How to tell the date in Japanese Posted by yuki on Mar 20, 2013 in Uncategorized
As I have mentioned in my last post, the basic counting in japanese is very important. Not only to tell the time but also to say the date. Let’s start with the days of the week: To learn the days of the week is quite simple. The days of the week are named after an element (including the sun and the moon as an exception) and each of them ends with the word 曜日 (youbi).
Monday | 月曜日 | getsu-youbi | 月means moon |
Tuesday | 火曜日 | ka-youbi | 火 means fire |
Wednesday | 水曜日 | sui-youbi | 水 means water |
Thursday | 木曜日 | moku-youbi | 木 means wood |
Friday | 金曜日 | kin-youbi | 金 means gold |
Saturday | 土曜日 | do-youbi | 土 means earth |
Sunday | 日曜日 | nichi-youbi | 日 means sun |
As a child I learned the days of the week by repeating the elements “getsu-ka-sui-moku-kin-do-nichi” like a mantra.
To learn the months of the year you only have to follow a simple pattern: take the numbers 1-12 + 月 (gatsu / month).
January | 一月 | Ichi-gatsu | July | 七月 | Shichi-gatsu |
February | 二月 | Ni-gatsu | August | 八月 | Hachi-gatsu |
March | 三月 | San-gatsu | September | 九月 | Ku-gatsu |
April | 四月 | Shi-gatsu | October | 十月 | Juu-gatsu |
May | 五月 | Go-gatsu | November | 十一月 | Juu-ichi-gatsu |
June | 六月 | Roku-gatsu | December | 十二月 | Juu-ni-gatsu |
Unfortunately the days of the month are a little bit complicated as they have some irregularities.
1日 | Tsuitachi | the 1st | 16日 | Juuroku-nichi | the 16th |
2日 | Futsuka | the 2nd | 17日 | Juushichi-nichi | the 17th |
3日 | Mik-ka | the 3rd | 18日 | Juuhachi-nichi | the 18th |
4日 | Yok-ka | the 4th | 19日 | Juuku-nichi | the 19th |
5日 | Itsuka | the 5th | 20日 | Hatsuka | the 20th |
6日 | Muika | the 6th | 21日 | Nijuu-ichi-nichi | the 21st |
7日 | Nanoka | the 7th | 22日 | Nijuu-ni-nichi | the 22nd |
8日 | Youka | the 8th | 23日 | Nijuu-san-nichi | the 23rd |
9日 | Kokonoka | the 9th | 24日 | Nijuu-yok-ka | the 24th |
10日 | Touka | the 10th | 25日 | Nijuu-go-nichi | the 25th |
11日 | Juuichi-nichi | the 11th | 26日 | Nijuu-roku-nichi | the 26th |
12日 | Juuni-nichi | the 12th | 27日 | Nijuu-shichi-nichi | the 27th |
13日 | Juusan-nichi | the 13th | 28日 | Nijuu-hachi-nichi | the 28th |
14日 | Juuyok-ka | the 14th | 29日 | Nijuu-ku-nichi | the 29th |
15日 | Juugo-nichi | the 15th | 30日 | Sanjuu-nichi | the 30th |
31日 | Sanjuu-ichi-nichi | the 31st |
Saying a date in Japanese is much like saying it in English: You just put the day of the month after the month itself. For instance, if today’s date were November 11, you would say: きょうはじゅういちがつじゅういちにちです (kyou wa juuichigatsu juuichinichi desu).
So I hope you guys have fun learning the dates 日付 (ひづけ)!
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Comments:
iji:
where would I put the weekday? before everything?
today is Sunday, August 17
きょうは にちようび はちがつ じゅうしちにち です。
by the way the sun and the moon are not an exception
it’s either sun, moon, and the visible planets,
or yin/yang and the five elements