When you go to a building in Japan, it’s useful to know how to talk about floors, like the 1st floor, basement, or what floor something is on.
In this lesson, you’ll learn:
- Useful vocabulary about buildings and floors
- How to ask “What floor is it?”
- How to say “It’s on the 2nd floor”
- With romaji, N5 grammar, and example conversations!
Let’s go up the building, step by step!
Vocabulary (単語・たんご)
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 建物 | tatemono | building |
| 階 | kai / -gai | floor (level) |
| 一階 | ikkai | 1st floor |
| 二階 | nikai | 2nd floor |
| 三階 | sankai | 3rd floor |
| 四階 | yonkai | 4th floor |
| 五階 | gokai | 5th floor |
| 地下 | chika | basement/underground |
| 何階 | nankai | what floor? |
| エレベーター | erebētā | elevator |
Grammar Point (文法・ぶんぽう)
1. N は 〜階 に あります。
[Noun] wa [floor] ni arimasu
➡️ “[Noun] is on the [floor].”
📌 Use あります for things (non-living), and います for people.
Example:
トイレは二階にあります。
Toire wa nikai ni arimasu.
👉 The toilet is on the second floor.
2. [Place] は 何階ですか。
[Place] wa nankai desu ka
➡️ “What floor is [place] on?”
Example:
レストランは何階ですか。
Resutoran wa nankai desu ka?
👉 What floor is the restaurant on?
Notes:
- 階 (かい) is the counter for floors.
- Be careful: 1st floor = いっかい (ikkai), not “ichikai”.
- Pronunciation exception:
- 1st floor = いっかい (ikkai)
- 6th = ろっかい (rokkai), 8th = はっかい (hakkai), 10th = じゅっかい (jukai)
Practice Conversation
A: トイレはどこですか。
Toire wa doko desu ka?
👉 Where is the toilet?
B: 一階にあります。
Ikkai ni arimasu.
👉 It’s on the first floor.
