Japanese · telling time · day 4

じかん

what time is it? — hours, minutes, A.M./P.M.

いま

Start here: one question

The whole lesson hangs off a single sentence you can use today — asking a stranger the time:

すみません、いまなんじですか。

sumimasen, ima nan ji desu ka. — “Excuse me, what time is it now?”

すみませんexcuse me いまnow なんwhat じhour / o'clock ですかis it?

The two words to lock in first are highlighted.

Those two are the heart of everything below:

いま	ima	now
じ	ji	hour / o'clock — attaches to a number
なんじ	nan ji	what hour = what time (なん “what” + じ “hour”)

To answer, you just drop the number in and end with です: さんじです = “(It's) 3 o'clock.”

じ

The hours — number + じ

Take a number and stick じ ji on the end. Three of them bend the reading — those are the ones that trip everyone up.

short hand = じ (hours) long hand = ふん/ぷん (minutes)

#	Japanese	Notes
1	いちじichi ji
2	にじni ji
3	さんじsan ji
4	よじyo jigotcha	よじ, not “yonji”.
5	ごじgo ji
6	ろくじroku ji
7	しちじshichi jigotcha	しちじ (uses shichi, not nana).
8	はちじhachi ji
9	くじku jigotcha	くじ, not “kyuuji”.
10	じゅうじjuu ji
11	じゅういちじjuuichi ji
12	じゅうにじjuuni ji

Memorize the three: 4 = よじ (yoji), 7 = しちじ (shichiji), 9 = くじ (kuji). The rest are just the plain number + じ.

はん

A.M., P.M., and “half”

Two words mark morning vs afternoon — and they go before the time. One more word saves you from counting to thirty.

ごぜんgozen	A.M. (before noon) — goes first: gozen shichi ji = 7 A.M.
ごごgogo	P.M. (afternoon) — gogo yo ji = 4 P.M.
はんhan	half past — literally means “half”. ni ji han = 2:30.

はん goes at the end, where the minutes would be: ごごよじはん = 4:30 P.M.

ふん

The minutes — ふん vs ぷん

The counter is always ふん fun. What changes is the sound right before it — that bump flips fun into ぷん pun. Check the romaji ending; no need to memorise {1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10}.

Why fun becomes pun — one check on the romaji

Ask: what sound comes right before fun? Two endings harden it to pun. A vowel keeps it soft.

→ ぷん pun · two triggers

ends in っ (stop):
ip+fun → ippun, rop+fun → roppun, hap+fun → happun, jup+fun → juppun
ends in -n:
san+fun → sanpun, yon+fun → yonpun

→ ふん fun · vowel ending

ends in a vowel (open airflow):
ni+fun → nifun, go+fun → gofun, nana+fun → nanafun, kyuu+fun → kyuufun

Say ip-fun fast — your mouth wants ippun. Say ni-fun — it stays smooth.

Whole rule: romaji ends in っ or -n → ぷん. Ends in a vowel → ふん. Teens follow the last digit (13 = juu + sanpun, 15 = juu + gofun).

Reference table — colour-coded by ending:

ぷん pun = harder “p” sound ふん fun = softer “f” sound

min	Japanese	ending
1	いっぷんippun	ぷん
2	にふんnifun	ふん
3	さんぷんsanpun	ぷん
4	よんぷんyonpun	ぷん
5	ごふんgofun	ふん
6	ろっぷんroppun	ぷん
7	ななふんnanafun	ふん
8	はっぷんhappun common はちふんhachifun	ぷん / ふん
9	きゅうふんkyuufun	ふん
10	じゅっぷんjuppun common じっぷんjippun	ぷん
11	じゅういっぷんjuu ippun	ぷん
12	じゅうにふんjuu nifun	ふん
13	じゅうさんぷんjuu sanpun	ぷん
14	じゅうよんぷんjuu yonpun	ぷん
15	じゅうごふんjuu gofun	ふん
17	じゅうななふんjuu nanafun	ふん
18	じゅうはっぷんjuu happun common じゅうはちふんjuu hachifun	ぷん / ふん
20	にじゅっぷんni juppun common にじっぷんni jippun	ぷん
30	さんじゅっぷんsan juppun はんhan = half	ぷん

For 8 and 10, the っ versions (happun, juppun) are what you'll hear most — both fit the “ends in っ → pun” rule.

じゅん

Putting it in order

A full time stacks up in a fixed order. Say it left to right:

1 · WHEN

ごぜん / ごご

A.M. / P.M.

→

2 · HOUR

number + じ

e.g. よじ = 4 o'clock

→

3 · MINUTES

…ふん/ぷん · はん

minutes, or はん for :30

Building one up, piece by piece:

よじ	yo ji	4:00
よじはん	yo ji han	4:30 (“half past four”)
ごごよじはん	gogo yo ji han	4:30 P.M.
ごごよじじゅうごふん	gogo yo ji juu gofun	4:15 P.M.
ごごよじじゅうごふんです。	gogo yo ji juu gofun desu.	“It's 4:15 P.M.”

Answer pattern: [ごぜん/ごご] + [hour] じ + [minutes] + です。 Drop any piece you don't need.

ためす

Exercises

Say it in Japanese, then tap to check. Cards shuffle every refresh.

A · hours

Read the hour aloud, then reveal.

1:00
いちじichi ji
tap for answer
4:00 watch the reading
よじyo ji (not yonji)
tap for answer
7:00
しちじshichi ji
tap for answer
9:00 watch the reading
くじku ji (not kyuuji)
tap for answer
12:00
じゅうにじjuuni ji
tap for answer

B · minutes (ふん / ぷん)

Mind the p / f ending.

1 minute
いっぷんippun (ぷん)
tap for answer
3 minutes
さんぷんsanpun (ぷん)
tap for answer
5 minutes
ごふんgofun (ふん)
tap for answer
8 minutes most common form
はっぷんhappun (ぷん)
tap for answer
10 minutes
じゅっぷんjuppun (ぷん)
tap for answer

C · A.M. / P.M. / half

A.M.
ごぜんgozen
tap for answer
P.M.
ごごgogo
tap for answer
half past (the word)
はんhan — literally “half”
tap for answer
1:30
いちじはんichi ji han
tap for answer

D · full sentences

Build the whole thing, then reveal.

What time is it now?
いまなんじですか。ima nan ji desu ka.
tap for answer
Excuse me, what time is it now?
すみません、いまなんじですか。sumimasen, ima nan ji desu ka.
tap for answer
It's 3:00.
さんじです。san ji desu.
tap for answer
It's 7:15.
しちじじゅうごふんです。shichi ji juu gofun desu.
tap for answer
It's 4:30 P.M.
ごごよじはんです。gogo yo ji han desu.
tap for answer

If you slipped: hours 4 / 7 / 9 are yoji / shichiji / kuji. Minutes flip to ぷん after 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10. And the order is always A.M./P.M. → hour → minutes.