The Japanese are very meticulous when it comes to time. So much so that their train schedules are very accurate (up to the minute!).
In this article we will be talking about time. You will learn how to effectively convey time and schedules in Japanese.
Days of the Week in Japanese
English | Japanese |
|---|---|
Monday | Getsu youbi (月曜日) |
Tuesday | Ka youbi (火曜日) |
Wednesday | Sui youbi (水曜日) |
Thursday | Moku youbi (木曜日) |
Friday | Kin youbi (金曜日) |
Saturday | Do youbi (土曜日) |
Sunday | Nichi youbi (日曜日) |
Months in Japanese
English | Japanese |
|---|---|
January | Ichi gatsu (一月) |
February | Nigatsu (二月) |
March | Sangatsu (三月) |
April | Shigatsu (四月) |
May | Gogatsu (五月) |
June | Rokugatsu (六月) |
July | Shichigatsu(七月) |
August | Hachigatsu (八月) |
September | Kugatsu (九月) |
October | Juugatsu (十月) |
November | Juuichigatsu (十一月) |
December | Juunigastsu (十二月) |
What month? | Nangatsu (何月) |
Some noteworthy words here are shigatsu (四月), shichigatsu (七月) and Kugatsu(九月). Shi and shichi are used and not the colloquial numbers “yon” and “nana”. As for September it’s Kugatsu and not Kyuugatsu.
For phrases like, “in 3 months, in 5 months”, the small word ka/ke(ヶ) is used, and getsu is used instead of gatsu. Which means 3 months is san ka getsu (三ヶ月) and 5 months is go ka getsu (五ヶ月).
Days of the month in Japanese
English | Japanese | English | Japanese | English | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st day | Tsuitachi (一日) | 12th day | Juuni nichi (十二日) | 23rd day | Ni juusan nichi (二十三日) |
2nd day | Ni juusan nichi (二十三日) | 13th day | Juusan nichi (十三日) | 24th day | Ni juuyon nichi (二十四日) |
3rd day | Mikka (三日) | 14th day | Juu yokka (十四日) | 25th day | Ni juugo nichi (二十五日) |
4th day | Yokka (四日) | 15th day | Juugo nichi (十五日) | 26th day | Ni juuroku nichi (二十六日) |
5th day | Itsuka (五日) | 16th day | Juuroku nichi (十六日) | 27th day | Ni juunana nichi (二十七日) |
6th day | Muika (六日) | 17th day | Juushichi nichi(十七日) | 28th day | Ni juuhachi nichi (二十八日) |
7th day | Nanoka (七日) | 18th day | Juuhachi nichi(十八日) | 29th day | Ni juu kyuu nichi (二十九日) |
8th day | Youka (八日 | 19th day | Juuku nichi （十九日） | 30th day | San juu nichi（三十日） |
9th day | Kokonoka (九日) | 20th day | Hatsuka （二十日） | 31th day | San juuichi nichi (三十一日) |
10th day | Tohka (十日) | 21st day | Ni juuichi nichi (二十一日) | What day? | Nan nichi? （何日?） |
11th day | Juuichi nichi (十一日) | 22nd day | Ni juuni nichi (二十二日) | Cell | |
The words in red are the special days that do not follow the standard Japanese numbering. These are very important so please take note of these special days.
Non-Number Time Setting
For words that signify a time setting but do not have a number with them, please refer to the table below:
Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|
Yesterday – kinou (昨日) | Today – kyou (今日) | Tomorrow – ashita (明日) |
Last week – sen shuu (先週) | This week – kon shuu (今週) | Next week – rai shuu (来週) |
Last month – sengetsu (先月) | This month – kongetsu (今月) | Next month – raigetsu (来月) |
Last year – kyonen (去年) | This year – kotoshi (今年) | Next year – rainen (来年) |
Telling Time in Japanese
Telling time in Japanese is just the same with the other rules. For telling time, you just need to add the word ji (時) to signify the word “o’clock”.
1 o’clock – ichi ji (一時)
5 o’clock – go ji (五時)
8:30 – hachi ji han (八時半) – just add the word han (半) to signify the 30 minutes. This is only applicable for 30 minutes.
For minutes use the word fun (分) which is pronounced as “foon”. Just like the other topics mentioned above, there is a special pronunciation depending on the number.
Minute | Fun(分) |
|---|---|
1 | Ippun (一分) |
2 | Nifun (二分) |
3 | Sanpun (三分) |
4 | Yonpun (四分) |
5 | Gofun (五分) |
6 | Roppun (六分) |
7 | Nanafun (七分) |
8 | Happun (八分) |
9 | Kyuufun (九分) |
10 | Juupunn(十分) |
What time? | Nanji (何時) |
This rule also follows for those that end in the aforementioned numbers. For example, 32 minutes is sanjuu ni fun (三十二分).
Here are a few more examples for telling time.
1:13 – Ichi ji juu sanpun (一時十三分)
4:58 – yon ji go juu happun (四時五十八分)
8:27 – hachi ji ni juu nanafun (八時二十七分)
4:30 – yon ji han (四時半)
Finally, for telling the difference between AM and PM, just add the words gozen (午前) and gogo (午後) respectively.
5:30AM – gozen goji han (午前五時半)
6:36PM – gogo roku ji san juu roppun (午後六時三十六分)
Conclusion
We have finally finished the entire topic about time in Japanese. It should probably take you around san juu happun (三十八分) to finish the entire article. Keep practicing and familiarizing these words and you’ll be able to tell time in no time!
Mata neまたね！ (See you later!)