a - un

「みる？」 (miru?) 「うん、みる。」 (un, miru.) This is a conversation I had with my teenage son. Not to explain how few words teenagers use—or skip complete sentences—but to show how few words you need in Japanese to communicate perfectly.

Does this give you more confidence? Even you can learn to say what you want in Japanese.

Going back to that chat, it was literally: "watch?" "yes, watch." But in Japanese, you can drop the person, the particles, lots of other things. In English or Dutch, it sounds childish. In Japanese, we actually talk like this all the time. "Watch?" meant "Do you want to watch another episode of Haikyū!! together?" And my answer was "Yes, let's watch it together."

This is called "あうん」 (a-un)—a cultural expression from Buddhism. あ (a) and うん (un) are the first and last sounds of the Sanskrit seed syllable for the cosmic guardians A-un, who stand together in perfect harmony without needing words. It means deep, unspoken understanding between people who know each other well, where just a glance or single word is enough. You'll often hear "あうんの呼吸」 (a-un no kokyū)—"breathing in perfect sync"—to describe couples, teammates, or close friends who move and think as one.

No more need to learn the full sentence if it's intimidating: 「ぼくと　いっしょに　ハイキュー！！の　つぎの　エピソードを　みますか？」 (boku to issho ni Haikyū!! no tsugi no episōdo o mimasu ka?) 「はい、いっしょにみましょう」 (hai, issho ni mimashou). Next time, just use the verb with a question mark!

わかる？ (wakaru?) Do you understand?/Understood?