instead of the word “kawaii(cute)”, you can use “katsukoii(cool)” if you want to give compliments when something is cool. 

Time to ask out a Japanese girl/guy! 

Now you have given a compliment or two, it’s time to ask out the girl/guy you are interested in. Of course, if you know more Japanese, play with your words, have a conversation, but these are some common ways for Japanese to ask someone out. 

Can we go out to eat together?

Issho ni gohan ni ikimasen ka? 

いっしょ　に　ごはん　に　いきません　か？

一緒にご飯に行きませんか？

It was fun today. I’d love to play again. 

Kyou wa tanoshikatta desu. Mata asobitai na.

きょう　は　たのしかった　です。また　あそびたい　な。

今日は楽しかったです。また遊びたいな。

I fell for you at first sight. 

Hitomebore shimashita

ひとめぼれ　しました。

一目惚れ　しました。

Do you have a BF/GF? 

Koibito ha imasu ka? (*In Japanese it is written ha, but you pronounce “wa.”)

こいびと　は　います　か？

恋人はいますか？

To tell you the truth, a lot of times Japanese people do not like to give out their phone numbers to total strangers nowadays. Thus, making it more casual and more approachable, ask for his/her Line, Instagram or some forms of social media or communication tools instead of the phone number first. That will increase your likelihood of getting her/his communication. 

Can we exchange Line? 

Line wo koukan shimasen ka? 

Line　を　こうかん　しません　か？

Lineを交換しませんか？

Do you have Instagram?

Insta yattsute imasu ka? 

インスタ　やって　います　か？

インスタやっていますか？

Of course, there are many different ways to give compliments and also ask someone out in Japanese. These are just starters. If your love interests know English, you may not need to try so hard in Japanese, but every effort counts, right? If you know more Japanese, play with these phrases with the words you know. You can switch nouns and adjectives so that they fit your case. Also, just like the rest of the world, more Japanese are becoming online dependent when meeting new people so you can use these when communicating online, but if you are more old school and want to ask her/him out, you can also use these in person. Choose your battle and hope you can be successful at asking your love interests out. Good luck!