Time Expressions in Japanese

In Brief

Japanese tells clock time by placing a number before 時 (じ, “o’clock/hour”) and 分 (ふん or ぷん, “minute”): 三時十五分 means “3:15,” while 三時半 means “3:30.” Use に after a specific time when it marks when an event happens—三時に会います (“I’ll meet [you] at three”)—but normally not after relative words such as 今日 (“today”) or 明日 (“tomorrow”).

Overview

Time expressions are an A1 foundation because they let you arrange meetings, understand opening hours, and say when everyday activities happen. The basic order is comfortably predictable for an English speaker: hour first, then minutes. Japanese does not normally insert a word equivalent to English “past” or “to”; 9:40 is simply 九時四十分, literally “nine hour forty minutes.”

The main challenge is pronunciation rather than sentence structure. 時 is usually read じ, but some hour numbers change their expected reading. 分 alternates between ふん and ぷん, sometimes with a doubled consonant. These readings are best learned as complete chunks: 一分 (いっぷん), not as an abstract number plus a separate ending.

This topic also includes the calendar words most useful for simple plans: weekdays, months, and 今日 (きょう, today), 明日 (あした, tomorrow), and 昨日 (きのう, yesterday). Once you add the time particle に—a particle is a short word placed after a phrase to show its role—you can connect these expressions naturally to actions.

How It Works

Telling the hour with 時

Put a number before 時. The polite pattern for stating the time is:

今、[hour]時です。
“It is [hour] o’clock now.”

Time	Japanese	Reading
1:00	一時	いちじ
2:00	二時	にじ
3:00	三時	さんじ
4:00	四時	よじ
5:00	五時	ごじ
6:00	六時	ろくじ
7:00	七時	しちじ
8:00	八時	はちじ
9:00	九時	くじ
10:00	十時	じゅうじ
11:00	十一時	じゅういちじ
12:00	十二時	じゅうにじ

Pay special attention to 四時 (よじ), 七時 (しちじ), and 九時 (くじ). Do not use the common standalone number readings よん, なな, and きゅう here.

To ask the time, use 何時 (なんじ):

• 今、何時ですか。 — What time is it now?
• 何時に始まりますか。 — What time does it start?

Japanese commonly uses a twelve-hour clock in conversation. Add 午前 (ごぜん, a.m.) or 午後 (ごご, p.m.) before the time when the distinction matters: 午前九時 (9:00 a.m.), 午後六時 (6:00 p.m.). Timetables and other written schedules also use the 24-hour clock.

Adding minutes with 分

Minutes follow the hour:

[hour]時 [minutes]分

The kanji 分 has two main readings in clock time. Sound changes produce forms such as いっぷん and ろっぷん.

Minutes	Japanese	Reading
1	一分	いっぷん
2	二分	にふん
3	三分	さんぷん
4	四分	よんぷん
5	五分	ごふん
6	六分	ろっぷん
7	七分	ななふん
8	八分	はっぷん
9	九分	きゅうふん
10	十分	じゅっぷん / じっぷん

For larger minute numbers, the final digit normally guides the reading: 十五分 is じゅうごふん and 二十一分 is にじゅういっぷん. Standard speech allows both じゅっぷん and じっぷん for 十分; じゅっぷん is especially common in beginner materials.

To ask how many minutes or what minute, use 何分 (なんぷん): 今、三時何分ですか means “What time is it now?” with the hour already known as three.

Half past with 半

半 (はん) means “half.” After an hour, it means half past:

• 十時半 — 10:30
• 午後七時半 — 7:30 p.m.

Do not add 三十分 after 半; 十時半 and 十時三十分 express the same clock time in different ways. 半 is concise and very common in speech.

Days of the week

Japanese weekday names end in 曜日 (ようび, day of the week). The first kanji identifies the day.

English	Japanese	Reading
Monday	月曜日	げつようび
Tuesday	火曜日	かようび
Wednesday	水曜日	すいようび
Thursday	木曜日	もくようび
Friday	金曜日	きんようび
Saturday	土曜日	どようび
Sunday	日曜日	にちようび

Ask “What day of the week?” with 何曜日 (なんようび): 今日は何曜日ですか。 In casual conversation, the final 日 of ようび may sound weak, but learners should use the full standard forms.

Months with 月

A calendar month is generally a number plus 月 (がつ). Three readings need special attention: April, July, and September.

Month	Japanese	Reading
January	一月	いちがつ
February	二月	にがつ
March	三月	さんがつ
April	四月	しがつ
May	五月	ごがつ
June	六月	ろくがつ
July	七月	しちがつ
August	八月	はちがつ
September	九月	くがつ
October	十月	じゅうがつ
November	十一月	じゅういちがつ
December	十二月	じゅうにがつ

Use 何月 (なんがつ) to ask which month: 旅行は何月ですか。 (“What month is the trip?”). Notice that 月 is read げつ in 月曜日, but がつ in month names.

Today, tomorrow, and yesterday

These high-frequency words have special readings that cannot be built by simply reading each kanji separately.

Meaning	Japanese	Reading
today	今日	きょう
tomorrow	明日	あした
yesterday	昨日	きのう
this morning	今朝	けさ
tonight	今晩	こんばん
every day	毎日	まいにち

明日 can also be read あす, a somewhat more formal or neutral form often heard in announcements and news. At A1, あした is the most useful everyday reading.

Marking when something happens with に

Use に after a precise, fixed point in time:

[specific time] に [action]

• 七時に起きます。 — I get up at seven.
• 月曜日に行きます。 — I will go on Monday.
• 八月に日本へ行きます。 — I will go to Japan in August.

English uses different prepositions—“at” seven, “on” Monday, “in” August—but Japanese can use に for all three. This is a helpful simplification.

Normally, do not add に after relative time words whose meaning depends on the present moment: 今日, 明日, 昨日, 今朝, or 今晩.

• 明日、勉強します。 — I will study tomorrow.
• 昨日、映画を見ました。 — I watched a movie yesterday.

Weekdays can appear with or without に in everyday Japanese. 月曜日に会います clearly presents Monday as the scheduled point; 月曜日、会います is also natural, especially when Monday is set off as the topic or context. For a beginner, using に with a scheduled weekday is a dependable default.

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
今、三時です。	It’s three o’clock now.	Basic statement of clock time
今、何時ですか。	What time is it now?	何時 is read なんじ
電車は午前九時十五分に出ます。	The train leaves at 9:15 a.m.	Exact time + に
十時半に会いましょう。	Let’s meet at 10:30.	半 means “half past”
仕事は午後六時に終わります。	Work finishes at 6:00 p.m.	午後 marks p.m.
毎朝、七時に起きます。	I get up at seven every morning.	に marks the exact hour
今日は月曜日です。	Today is Monday.	今日 takes no に here
会議は何曜日ですか。	What day of the week is the meeting?	Asking for a weekday
金曜日に友達と食事をします。	I’ll have a meal with a friend on Friday.	Scheduled weekday + に
明日、何をしますか。	What will you do tomorrow?	No に after 明日
昨日、図書館へ行きました。	I went to the library yesterday.	No に after 昨日
夏休みは八月です。	Summer vacation is in August.	です identifies the month
日本へは何月に行きますか。	What month are you going to Japan?	何月 + に asks when
店は九時から五時までです。	The shop is open from nine to five.	から…まで gives a range

Common Mistakes

Using the regular number reading for irregular hours

• Wrong: 四時 (よんじ)
• Right: 四時 (よじ)
• Why: Four, seven, and nine have fixed hour readings: よじ, しちじ, and くじ. Learn these as whole words.

Reading every 分 as ふん

• Wrong: 一分 (いちふん)
• Right: 一分 (いっぷん)
• Why: The reading changes according to the number. The most important ぷん forms include いっぷん, さんぷん, よんぷん, ろっぷん, and はっぷん.

Adding に after 明日 or 昨日

• Wrong: 明日に学校へ行きます。 when simply meaning “I will go to school tomorrow.”
• Right: 明日、学校へ行きます。
• Why: Basic relative time adverbs—words such as “today” and “tomorrow” that directly tell when an action occurs—normally do not take に.

Omitting に from a precise appointment time

• Wrong: 三時会います。
• Right: 三時に会います。
• Why: A specific time used as the point when an event occurs normally takes に. In rapid or highly contextual speech particles may be omitted, but に is the safe standard form.

Confusing month and weekday readings of 月

• Wrong: 一月 (いちげつ) for January
• Right: 一月 (いちがつ)
• Why: 月 is がつ in month names, while it is げつ in 月曜日 (げつようび, Monday).

Translating “half past” in English order

• Wrong: 半十時
• Right: 十時半
• Why: Japanese places 半 after the hour: literally “ten o’clock, half.”

Usage Notes

In everyday conversation, Japanese speakers often leave out information that is already clear. A reply to 何時に会いますか may be simply 三時です or 三時に, rather than a complete sentence. Likewise, when everyone knows whether the meeting is in the morning or evening, 午前 and 午後 are unnecessary.

Japanese writing commonly uses Arabic numerals for practical times—3時30分, 10:00, or 18時—even though the words are pronounced in Japanese. Kanji numerals are also correct. Digital schedules frequently use the 24-hour system, so 18時 is read じゅうはちじ and means 6:00 p.m.

Punctuation after a time phrase is a writing choice, not a spoken particle. In 明日、何をしますか, the comma makes the sentence easier to scan; it does not replace に. Japanese sentences also often omit the grammatical subject (the person or thing doing the action) when context supplies it, which is why 七時に起きます can mean “I get up at seven” without a word for “I.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms you will soon encounter.

Time ranges and duration

Use から (“from”) and まで (“until/to”) for a range:

• 授業は九時から十一時までです。 — Class is from nine until eleven.
• 月曜日から金曜日まで働きます。 — I work from Monday through Friday.

A duration answers “how long?” rather than “at what time?” and usually does not take に:

• 二時間勉強しました。 — I studied for two hours.
• 十分待ちました。 — I waited for ten minutes.

Here 時間 (じかん) counts hours as lengths of time, while 時 names a point on the clock. Compare 三時 (“three o’clock”) with 三時間 (“three hours”). Also note that 十分 can be じゅっぷん (“ten minutes”) or じゅうぶん (“enough”); pronunciation and context distinguish them.

Approximate times

Add ごろ after a point in time to mean “around/about”:

• 七時ごろ帰ります。 — I’ll return around seven.

Because ごろ already turns the phrase into an approximate time expression, 七時ごろに is possible, but the に is often omitted: 七時ごろ帰ります is very natural. For an approximate duration or quantity, ぐらい／くらい is used instead: 二時間ぐらい (“about two hours”).

Other readings of familiar date words

Kanji with time meanings can have multiple readings. 今日 is normally きょう, but formal compounds may use こんにち. 明日 may be あした or あす, and in some set or literary contexts あくるひ. These are vocabulary and register differences, not alternative readings to swap freely. Use きょう, あした, and きのう in ordinary beginner conversation.

Exact calendar dates also have numerous special day readings—such as 一日 (ついたち, the first day of a month) and 二十日 (はつか, the twentieth). Those belong to the date system and should be learned separately rather than guessed from the month patterns in this article.

Practice Tips

1. Build times aloud. Pick five random digital times each day and say them in Japanese. Include 4:00, 7:00, or 9:00 and minutes such as :01, :06, and :08 so the sound changes become automatic.
2. Make a real weekly plan. Write one short sentence for three days, such as 火曜日に日本語を勉強します. Then add exact times with に. Using your own schedule makes weekdays and months easier to retain.
3. Sort expressions by particle. Make two columns: “usually takes に” (三時, 月曜日, 八月) and “normally no に” (今日, 明日, 昨日). Read each expression in a complete sentence rather than memorizing an isolated rule.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Counting — provides the number forms used before 時, 分, and 月.