Learning how to express time in Japanese is essential and useful. Before we get started, I would highly recommend you to know about numbers in Japanese – at least you know how to count from one to ten, or up to 60 if you want.
Asking Time in Japanese
For the first step, let’s start with asking the question.
何時ですか？
Nanji desu ka?
What time is it?
今何時ですか？
Ima nanji desu ka?
What time is it now?
In an informal situation, you can say:
今何時？
Ima nanji?
What time is it now?
Telling the Time
For answering the questions above, the easiest answer you can give is to put the suffix -時 (-ji) behind the numbers.
Structure: number + 時 + です。
5 時です。
Go-ji desu.
It is 5 o’clock.
7 時です。
Shichi-ji desu.
It is 7 o’clock.
Add the Minutes
For a more precise answer, you can add minutes or half (30 minutes) – 分 (fun/pun) or 半 (han).
Structure:
number + 時 + number + 分 + です。
number + 時 + 半 + です。
3 時 15分です。
San-ji jū go-fun desu.
It is 03:15.
11 時 45分です。
Jūichi-ji yon jū go-fun desu.
It is 11:45.
９時 30分です。
Ku-ji san jup-pun desu.
It is 09:30.
９時半です。
Ku-ji han desu.
It is half past nine (09:30).
How about the Seconds?
We can express the seconds by attaching the 秒 (byō) to the numbers. The good thing is the pattern of the seconds are regular, unlike the previous 時 (ji) and 分 (fun/pun).
Structure: number + 秒。
Duration of Time
In order to express the duration of time, we add the 間 (kan) behind the time. Thus:
6時間。
Roku-ji kan.
6 hours.
1分間。
Ip-pun kan.
1 minute.
30秒間。
San jū byō kan.
30 seconds.
Important Time-Related Terms
Here are a few words you need to know about time.
a.m. and p.m.
If you want to add a.m. or p.m. to the time, simply add the 午前 (gozen) or 午後 (gogo) before the time (contrast with English).
Structure:
a.m. → 午前 + number + 時 + number + 分。
p.m. → 午後 + number + 時 + number + 分。
午前3時10 分。
Gozen san-ji jup-pun.
It is 3:10 a.m.
午後8時40 分。
Gogo hachi-ji yon jup-pun.
It is 8:40 p.m.
around
11時05分頃に。
Jūichi-ji go-fun goro ni.
At around 11:05.
sharp
1時ちょうどです。
Ichi-ji chōdo desu.
It is one o’clock sharp (exactly one o’clock).
before
10時5分前です。
Jū-ji go-fun mae desu.
It is five to ten (09:55).
5分前。
Go-fun mae.
Five minutes before (ago).
after
5分後。
Go-fun go.
Five minutes later.
about
約2時間。
Yaku ni jikan.
About (approximately) two hours.
Time in General
If you don’t have to answer the exact time, you can use the following:
Congratulations! You’ve made it in the end!
Now, answer the questions below!
今何時ですか？
Ima nanji desu ka?
What time is it now?
何時に起きますか？
Nanji ni okimasu ka?
What time do you get up?
昨日何時に寝ましたか？
Kinō nanji ni nemashita ka？
What time did you go to bed yesterday?
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