Lesson 22: Telling Time

Objective: Learn to tell time in Japanese.

Key Words

  • じかん = time

    [jikan]

  • じ = hour

    [zero]

  • ふん = minute

    [hun/bun/pun]

  • ごぜん = A.M.

    [gozen]

  • ごご = P.M.

    [gogo]

Grammar

じ and ふん/ぶん/ぷん

Telling time in Japanese is fairly straightforward, simply place a number before the word じ to indicate the hour, then follow the number of minutes with ふん, ぶん, or ぷん (depending on the number of minutes).

Examples:

  • くじじゅうごふん = 9:15

    [kuji jyuugohun]

  • にじ = 2:00

    [niji]

  • ななじよんじゅうよんぷん = 7:44

    [nanaji yonjyuuyonpun]

To indicate a time in the morning or afternoon, you can follow the time expression with ごぜん(A.M.) or ごご(P.M.).

Examples:

  • じゅうじろっぷんごぜん = 10:06 A.M.

    [juji roppun gozen]

  • よじにじゅっぷんごご = 4:20 P.M.

    [yoji nijuppun gogo]

For half past the hour, add はん after じ.

Example:

  • はちじはん = 8:30 A.M.

    [hachiji han]

New Vocabulary

じかん = time

[jikan]

いま = now

[ima]

なんじ = what time

[nanji]

じ = o'clock; hour

[zero]

ふん = minute

[hun/bun/pun]

ごぜん = A.M.

[gozen]

ごご = P.M.

[gogo]

いっぷん = 1 minute

[ippun]

さんぶん = 3 minutes

[sanbun]

よんぷん = 4 minutes

[yonpun]

ろっぷん = 6 minutes

[roppun]

はっぷん = 8 minutes

[happun]

じゅっぷん = 10 minutes

[juppun]

はん = half past (~:30)

[han]

Examples

  • いまはなんじですか。 = What time is it (now)?

    [resutoran no denwa bangoo wa nan desuka]

  • じゅういちじにじゅうさんぶんです。 = It's 11:23.

    [yon ichi go no yon san ni no roku go kyuu san ichi]

Translation Practice

Write the following sentences in Japanese using Hiragana and Katakana.

  1. 4:16 P.M.
  2. 7:30 A.M.
  3. It's now 1:19 P.M.
  4. I eat lunch every day at 12:30 P.M.
  5. 11:22 P.M.
  6. 10:01 A.M.
  7. 6:55 A.M.

Translate the following Japanese sentences to English.

  1. いまはなんじですか。
  2. いまはごじごじゅうごふんです。
  3. ごぜんですか。
  4. ろくじはんごぜんじゃあありません。ろくじはんごごです。
  5. A: いまはさんじですか。 B: いいえ、にじです。

Review

Write the following sentences in Hiragana

  1. Is that car over there yours?
  2. I'm reading an interesting book.
  3. Do you eat pizza often?
  4. I go to sleep every night at 11:30 P.M.
  5. Excuse me, what time is it?
  6. I have a watch. It's 12:17 P.M.
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