Expressing Hours, Minutes and Seconds 

In Japanese, time units are marked with a word-ending. For example one o'clock would be said using the Japanese word for one, ichi, and then be followed by ji, making ichiji.

When giving an exact time by putting together time units, smaller units come after bigger ones.This will be explained more further down in the lesson.

Examples

Let's look at some examples for saying whole hours.

いちじ
ichiji
one o'clock

にじ
niji
two o'clock

さんじ
sanji
three o'clock

じゅういちじ
juuichiji
eleven o'clock

This is an example for how to say a detailed time specification.

いちじ　にじゅっぷん　さんじゅうびょう
ichiji nijuppun sanjuubyou
20 minutes and 30 seconds after 1 o'clock

And to say half past, use the word はん han:

よじ　はん
yoji han
4.30

Vocabulary

Making Sentences with Time

To mark a position in time, the particle に (ni) is used. Ni is used after the time, but before the verb.

えいが　は　いちじ　に　はじまります。
eiga wa ichiji ni hajimarimasu.
the movie starts at one o'clock

ごじはん　に　たべます。
gojihan ni tabemasu.
(I/we) will eat at 5.30.

よじ　に　かえります。
yoji ni kaerimasu.
"(I will) return at four o'clock".

Notes

• Note that the word kaeru/kaerimasu is used when returning home, or to your office when at a client's office. It may indicate that you are actually home at four, or that you are leaving at four, depending on the situation. To express coming to a place other than home, use the verb kuru.

• Please also note that the minute word ending -pun changes depending on the number it is after. Read more about that in Time and Calendar. 

Part of the Day

There are also some parts of a day that are really useful. They are used much like in English.

As in English, Japanese primarily use a 12 hour clock, although 24hclocks are used too. So, time of day is marked with the special wordsgozen (before noon) and gogo (after noon). This am/pm indicator can beadded before the hour if necessary in orderto avoid misunderstandings, but is not always necessary.

Examples

ごぜん　さんじ　に　おきました。
gozen sanji ni okimashita
(I) got up at 3 am.

ひる　まで　ねました。
hiru made nemashita.
(I) slept until noon.

Time Periods

Time periods are marked with the ending -kan. So, one hour of time would be ichi-jikan. When adding smaller amounts of time, the -kan comes after the first time unit.

 

しごと　は　はちじかん　です。
shigoto wa hachijikan desu.
(My) work is eight hours.

えいが　は　にじかん　にじゅっぷん　です。
eiga wa nijikan nijuppun desu.
(The) movie is two hours and twenty minutes long.

Start and End

To explain if something starts at a certain time, you can use the word から (kara), meaning "from", To say that something ends, use まで (made), meaning "until". The following pattern can be used as a whole, or only expressing the from or end time.

えいが　は　なんじ　から　です　か？
eiga wa nanji kara desu ka?
What time is the movie? (When does the movie begin?)-- literally, "From what time is the movie?"

さんじ　から　です。
Sanji kara desu.
(It starts) at three o'clock.

なんじ　まで　です　か？
Nanji made desu ka?
When does it end?-- literally, "Until what time is it?"

よじ　まで　です。
yoji made desu.
It ends at four.

Links

• Refer to Time and Calendar in the grammar section for details.

• You can also find some videos convering time at the Kyoto Japanese Language School's Conversation at a bus stop (what time is it?).

Additional glossary

Here are some additional (over course) glossary related to time of day.

Comments (9)

gracie Written by karamashi, on 06-06-2008 13:30

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