MONTH – GATSU
January – ichi gatsu July – shichi gatsu
February – ni gatsu August – hachi gatsu
March – san gatsu September – ku gatsu
April – shi gatsu October – ju gatsu
May – go gatsu November – ju ichi gatsu
June – roku gatsu December – ju ni gatsu
DATE – NICHI
1st day – 6th day – 11th day – ju 16th day – ju 21st day – ni ju 26th day – ni ju
tsuitachi muika ichi nichi roku nichi ichi nichi roku nichi
2nd day – 7th day – 12th day – ju ni 17th day – ju 22nd day – ni ju 27th day – niju
futsuka nanoka nichi shichi nichi ni nichi shichi nichi
3rd day – 8th day – yoka 13th day – ju 18th day – ju 23rd day – ni ju 28th day – ni ju
mikka san nichi hachi nichi san nichi hachi nichi
4th day – yokka 9th day – 14th day – ju 19th day – ju 24th day - ni ju 29th day – ni j
kokonoka yokka ku nichi yokka uku nichi
5th day – 10th day – toka 15th day – ju 20th day – 25th day – ni ju 30th day – san
vitsuka go nichi hatsuka go nichi ju ichi nichi
DAYS OF THE WEEK
Sunday – nichi youbi
Monday – getsu youbi
Tuesday – ka youbi
Wednesday – sui youbi
Thursday – moku youbi
Friday – kin youbi
Saturday – do youbi
How to tell the time in Japanese:
ichiji 1 o’clock shichiji 7 o’clock
niji 2 o’clock hachiji 8 o’clock
sanji 3 o’clock kuji 9 o’clock
yoji 4 o’clock juuji 10 o’clock
goji 5 o’clock juuichiji 11 o’clock
rokuji 6 o’clock juuniji 12 o’clock
ji means o’clock and nanji means what time
Ippun 1 minute juugofun 15 minutes
Nifun 2 minutes nijuppun 20 minutes
sanpun 3 minutes nijuugofun 25 minutes
yonpun 4 minutes sanjuppun 30 minutes
Gofun 5 minutes sanjuugofun 35 minutes
roppun 6 minutes yonjuppun 40 minutes
nanafun 7 minutes yonjuugofun 45 minutes
happun 8 minutes gojuppun 50 minutes
kyuufun 9 minutes gojuugofun 55 minutes
juppun 10 minutes rokujuppun 60 minutes
fun or pun is the numeral classifier for minute and nanpun means how many minutes?
Examples (Reibun):
8:15 hachiji juugofun
10:20 juuji nijuppun
11:45 juuichiji yonjuugofun
12:10 juuniji juppun
1:30 ichiji sanjuppun/ichiji han
3:35 sanji sanjuugofun
5:30 goji han/goji sanjuppun
5 minutes before 3 sanji gofun mae
10 minutes before 12 juuniji juppun mae
15 minutes before 10 juuji juugofun mae
5 minutes past 9 kuji gofun sugi
15 minutes past 11 juuichiji juugofun sugi
it’s 5 minutes advanced gofun susundeimasu
it’s 10 minutes advanced juppun susundeimasu
it’s 5 minutes late gofun okureteimasu
it’s 10 minutes late juppun okureteimasu
7:30 am gozen shichiji han
11:30 am gozen juuichiji han
4:30 pm gogo yoji han
5:30 pm gogo goji han
Vocabulary (Tango)
advanced susundeimasu sugi Past
late okureteimasu tokei watch; clock
am gozen asa Morning
pm gogo yoru night; evening
half past han kara From
now ima made until; up to
exactly; just choodo susunde-imasu advanced/be too fast
before mae okurete-imasu late; be too slow
afternoon hiru shoogo Noon
right; keep good time aitemasu from 10:30 in asa juuji han kara
from 8:00 to 5:00 hachiji kara goji made the morning yoru kuji made
up to 9:00 in
the evening
Sentences (Bunshoo)
What time is it now? Ima nanji desu ka.
It’s exactly 10 o’clock. Choodo juuji desu.
It’s 5 minutes past 5 o’clock now. Ima goji gofun sugi desu.
Is that watch right? Sono tokei wa atteimasu ka.
Yes, it’s right. Hai, atteimasu.
No, it’s not right. Iie, atteimasen.
Is this watch advanced or late? Gofun susundeimasu ka okureteimasu ka.
Dialogue (Taiwa)
What time is it now? Ima nanji desu ka.
It’s 6 o’clock. Rokuji desu.
What time is it now in Japan? Nihon wa ima nanji desu ka.
It’s nine o’clock. Kuji desu.
Is it 9 pm? Gogo kuji desu ka.
Yes, it is. Ee, soo desu.
How to ask for time in Japanese?
Ima nan ji desu ka。 What time is it now?
… ima gozen 10 ji han desu。 Time now is 10:30 am.
Notes:
1. If you are going to use am / pm in the sentence it should be read and place before the time.
2. “Nanji” is composed of “nan”, meaning “what” and “ji”, which means “o’clock”. So, when
combined, it literally means “what o’ clock” or in English “what time”. “desu ka” means “is it?’.
Therefore, altogether the expression, Nanji desu ka? means “What time is it?”
3. Moo osoi desu ne. This expression is said when one thinks that it is already late. The sentence
may be translated literally as follows. “Moo” is “already”;”osio”, “late”;”desu” is “it is”; and
“ne” is “Isn’t it?”. Thus, literally it goes like this: “Already late it is, isn’t it?”. In English, “It’s
already late, isn’t it?”
4. Osoku natte sumimasen. (I’m sorry I’m late.) “Osoku” comes form the word “osoi” which means
“late”. “Natte” comes from “naru” which means “to become”, and “sumimasen” means “I’m
sorry”, “For being late, I’m sorry” or easily said, “I’m sorry for being late.”
5. Doo shitan desu ka. (What happened?). “Doo” means “how”, “shitan” is the informal past form
of “suru” “to do”; “desu ka” is a question-form ending. So the literal translation is “How did you
do?” or “What happened?”.
6. Daijooboo desu ka. (Are you alright?) “Daijoobu” means “alright”; “desu ka” “is it? So, “Is it
alright?”
7. Komarimashita ne. (We were in trouble, weren’t we?) is said when one is in trouble. Its root
word is “komaru”, “to be in trouble.”
