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Japan Know How

The air conditioning isn’t working in Japanese

The air conditioning isn't working in Japanese

エアコンが動きません

In kana only: エアコンがうごきません

eakon ga ugokimasen

polite

What it literally says

the air conditioner does not move

Japanese politeness is mostly built out of phrases that stopped being literal a long time ago. Knowing what is underneath is the difference between repeating a sound and knowing what you said.

When to use it

Ugokimasen works for anything mechanical that has stopped.

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The rest of the phrasebook

All 337 phrases →