Time 時間 (Jikan)

Tell the time in Japanese. Using the number post and combine it with 時 (ji) and 分 (fun/pun), we can easily tell the time.

Hours じ (ji)

The kanji for hours is written as 時.

number + じ = hour

いちじ
ichi-ji

にじ
 ni-ji

さんじ
san-ji

よじ
yo-ji (note: 4 is "yon", but when used with hour its "yo")

ごじ
go-ji

ろくじ
roku-ji

しちじ
shichi-ji (note: 7 is "nana" but "shichi" is preferred when used with hour)

はちじ
hachi-ji

くじ
ku-ji (note: 9 is "kyuu", but when used with hour its "ku")

じゅうじ
juu-ji

じゅういちじ
juuichi-ji





じゅうにじ
juuni-ji

Minutes ふん/ぷん (fun/pun)

The kanji for hours is written as 分. "fun" or "pun" is used depending on the minute it is, no choice but to memorize it.

number + ふん/ぷん = minute

1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 uses ふん
2, 5, 7, 9 uses ぷん

1 - いっぷん(ip-pun)
2 - にふん (ni-fun)
3 - さんぷん (san-pun)
4 - よんぷん (yon-pun)
5 - ごふん (go-fun)
6 - ろっぷん (rop-pun)
7 - ななふん (nana-fun)
8 - はっぷん (hap-pun) or はちふん (hachi-fun)
9 - きゅうふん (kyuu-fun)
10 - じゅっぷん (jup-pun)
11 - じゅういっぷん (juuip-pun)
30 - さんじゅっぷん (sanjup-pun) or はん (han) note: はん means half. (E.g: san-ji han = 03:30)

A.M. ごぜん (gozen) & P.M. ごご (gogo)

A.M. - 午前 (gozen)
P.M. - 午後 (gogo)

"gozen" and "gogo" is said before the time.


Examples:
いまはなんじですか。(ima wa nan-ji desu ka)
What is the time now?
ごぜんはちじにじゅっぷんです。(gozen hachi-ji nijup-pun desu)
It is 08:20AM.

東京はいまなんじですか。(Toukyou wa ima nanji desu ka)
What is the time now in Tokyo?
ごごくじはんです。(gogo ku-ji han desu)
It is 09:30PM.


Let's do some self practice:
1) 02:00AM
2) 07:03AM
3) 10:45PM
4) 12:30AM
5) 12:30PM
6) 05:11AM
7) 08:08PM
8) 01:59AM

Numbers すうじ (Suuji)

Today, lets do something different from the regular grammar. Let's learn about counting numbers in Japanese.

Counting 1 to 10 is as simple as... well, memorizing the below.
Most numbers in Japanese have multiple pronunciation which are use in different situation (e.g when used with time, month, age, counters). We will look at these at later posts.
But to count from 1 to 10, just follow the first pronunciation in the table below.

0		れい (rei)、ゼロ (zero)
1	一	いち (ichi)
2	二	に (ni)
3	三	さん (san)
4	四	よん (yon)、し (shi)、よ (yo)
5	五	ご (go)
6	六	ろく (roku)
7	七	なな (nana)、しち (shichi)
8	八	はち (hachi)
9	九	きゅう (kyuu)、く (ku)
10	十	じゅう (juu)

Counting beyond from 10 to 19 is also easy.
For example 11 is by adding 10 + 1 literally. じゅう + いち = じゅういち.

11	十一	じゅういち (juu ichi)
12	十二	じゅうに (juu ni)

Then the 20, 30, 40 and so on are easy as well.
For example 20 is like saying "two tens" or maybe 2 x 10. に x じゅう = にじゅう
So if we want to say 31, its (3 x 10) + 1.  さん x じゅう + いち = さんじゅういち

20	二十	にじゅう (ni juu)
30	三十	さんじゅう (san juu)
31	三十一	さんじゅういち (san juu ichi)
32	三十二	さんじゅうに (san juu ni)

Now lets do the big numbers. The rules are still the same.
For example: 5241 will be (5 x 1000) + (2 x 100) + (4 x 10) + 1, and thus 五千二百四十一

100	百	ひゃく (hyaku)
1,000	千	せん (sen)
10,000	万	まん (man)
100,000,000	億	おく (oku)
1,000,000,000,000	兆	ちょう (chou)

Note: When saying 10,000 its いちまん (ichiman) unlike 100 and 1000 which is just ひゃく (hyaku) and せん (sen).

However, there are some special exceptions on the pronunciation for some of the special numbers. Here's a list of them:

• 300 is さんびゃく (sanbyaku) and not sanhyaku
• 600 is ろっぴゃく (roppyaku) and not rokuhyaku
• 800 is はっぴゃく (happyaku) and not hachihyaku
• 3000 is さんぜん (sanzen) and not sansen
• 8000 is はっせん (hassen) and not hachisen
• 1,000,000,000,000 is いっちょう (icchou) and not ichichou

Here's a fast way to remember the pronunciation for numbers:

• counters that start with "h" (e.g hyaku)
  - 3 will become びゃく (byaku) e.g さんびゃく (san-byaku)
  - 6 will become ぴゃく (pyaku) e.g ろっぴゃく (rop-pyaku)
  - 9 will become ぴゃく (pyaku) e.g はっぴゃく (hap-pyaku)
• counters that start with "s" (e.g sen)
  - 3 will become ぜん (zen) e.g さんぜん (san-zen)
  - 8 will become ぜん (sen) e.g はっせん (has-sen)

Let's do some self practice. Write or read the numbers below in Japanese.

i) 24
ii) 66
iii) 349
iv) 608
v) 1030
vi) 3333
vii) 10000
viii) 98601