Telling Time in Japanese
How to say the time in Japanese: hours with 時 (ji), minutes with 分 (fun or pun), the irregular readings, and a.m. and p.m.
- Hour counter
- 時 (ji)
- Minute counter
- 分 (fun / pun)
- Irregular hours
- 4時 yoji, 9時 kuji
- Half past
- 半 (han)
Hours
Add 時 (ji) to the number: 1時 ichiji, 2時 niji, 3時 sanji, 5時 goji, 6時 rokuji, 8時 hachiji, 10時 jūji, 11時 jūichiji, 12時 jūniji.
Two hours are irregular: 4時 is yoji (not yonji) and 9時 is kuji (not kyūji). 7時 is shichiji, the usual reading of 7; some people also say nanaji.
Minutes
分 is read ふん (fun) or ぷん (pun), and some numbers change sound before it: 1分 ippun, 2分 nifun, 3分 sanpun, 4分 yonpun, 5分 gofun, 6分 roppun, 7分 nanafun, 8分 happun (also hachifun), 9分 kyūfun, 10分 juppun (also jippun).
Bigger numbers follow their last digit: 15分 jūgofun, 20分 nijuppun, 45分 yonjūgofun.
Hour first, then minutes: 3時15分 (sanji jūgofun), 3:15.
Half past, before and exactly
半 (han) means half past: 3時半 (sanji han), 3:30.
前 (mae) means before: 9時5分前 (kuji gofun mae), five to nine.
ちょうど (chōdo) means exactly: ちょうど10時です (chōdo jūji desu), it's exactly ten.
Morning and afternoon
午前 (gozen, a.m.) and 午後 (gogo, p.m.) go before the time: 午後2時 (gogo niji), 2 p.m.
Timetables, stations and shops often use the 24-hour clock: 14時 (jūyoji), 2 p.m.
Asking and saying when
いま、なんじですか。(Ima, nanji desu ka.) What time is it now? Answer with the time + です: 3時です (sanji desu).
To say at a time, use に (ni): 7時におきます。(Shichiji ni okimasu.) I get up at seven.
Clock time or length of time
時 is a point on the clock. For a number of hours, use 時間 (jikan): 2時間 (nijikan), two hours; 4時間 (yojikan), four hours.
Minutes are the same word for both: 30分 (sanjuppun) can mean 30 minutes past the hour or 30 minutes long. 分間 (funkan) makes the length explicit.
Related reading
- Japanese numbers
- N5 time vocabulary
- Japanese counters
- Counter practice
- Days of the week and months
- Today, tomorrow and yesterday
Common questions
Is 7 o'clock shichiji or nanaji?+
Both are heard. しちじ (shichiji) is the standard reading. ななじ (nanaji) is also common in speech, partly because しちじ and いちじ (1 o'clock) sound alike.
How do I say seconds?+
Use 秒 (byō): 10秒 (jūbyō), ten seconds. It has no irregular readings.
Why is 4時 yoji?+
It is a fixed reading, like 4人 (yonin, four people). Learn 4時 and 9時 as whole words.
How do I say 'at around 3'?+
Add ごろ (goro): 3時ごろ (sanji goro), around three. に is optional after ごろ: 3時ごろ(に)きます, I'll come around three.
