Components

Grammar detail: telling the time in Japanese

telling the time in Japanese
496 words
My current mastery of this grammar point:
LOG IN to view grammar mastery data
Telling the time in Japanese is quite straightforward and regular.

Hours

To specify the hour, append the counter
to the number. You can use the following search syntax to find the hours in the dictionary: counter:時.
一時いちじone o'clock
二時にじtwo o'clock
三時さんじthree o'clock
四時よじfour o'clock
五時ごじfive o'clock
六時ろくじsix o'clock
七時しちじ (ななじ is also OK)seven o'clock
八時はちじeight o'clock
九時くじnine o'clock
十時じゅうじten o'clock
十一時じゅういちじeleven o'clock
十二時じゅうにじtwelve o'clock
Note: to specify the number of hours, we add
かん
meaning 'interval' after the hour. For example:
三時間さんじかん(for) three hours

Minutes

For minutes, we just add the counter 分 (read as ふん or ぷん following つ or ん). You can use the following search syntax to find the hours in the dictionary: counter:分.
一分いっぷんone minute
二分にふんtwo minutes
三分さんぷんthree minutes
四分よんぷんfour minutes
五分ごふんfive minutes
六分ろっぷんsix minutes
七分ななふんseven minutes
八分はっぷんeight minutes
九分きゅうふんnine minutes
十分じっぷんten minutes
十一分じゅういっぷんeleven minutes
Note that 十分 is officially read じっぷん. However, じゅっぷん is commonly encountered, and in most situations (except possibly exams!) would not be considered wrong.

Quarter past, half past, quarter to

(hour) + 半はんhalf past
(hour) + 15分じゅうごふん15 minutes past (can be used as the equivalent of 'quarter past' the hour specified)
(hour) + 45分よんじゅうごふん45 minutes past (can be used as the equivalent of 'quarter to (the hour after the one specified)')
(hour) + 15分前じゅうごふんまえ15 minutes before (can be used as the equivalent of 'quarter to (the hour)', emphasizing the fact that it is not yet the hour specified)
Note that in Japanese, 'half past' is simply 'half'.
In the same way, there is no direct expression for 'quarter past', but rather the Japanese for '15 minutes' is used. In other words, in Japanese, there is nothing 'special' about 15 minutes past compared to say 14 minutes past, and there is no word for 'past'. So for example 'quarter past four' would simply be
よじ
4時
じゅうごふん
15分
(four hours fifteen minutes).
There is no expression for 'quarter to' - the expression translates to '15 minutes before'. Typically, rather than counting backwards from the later hour, in Japanese you would count forwards from the preceding hour.
For example:
3時半さんじはんhalf past three
4時15分 よじじゅうごふんfour fifteen = quarter past four
6時45分ろくじよんじゅうごふんsix forty five
7時15分前しちじじゅうごふんまえquarter to seven = six forty five

Times of day

朝にあさにin the morning
午後にごごにin the afternoon
夜によるにin the evening
正午しょうごmidday
'In the morning' is typically expressed using 朝に. However, it is also common to say
ごぜんちゅう
午前中
に, which means 'during the morning'. The term
ごぜん
午前
に is not incorrect, but less common.
'Midnight' does not have a direct equivalent in Japanese. The term
やはん
夜半
is commonly used to mean 'a time somewhere between around 11pm and 1am'. Also commonly used is
まよなか
真夜中
, which means literally 'the middle of the night', rather than midnight as it is understood in English. To refer specifically to 12 o'clock,
よろじゅうにじ
夜12時
or
よなか
夜中
じゅうにじ
12時
are more commonly used.

Other useful time-related expressions

何時ですかなんじですかWhat time is it?
Please LOG IN for free flashcards

Kanji used in this grammar

ジ   とき time, occasion   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
イチ   イツ   ひと    ひと- one   
ニ   ふた    ふた two   
サン   み    みっ three   
シ   four   よ    よ    よっ    よん    
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゴ   いつ-    いつ five   
ロク   むっ six   む    むい    む    
シチ   なな    なな    なの seven   
ハチ   や    や    よう eight   
ク   キュウ   ここの nine   
ジュウ   ジッ   と    とお ten   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
カン   ケン   あいだ interval, between   ま space, room   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ブン   ブ   フン   わける to divide, to distinguish   わかる to understand   わかれる to be divided   わかつ to share, distribute   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ハン   なか half   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゼン   まえ before   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
チョウ   あさ morning   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゴ    noon   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゴ   コウ   のち    あと afterwards   うし behind   おくれる be late   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ヤ   よる    よ night   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
セイ   ショウ   ただしい correct   ただ to correct   まさ precise, exact   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
チュウ   ジュウ   なか middle   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シン   truth   ま exactly; deep   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
カ   なに    なん what?   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
Problem with this grammar? Question or comment? Please CONTACT US.
Kanshudo is your AI Japanese tutor, and your constant companion on the road to mastery of the Japanese language. To get started learning Japanese, just follow the study recommendations on your Dashboard. You can use Quick search (accessible using the icon at the top of every page) to look up any Japanese word, kanji or grammar point, as well as to find anything on Kanshudo quickly. For an overview, take the tour.
×