Telling the time and dates
Time uses the ordinary numbers, with three exceptions that never change: four, seven and nine.
Practise this → Quick quizzes. Cards you miss come back until you get them right.
Hours
| Time | Japanese | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | 一時 | ichiji | |
| 2:00 | 二時 | niji | |
| 3:00 | 三時 | sanji | |
| 4:00 | 四時 | yoji | not yonji — yoji, always |
| 5:00 | 五時 | goji | |
| 6:00 | 六時 | rokuji | |
| 7:00 | 七時 | shichiji | shichiji, not nanaji |
| 8:00 | 八時 | hachiji | |
| 9:00 | 九時 | kuji | not kyuuji — kuji, always |
| 10:00 | 十時 | juuji | |
| 11:00 | 十一時 | juuichiji | |
| 12:00 | 十二時 | juuniji |
Minutes
| Minutes | Japanese | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一分 | ippun | |
| 2 | 二分 | nifun | |
| 3 | 三分 | sanpun | |
| 4 | 四分 | yonpun | |
| 5 | 五分 | gofun | |
| 6 | 六分 | roppun | |
| 7 | 七分 | nanafun | |
| 8 | 八分 | happun | |
| 9 | 九分 | kyuufun | |
| 10 | 十分 | juppun | also written 10分; じゅうぶん with the same kanji means 'enough' |
| 30 | 三十分 / 半 | sanjuppun / han | 半 (han) is the usual way to say half past |
Days of the month
The first ten days use native Japanese numbers and have to be learned as words. From the eleventh on they are regular, apart from 14th, 20th and 24th.
| Day | Japanese | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 一日 | tsuitachi | completely irregular |
| 2nd | 二日 | futsuka | |
| 3rd | 三日 | mikka | |
| 4th | 四日 | yokka | |
| 5th | 五日 | itsuka | |
| 6th | 六日 | muika | |
| 7th | 七日 | nanoka | |
| 8th | 八日 | youka | |
| 9th | 九日 | kokonoka | |
| 10th | 十日 | tooka | |
| 14th | 十四日 | juuyokka | |
| 20th | 二十日 | hatsuka | irregular |
| 24th | 二十四日 | nijuuyokka |
Months
Months are simply the number plus 月 (gatsu) — but four, seven and nine break the pattern again.
| Month | Japanese | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 一月 | ichigatsu | |
| February | 二月 | nigatsu | |
| March | 三月 | sangatsu | |
| April | 四月 | shigatsu | shigatsu, not yongatsu |
| May | 五月 | gogatsu | |
| June | 六月 | rokugatsu | |
| July | 七月 | shichigatsu | shichigatsu, not nanagatsu |
| August | 八月 | hachigatsu | |
| September | 九月 | kugatsu | kugatsu, not kyuugatsu |
| October | 十月 | juugatsu | |
| November | 十一月 | juuichigatsu | |
| December | 十二月 | juunigatsu |