Everyday, we are constantly watching what time it is.  I find myself constantly making sure if I have enough time before my next meeting or conference call. Luckily these days, our phone is a big help with customizable tone, it will alert you 15 minutes before your event takes place.

In today’s blog, I would like to go over from the basics to somewhat tricky part of telling time in Japanese. Telling time in Japanese is pretty simple, once you follow the basic rule, you will get it just like that. So, Read on~.

 

 

Let’s first start off with this question… What time is it?

Ima nanjii desuka? – 今、何時ですか？（いま、なんじですか？）

This is probably one of the 100 must know Japanese phrases.

 

Answering what time its~

Simply,

1 o’clock – Ichi Ji  (1 時）

2 o’clock – Ni Ji　(2 時）

3 o’clock – San Ji　(3 時）

4 o’clock – Yo Ji　(4 時）

5 o’clock – Go Ji　(5 時）

6 o’clock – Roku Ji　(6 時）

7 o’clock – Hichi Ji or Shichi Ji　(7 時）

8 o’clock – Hachi Ji　(8 時）

9 o’clock -Ku Ji　(9 時）

10 o’clock – Ju- Ji　(10 時）

11 o’clock – Ju-ichi Ji　(11 時）

12 o’clock – Ju-ni Ji　(12 時）

 

If you are answering “It’s 2 o’clock.” to someone, you would say “Ni ji desu.” simply add “desu” at the end.

 

So, how would you say, 12:30 or 1:30?

1:30 – Ichi Ji han  (1 時半)

2:30 – Ni Ji han　(2 時半)

3:30 – San Ji han　(3 時半)

4:40 – Yo Ji han　(4 時半)

5:30 ~Go Ji han　(5 時半)

etc….

Pretty simple, just add “han” for half an hour.. So, “It’s 3:30.” will be “San ji han desu.”

 

What about the time in between? 2:22 or 2:45 or 5:12 etc… Well, for these, you will need to know how to count the numbers between 1 to 59 in Japanese.  Let’s review them here.  These numbers are slightly different when applying to telling time. Read carefully, the third column is about adding “end” to telling time. In English, it will be “minute” part. Notice depending on the numbers, it changes from “fun” to “pun”.

 

1	i	pun
2	ni	fun
3	san	fun
4	shi	fun
5	go	fun
6	ro	pun
7	nana	fun
8	ha	pun
9	kyu	fun
10	jyu	pun
11	jyui	pun
12	jyuni	fun
13	jyusan	fun
14	jyushi	fun
15	jyugo	fun
16	jyuro	pun
17	jyunana	fun
18	jyuha	pun
19	jyukyu	fun
20	nijyu	pun
21	nijyui	pun
22	nijyu ni	fun
23	nijyu san	fun
24	nijyu yon	fun
25	nijyu go	fun
26	nijyu ro	pun
27	nijyu nana	fun
28	nijyu ha	pun
29	nijyu kyu	fun
30	sanjyu	pun
31	sanjyu i	pun
32	sanjyu ni	fun
33	sanjyu san	fun
34	sanjyu yon	fun
35	sanjyu go	fun
36	sanjyu ro	pun
37	sanjyu nana	fun
38	sanjyu ha	pun
39	sanjyu kyu	fun
40	yonjyu	pun
41	yonjyu i	pun
42	yonjyu ni	fun
43	yonjyu san	fun
44	yonjyu yon	fun
45	yonjyu go	fun
46	yonjyu ro	pun
47	yonjyu nana	fun
48	yonjyu ha	pun
49	yonjyu kyu	fun
50	gojyu	pun
51	gojyu i	pun
52	gojyu ni	fun
53	gojyu san	fun
54	gojyu yon	fun
55	gojyu go	fun
56	gojyu ro	pun
57	gojyu nana	fun
58	gojyu ha	pun
59	gojyu  kyu	fun

So, “It is 2:15”, will be “Ni ji jyu go fun desu.”  Got it?

Hope you learned the basics of how to tell time in Japanese today.  Keep up with your learning!