How To Tell Time, Days, of the Week
and Months of the Year
FL100
Dr. Lety Chawag
Learning Outcomes
Express time of the day, day of the week and month of the year in
Nipongo.
Determine the composition of each time expression.
Use appropriate time expressions when making an appointment.
Questions Requiring Time Expressions as
Answers
• What day is today? Kyoo wa nan yoobi desu ka?
• When is your birthday? Anata no tanjoobi wa itsu desu ka? Watashi no tanjoobi wa
senkyuuhyaku- roku-juukyuu-nen
roku-gatsu nanoka desu.
What day? Nan yoobi? Mokuyoobi.
• What day is it? Nan yoobi desu ka? Mokuyoobi desu.
• What time is it? Ima nanji desu ka? Gogo jyuuni-ji
sanjyuuppun
What time is it? “ Ima nanji desu ka? Gozen go-ji gojyuusanpun
( It is 5:53 a.m.)
How to Express Time
What time is it? Ima nanji desu ka?
It is 5:53 a.m. Gozen go-ji gojyuusanpun desu.
How long does it Koko kara anatao no uchi made dono
take from here to your house? gurai kakarimasu ka?
It takes about an hour. Ichiijikan gurai kakarimasu.
Note: “gurai” is used to mean “ about” when referring to a particular length of
time.
A Quick Review of Japanese Numbers
Original Japanese Chinese Origin
5th-6th Century 7th-8th Century
1 hiji ichi Itsu
2 fuu ni Ji
3 mi san San
4 yo shi Shi
5 itsu go Go
6 mu roku Riku
7 nana shichi Shitsu
8 ya hachi Hatsu
9 ko ku Kyuu
10 too juu tioshuu
Japanese prefer to use the numbers introduced during the 5 th-6th centuries with the exemption of # 4 and number 7.
Standard Numbers Used by Japanese Today
1 ichi
11 = juu (10) + ichi (1) = juuichi
2 ni
21= ni (2) X juu (10) + ichi (1) = nijuiiichi
3 san
100= hyaku
4 shi 101 = hyaku (100) + ichi (1) = hyaku ichi
5 go
sen = one thousand
6 roku
man – ten thousand
7 shichi
100,000 = juuman
8 hachi
9 ku hyakuman – I00 million
10 juu
How to Express Hours and Minutes
O’clock is translated as “ji”
1 o’clock ichiji 7 o’clock Nanaji
2 o’ clock niji 8 o’clock hachiji
3 o’clock sanji 9 o’clock Kyuuji
4 o’clock yoji 10 o’clock Juuji
5 o’clock goji 11 o’clock Juuichiji
6 o’clock rokuji 12 o’clock juuniji
Note:
3:00 sanji
3:10 sanjijuupun
3:30 sanjisanjuupun
5:53 a.m gozen go-ji gojyuusanpun Note: “Gozen” means “ a.m.”
6:11 p.m. Gogo roku-ji juuippun “ Gogo” means “p.m.”
How to Express /Count Minutes
Question? How many minutes? Instruction: Attach the Suffix “ pun” or “fun” to the Numbers
1 Minute ippun 11 minutes Juuipun 21 minutes nijuuippun
2 Minutes nifun 12 Minutes juunifun 22 Minutes nijuunippun
3 Minutes sanpun 13 Minutes juusanpun 23 Minutes nijuusanpun
4 Minutes yonpun 14 Minutes juuyonpun 24 Minutes nijuuyonpun
5 Minutes gofun 15 Minutes juugofun 25 Minutes nijuugofun
6 Minutes roppun 16 Minutes juuroppun 26 Minutes nijuuroppun
7 Minutes nanapun 17 Minutes juunnafun 27 Minutes nijuunanafun
8 Minutes hachifun 18 Minutes juuhappun 28 Minutes nijuuhappun
Things to remember
When Telling Date and Time
Specific
Time Relative Time
Ex: in June, on the 13th Ex: next week, yesterday, last month
If the given time is specific, Do not use the particle “ni” if the time
use the particle “ni.” expression indicates relative time. Just
add the particle “ wa.”
He will come in June.
Kare wa rokugatsu ni kimasu. He will come next week.
Kare wa raishuu kimasu.
Reminders:
1.Nani – composed o “nan” meaning “what” and “ji” meaning “o’clock
Ima nanji desu ka? What time is it?
Choodo juuji desu. It is exactly 10 o’clock.
2.Pun- means minutes , “Nanpun” Means “How many minutes”
3.Japanese uses the following Western expressions:
10 minutes past 12 - juuniji juppun sugi noon – shoogo p.m. - gogo
15 minutes before 10 – juuji juugofun mae afternoon – hiru a.m. – gozen
han – half past ( half of an hour ) until – made
4. Susundeimasu – It is advanced. Morning – asa
It is 10 minutes advanced. Juppun susunde imasu. From – kara
5. Okureteimasu- It is late.
It is five minutes late. Gofun okurete imasu.
Expressions:
from 8:00 to 5:00 - hachiji kara goji made
from 10:30 in the morning up to 9:00 in the evening
“ asa juuji han kara yoru kuji made”
7:30 a.m. = gozen shichiji han
11:30 a.m. = gozen juuichiji han
4:30 = gogo yoji han
Months of The Year
January ichigatsu
February nigatsu
March sangatsu
April yongatsu
May gogatsu
June rokugatsu
July nanagatsu
August hachigatsu
September kyuugatsu
October juugatsu
November juuichigatsu
December juunigatsu
Days of the Week
Monday getsuyoobi
Tuesday kayoubi
Wednesday suiyoubi
Thursday mokuyoubi
Friday kinyoubi
Saturday doyoubi
Sunday nichiyoubi
Days of the Month
1st – tsuitachi 11th – juuichinichi 21st- nijuuichinichi
2nd – futsuka 12th – juuninichi 22nd – nijuuninichi
3rd - Mikka 13th – juusannichi 23rd - nijuusannichi
4rth – yokka 14th – juuyokka 24th - nijuuyokka
5th - itsuka 15th- juugonichi 25th - nijuugonichi
6th – muika 16th – juurokunichi 26th- nijuurokunichi
7th – nanoka 17th- juushinichi 27th- nijuushichinichi
8th – yooka 18th - juuhachichi 28th - nijuuhachinichi
9th - kokonoka 19th - juukunichi 29th - nijuukunichi
10th – tooka 20th – hatsuka 30th - sanjuunichi
31st – sanjuuichinichi
Sentence Illustrations
1. What day is this year’s Christmas?
Kotoshi no karisumasu wa nan yoobi desu ka?
Answer: ( 2019) Suiyoobi desu. It is Wednesday.
2. What day is the meeting. kaigi wa nan yoobi desu ka?
Answer: Mokuyoubi desu. It’s Thursday.
3. Watakushi goto desu ga, Kyou wa watashi no tanjoubi desu.
This is a personal matter but today is my birthday.
1. What month is next month? Raigetsu wa nigatsi desu?
2. What month was last month? Sengetsu wa nangatsu deshita ka?
3. My birthday is June 19. Watashi no tanjoobi wa rokugatsu juukunichi
desu.
4. That is today’s newspaper. Sore wa kyoo no shinbun desu.
5. In japan, the hottest month is July. Nihon de ichiban atusi wa shichigatsu
desu.
6. Today is the first day of the month. Kyoo wa tsuitachi desu.
7. Today is Monday . Kyoo wa getsuiyoobi desu.
8. The day before Saturday is Friday. Doyoobi no mae wa Kinyoobi desu.
Vocabulary:
gatsu – suffix for the names of the month
getsu- a month
getsumatsu – end of the month
de- in or at
Nihon de- in Japan
Tokyo de- at Tokyo
when emphasized, de becomes dewa
haru – spring
natsu – summer
aki- autumn
fuyu – winter
tsugi – next
mae- before
