Today we will learn about how to say time of the day in Japanese. Lets learn how to say hours, minutes and seconds in Japanese language.
Hours in Japanese:
| Hours | Hiragana | Reading | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いちじ | ichi ji | 一時 |
| 2 | にじ | ni ji | 二時 |
| 3 | さんじ | san ji | 三時 |
| 4 | よじ | yo ji | 四時 |
| 5 | ごじ | go ji | 五時 |
| 6 | ろくじ | roku ji | 六時 |
| 7 | しちじ | shichi ji | 七時 |
| 8 | はちじ | hachi ji | 八時 |
| 9 | くじ | ku ji | 九時 |
| 10 | じゅうじ | juu ji | 十時 |
| 11 | じゅういちじ | juuichi ji | 十一時 |
| 12 | じゅうにじ | juuni ji | 十二時 |
Make sure to remember 4, 7 and 9 o clock in Japanese correctly since these three are the tricky ones.
PM in Japanese is ごご (gogo) 午後
AM in Japanese is ごぜん (gozen) 午前
For 12PM it is gogo juuni ji / Shoogo
For 12AM it is gozen ree ji
So if you want to say it is 3PM in Japanese
ごご さんじ = gogo san ji
If you want to say it is 8AM in Japanese
ごぜん はちじ = gozen hachi ji
If you want to say it is 11PM in Japanese
ごご じゅういちじ = gogo juuichi ji
Pretty much straight forward right? If you want to say 3:30PM or 8:30AM or 11:30PM how do you say it in Japanese? It is very simple as well.
If you want to say it is 3:30PM in Japanese
ごご さんじ はん = gogo san ji han
If you want to say it is 8:30AM in Japanese
ごぜん はちじ はん = gozen hachi ji han
If you want to say it is 11:30PM in Japanese
ごご じゅういちじ はん = gogo juu ichi ji han
By adding the word はん (han) 半 right after the hour, it means half past. But if it is only 30 minutes then the saying is different.
Lets take a look at minutes in Japanese.
Minutes in Japanese:
| Minutes | Hiragana | Reading | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっぷん | ippun | 1分 |
| 2 | にふん | nifun | 2分 |
| 3 | さんぷん | sanpun | 3分 |
| 4 | よんふん | yonfun | 4分 |
| 5 | ごふん | gofun | 5分 |
| 6 | ろっぷん | roppun | 6分 |
| 7 | ななふん | nanafun | 7分 |
| 8 | はっぷん | happun | 8分 |
| 9 | きゅうふん | kyuufun | 9分 |
| 10 | じゅっぷん | juppun | 10分 |
1 to 10 is basic Japanese reading for minutes. Lets look how to build after 10 minutes:
11 minutes = じゅういっぷん (juuippun) – 11分
12 minutes = じゅうにふん (juunifun) – 12分
15 minutes = じゅうごふん (juugofun) – 15分
20 minutes = にじゅっぷん (nijuppun) – 20分
30 minutes = さんじゅっぷん (sanjuppun) – 30分
35 minutes = さんじゅうごふん (sanjuugofun) – 35分
40 minutes = よんじゅっぷん (yonjuppun) – 40分
42 minutes = よんじゅうにふん (yonjuunifun) – 42分
50 minutes = ごじゅっぷん (gojuppun) – 50分
51 minutes = ごじゅういっぷん (gojuuippun) – 51分
52 minutes = ごじゅうにふん (gojuunifun) – 52分
59 minutes = ごじゅうきゅうふん (gojuukyuufun) – 59分
Seconds in Japanese:
| Seconds | Hiragana | Reading | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いちびょう | ichi-byoo | 1秒 |
| 2 | にびょう | ni-byoo | 2秒 |
| 3 | さんびょう | san-byoo | 3秒 |
| 4 | よんびょう | yon-byoo | 4秒 |
| 5 | ごびょう | go-byoo | 5秒 |
| 6 | ろくびょう | roku-byoo | 6秒 |
| 7 | ななびょう | nana-byoo | 7秒 |
| 8 | はちびょう | hachi-byoo | 8秒 |
| 9 | きゅうびょう | kyu-byoo | 9秒 |
| 10 | じゅうびょう | juu-byoo | 10秒 |
Seconds in Japanese is straight forward as well since there is no sound changes with numbers. If you know numbers in Japanese then all you need to do is just add byoo (びょう) – 秒 right after the number. That is all.
If you want to say it is 3:30:56PM in Japanese
ごご さんじ はん ごじゅうろく びょう= gogo san ji han go juu roku byoo
If you want to say it is 8:30:25AM in Japanese
ごぜん はちじ はん にじゅうご びょう = gozen hachi ji han ni juu go byoo
If you want to say it is 11:11:41PM in Japanese
ごご じゅういちじ じゅういっぷん よんじゅういち びょう = gogo juu ichi ji juuippun yon ju ichi byoo
At this point you may have already get an idea about how to build hours, minutes and seconds structure in Japanese. It is better to learn the basic reading first and then try by yourself with random timing other than above examples.
