Part of telling time is easy, the other is a little more difficult so let's get started with counters used for telling the time. Since hours, minutes and seconds are a numbered thing, they have counters. The numbers for the time counters below are the same as we learnt in the Numbers (Part I) lesson except for a few irregular numbers that need to be remembered. With the remainder, adding the counter after the number.
Hour Counter 時
The hour counter is じ (ji) and the Kanji for it is 時. The particle used for marking time is に (ni). There are many other uses of the に particle but we're only interested with it's basic use of time, in this lesson. All the irregular counters are listed below. The normal ones don't change their readings. Just add じ at the end.
| English | Romaji | Kana | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour Counter | ji | じ | 時 | |
| ! | 4 o'clock | yoji | よじ | 四時 |
| ! | 7 o'clock | shichiji | しちじ | 七時 |
| ! | 9 o'clock | kuji | くじ | 九時 |
For the numbers 10:00 to 23:00, simply use the normal pronunciation and rotate around the same irregular readings. Let's look at some basic examples using words we have already learnt, to see how you could create sentences about time. Also, try to make some of your own too.
Please note that these readings for the hour counter are only used for specifying the time of day, not for counting the number of hours or how many hours have passed.
Minute Counter 分
Minutes are a bit more difficult than hours because there are more irregular readings with this counter. The Kanji counter for minutes is 分 which is pronounced as ふん (fun). All the irregular counters are listed below. The normal readings just add ふん at the end.
| English | Romaji | Kana | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minute Counter | fun | ふん | 分 | |
| ! | 1 Minute | ippun | いっぷん | 一分 |
| ! | 3 Minutes | sanpun | さんぷん | 三分 |
| ! | 4 Minutes | yonpun | よんぷん | 四分 |
| ! | 6 Minutes | roppun | ろっぷん | 六分 |
| ! | 8 Minutes | happun | はっぷん | 八分 |
| ! | 10 Minutes | juuppun | じゅっぷん | 十分 |
For the higher numbers, simply use the normal pronunciation and rotate around the same readings for one to ten. For example:
| English | Romaji | Kana | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Minutes | juugofun | じゅうごふん | 十五分 | |
| 32 Minutes | sanjuunifun | さんじゅうにふん | 三十二分 | |
| ! | 23 Minutes | nijuu(sanpun) | にじゅうさんぷん | 二十三分 |
| ! | 30 Minutes | san(juuppun) | さんじゅっぷん | 三十分 |
| ! | 60 Minutes | roku(juuppun) | ろくじゅっぷん | 六十分 |
When telling the time, the hour comes first then the minutes follow after. Here is an example:
Second Counter 秒
The counter for seconds are very easy, there are no irregular reading, all the readings are the same. Simply count to sixty as normal while adding the counter 秒 at the end; this is pronounced as びょう (byou).
New Words to Learn
Here are some more words to start using and practice making sentences with.
| English | Romaji | Kana | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour Counter | ji | じ | 時 | |
| Minute Counter | fun | ふん | 分 | |
| What time | nan'ji | なんじ | 何時 | |
| Time | jikan | じかん | 時間 | |
| Half-past | han | はん | 半 | |
| Morning (a.m.) | gozen | ごぜん | 午前 | |
| Afternoon (p.m.) | gogo | ごご | 午後 | |
| Noon | hiru | ひる | 昼 | |
| Midnight (12am) | gozenreiji | ごぜんれいじ | 午前零時 | |
| Midday (12pm) | gogoreiji | ごごれいじ | 午後零時 |
※ Some of these words may have similar or different meanings so do check them out using a dictionary. There are plenty of online dictionaries such as japandict.com or jisho.org.
Example Sentences
Here are some examples of these words to help understand how they work.
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| 何時ですか nan'ji desu ka |
What time is it? |
| 明日の昼1時に来てる ashita no hiru ichiji kiteru |
(I'll) come tomorrow lunchtime at 1 o'clock. (tomorrow afternoon 1pm, [I] will come) |
| 4時半です yoji han desu |
It is half-past 4 |
| 明日の午後は日本語が分かる ashita no gogo wa nihongo ga wakaru |
I will understand Japanese tomorrow afternoon. (As for tomorrow afternoon, I will understand Japanese.) |
| 明日の午前に会わない ashita no gozen ni awanai |
We will not meet tomorrow morning. (I won't see you tomorrow morning) |
Additional Notes
Please remember, the example sentences we are giving may be presented in an unnatural or artificial way. Continue to broaden your research and listen to how real Japanese people use these words. The main point here is to understand how the language itself works which is done using artificial examples.