Part 2 · Verbs, adjectives and the everyday basics · Lesson 16
Dates, times and when things happen
Reading dates and clock times, the words for yesterday, last week and next year, when to use に with a time and when to leave it off, and how to say 'for' versus 'at'.
Months and days
Months are a number plus 月 (がつ):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| いちがつ | にがつ | さんがつ | しがつ | ごがつ | ろくがつ |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| しちがつ | はちがつ | くがつ | じゅうがつ | じゅういちがつ | じゅうにがつ |
Note 4, 7 and 9 use し, しち and く.
Days of the month are a number plus 日 (にち), with irregular first ten days and a few others:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ついたち | ふつか | みっか | よっか | いつか |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| むいか | なのか | ようか | ここのか | とおか |
14 is じゅうよっか, 20 is はつか, 24 is にじゅうよっか. Everything else is number + にち (十一日 じゅういちにち).
The order is big to small: year, month, day.
Days of the week
月曜日 (げつようび, Monday), 火曜日 (かようび), 水曜日 (すいようび), 木曜日 (もくようび), 金曜日 (きんようび), 土曜日 (どようび), 日曜日 (にちようび). They are named for the moon, fire, water, wood, metal, earth and sun.
Clock times
Hours are number + 時 (じ); minutes are number + 分 (ふん/ぷん):
| 1:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 9:00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| いちじ | よじ | しちじ | くじ |
Half past is 半 (はん): 三時半 (さんじはん). AM and PM are 午前 (ごぜん) and 午後 (ごご).
Words for relative time
These are nouns you will use constantly:
| Before | Now | After | |
|---|---|---|---|
| day | 昨日 (きのう) | 今日 (きょう) | 明日 (あした) |
| week | 先週 (せんしゅう) | 今週 (こんしゅう) | 来週 (らいしゅう) |
| month | 先月 (せんげつ) | 今月 (こんげつ) | 来月 (らいげつ) |
| year | 去年 (きょねん) | 今年 (ことし) | 来年 (らいねん) |
| day before/after | 一昨日 (おととい) | 明後日 (あさって) |
に or no に
This is the part that trips everyone.
- With a clock or calendar time, use に: 七時に, 日曜日に, 三月に.
- With a relative word (今日, 昨日, 来週, 去年...), no に: 昨日来た, 来週行く.
Reason: relative words behave like adverbs, not like points on the clock. You can add に for emphasis (明日には), but you rarely need to.
About: ごろ and ぐらい
- ごろ: approximately when (a point in time): 三時ごろ.
- ぐらい / くらい: approximately how long or how much: 三時間ぐらい.
Duration vs a point
A duration (how long) takes 間 or nothing; a point takes に.
Compare: 二時に勉強した (I studied at two o'clock) vs 二時間勉強した (I studied for two hours). The only difference is the 間.
から and まで for ranges
Frequency
- 毎日 (every day), 毎週 (every week), 毎年 (every year)
- 週に二回 (twice a week): note the に. 一日に三回 (three times a day).
Longer sentences
A diary entry or schedule packs dates, times and durations together.
Key points
- Dates run year, month, day. Learn the ten irregular day names.
- Clock times take に; relative words (昨日, 来週) do not.
- ごろ for a rough time, ぐらい for a rough amount.
- 〜間 marks how long; に marks when.
- 週に三回 = three times per week.
Drill these patterns
Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: