21.06 Time

Time

Seconds

Numbers	Romaji	Notes
1	ichi byou
2	ni byou
3	san byou
4	yon byou	(“shi” is not used for 4)
5	go byou
6	roku byou
7	nana byou
8	hachi byou
9	kyuu byou	(“ku” is not used for 9)
10	ju byou
11	juichi byou	Combine “juu” with the number
12	juuni byou
13	juusan byou
14	juuyon byou
15	juugo byou
16	juuroku byou
17	juunana byou
18	juuhachi byou
19	juukyuu byou
20	nijyuu byou	Use kanji numerals for tens digit + “byou”
24	nijuu yon byou
59	gojuu kyuu byou

Minutes

Numbers	Romaji (Standard)	Romaji (Alternative)
1	ippun	-
2	nifun	-
3	sanpun	sanfun
4	yonpun	yonfun
5	gofun	-
6	roppun	-
7	nanafun	-
8	happun	hachifun
9	kyuufun	-
10	juppun	-
11	juuippun	-
12	juunifun	-
13	juusanpun	juusanfun
14	juuyonpun	juuyonfun
15	juu gofun	-
16	juuroppun	-
17	juunanafun	-
18	juuhappun	juuhachifun
19	juukyuufun	-
20	nijuuppun	-
24	nijuu yonpun	nijuu yonfun
59	gojuu kyuufun	-

Hours

Hour time:

Numbers	Romaji (Standard)	Romaji (Alternative)
1	ichiji	-
2	niji	-
3	sanji	-
4	yoji	-
5	goji	-
6	rokuji	-
7	shichiji	nanaji
8	hachiji	-
9	kuji	-
10	juuji	-
11	juuichiji	-
12	juuniji	-

Hour duration:

Numbers	Romaji
1	ichijikan
2	nijikan
3	sanjikan
4	yojikan
5	gojikan
6	rokujikan
7	shichijikan, nanajikan
8	hachijikan
9	kujikan
10	juujikan
11	juuichijikan
12	juunijikan
13	juusanjikan
14	juuyojikan
15	juugojikan
16	juurokujikan
17	juushichijikan, juunanajikan
18	juuhachijikan
19	juukujikan
20	nijuu jikan
24	nijuu yojikan

Notes:

• The pronunciation of the numbers is the same as for “hour” in time of day.
• “4” is pronounced “yo” and “9” is pronounced “ku”.
• The following are not correct: “shijikan”, “yonjikan”, “kyuujikan”.

Telling Time

Time	Romaji
1:09	ichiji kyuu fun
2:27	niji ni juu nana fun
3:35	sanji san juu go fun
4:52	yoji go juu ni fun
6:18	rokuji juu hachi fun
7:43	shichiji yon juu san pun
8:46	hachiji yon juu roku pun
9:01	kuji ip pun
12:30	juuni ji san juu pun, juuni ji han

Half

「半（はん）」は「half」という意味です。 (Han means “half”)

Time	Reading	Explanation
0.5秒	れいてんごびょう (rei ten go byou - 0.5 seconds)
1分半（いっぷんはん）	いっぷん＋30びょう (ippun han - 1 and a half minutes)	90秒 (kyuu juu byou - 90 seconds)
2時間半（にじかんはん）	にじかん＋30ふん (ni jikan han - 2 and a half hours)	150分 (hyaku go juu pun - 150 minutes)
3時半（さんじはん	3:30朝 (san ji han asa - 3:30 am) または 3:30午後 (san ji han gogo - 3:30 pm)
1日半（いちにちはん）	いちにち＋はんにち (ichi nichi han - 1 and a half days)
2か月半（にかげつはん）	２かげつ＋はんつき (ni kagetsu han - 2 and a half months)
1年半（いちねんはん）	いちねん＋ろっかげつ (ichi nen han - 1 and a half years)	18か月 (jyuu hachi kagetsu - 18 months)

We don’t say “han byou”, “han fun”, or “han jikan” by putting “han” before.
For “day” and longer durations, “han” can come before the number.

• 半日（はんにち） (han nichi - half day)
• 半月（はんつき） (han tsuki - half month)
• 半年（はんとし） (han toshi - half year)

However, be careful of the pronunciation:

• ×はんげつ (han getsu - incorrect for half month)
• ×はんねん (han nen - incorrect for half year)

We often use “han nichi”, “han tsuki”, and “han toshi” for approximate halves.
If you want to say exactly half, use “jyuu ni jikan”, “jyuu go nichi”, or “roku kagetsu”.

Others

Notes:

• There is a clear distinction between “2時 (2 o’clock)” and “2時間 (2 hours).”
• For other units like “秒 (second),” “分 (minute),” “日 (day),” “月 (month),” and “年 (year),” you can use 間 (kan) or not to express duration.
• This applies when expressing duration, not for the current time.
• Examples:
  • “1秒” or “1秒間” (one second)
  • “5分” or “5分間” (five minutes)
  • “2日” or “2日間” (two days)
  • “2ヶ月” or “2ヶ月間” (two months)
  • “1年” or “1年間” (one year)
• Both are acceptable and mean the same thing.
  • “15分待って下さい” or “15分間待って下さい” (Please wait 15 minutes.)
  • “3年勉強しました” or “3年間勉強しました” (I studied for 3 years.)
• In conversation, 間 is often omitted.

Other ways to express time:

• 2時ちょうど (2 ji choudo): Exactly 2:00
• 正午 (shougo): 12:00 noon
• 2時15分前 (2 ji 15 pun mae): 1:45 (not 2:14)
• 2時前 (2 ji mae): Around 1:50 to 2:00
• 2時過ぎ (2 ji sugi): Around 2:00 to 2:10
• 2時より前 (2 ji yori mae): Before 2:00 (until 1:59)
• 2時より後 (2 ji yori ato): After 2:00 (from 2:00 onwards)
• 2時以降 (2 ji igo): After 2:00 (from 2:00 onwards)
• 2時頃 (2 ji goro): Around 2:00
• 2時近い (2 ji chikai): Close to 2:00
• 2時ちょっと前 (2 ji chotto mae): A little before 2:00
• 2時ちょっと過ぎ (2 ji chotto sugi): A little after 2:00
• 2時台 (2 ji dai): The 2:00 hour (from 2:00 to 2:59)
• 2時過ぎから3時頃まで (2 ji sugi kara 3 ji goro made): From around 2:00 to around 3:00
• 2時ちょうどに会おう (2 ji choudo ni aou): Let’s meet at exactly 2:00.
• 2時頃までに来てください (2 ji goro made ni kite kudasai): Please come by around 2:00.
• 2時以降は来ないでください (2 ji igo wa konai de kudasai): Please don’t come after 2:00.
• 2時15分前に駅で待ち合わせ (2 ji 15 pun mae ni eki de machiawase): Let’s meet at the station at 1:45.
• 2時前後は忙しいので、連絡は控えてください (2 ji zen go wa isogashii node, renraku wa hikaete kudasai): I’m busy around 2:00, so please refrain from contacting me.
• There are nuances between “2時前” and “2時より前.”
  • 2時前: A little before 2:00
  • 2時より前: Vaguely before 2:00
• 2時以降 and 2時以後 are interchangeable.

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