Japanese Lessons with Maggie

Time related Japanese (Re-uploaded) 時の日本語（Toki no nihongo)

「マギー先生、レポートは今週中に提出すればいいですか？」

(=Maggie sensei, repouto wa konshuu juuni teishutsu sureba iidesu ka?)

“Miss Maggie, will it be OK if I turn in the report by the end of the week?”

「いいえ、明日の８時１７分きっかりに持って来て！」

(=Iie, asu no hachiji juunanafun kikkari ni motte kite!)

“No, bring it at 8:17 sharp tomorrow! “

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sorry!! I accidently deleted the lesson and this is a back-up draft file so it might be a bit different from the one I published earlier. I deeply apologize for the people who made commnents,too. They are gone…. :sad:

OK, since the lessons that I have posted have been a bit difficult for the beginners, I will teach you more basic stuff today.

We’ll see the time related vocabulary today.

Here are very basic time units :

• 時（＝toki or ji) : time / hour(s)

• 時間（＝jikan) : time / hour(s)

• 分 (=fun / bun/ pun/ ppun) : minute(s)

• 秒 (=byou) : second(s)

• 日（＝nichi / hi ) : day(s)

• 週(=shuu) : week(s)

• 月(=tsuki / getsu/ gatsu ) : month(s)

• 年(=toshi / nen) : year(s)

*How do you say “every ~” ? :

You simply put 毎(=mai) on top.

• Everyday : 毎日 (=mainichi)
• Every week : 毎週 (=maishuu)
• Every month : 毎月 (=maitsuki)
• Every year : 毎年 (=maitoshi)

Ex. マギーは毎年ハワイに行きます。(=Maggie wa maitoshi hawai ni ikimasu.) Maggie goes to Hawaii every year.

Note : If you want to say “every Monday“　→毎週月曜日(=maishuu getsuyoubi)
and if you want to say “on the 10th of each month” →毎月１０日に(=maitsuki touka ni)
and “on the January 1st every year” → 毎年１月１日に（maitoshi ichigatu tsuitachi ni)

*How about “every other“?

Whether you put 隔(=kaku) on top or number+ time unit + おきに(=okini)

• Every other week : 隔週 (=kakushuu)
• Every other month : 隔月 (=kakutsuki)
• Every other day : 隔日(=kaku jitsu) or 一日おきに(=ichinichi oki ni)
• Every other year : 隔年 (=kaku nen) or一年おきに (=Ichinen oki ni))

Note 1) :

隔週でピアノを習いに行っている。(Kakushuu de piano wo narai ni itte iru.) =

一週間おきにピアノを習いに行っている。(=Isshuukan oki i piano wo narai ni itteiru.)

I go take a piano lesson every other week

隔(=kaku) is usually for written Japanese. (Except 隔週(=kakushuu) as I showed in the above example.) So if we want to say “every other day” we use 一日おきに(=ichinichi oki ni) more than 隔日(=kaku jitsu) in conversation.

Note 2) : The difference between おきに(=okini) and 毎に(=gotoni)

二日おきに (=futsuka oki ni) every three days ↔二日毎に(=futsuka gotoni)　every two days

*How do you say “next ~“?

You put “来”(=rai) in front of the time unit.

• Next year : 来年(=rainen)
• Next week : 来週 (=raishuu)
Note : Coming week is 次週 (=jishuu)

*When you want to say “the following day/ week / year “, you put 翌 (=yoku)

• The following day : 翌日 (=yokujitsu)
• The following week : 翌週 (=yokushuu)
• The following year : 翌年 (=yokutoshi/yokunen)

*How about “last week/month/year”?

You add “先”(=sen)

• Last week : 先週(=senshuu)
• Last month : 先月(=sengetsu)

Note : 先日 (=senjitsu) means ” the other day”
Ex. 先日はお世話になりました。(Senjitsu wa osewa ni narimashita.) Thank you for taking care of me / helping me the other day.

*If you want to say “previous ~” you put “前の“(=mae no) or “前 ”（=zen)

• Previous year : 前の年 (=mae no toshi) or 前年(=zennen)
• Previous month : 前の月(=mae no tsuki)
• Previous day: 前の日(=mae no hi) or 前日(=zennjitu)

*How do you say once (or twice) a year/month/day?

• Once a year : （毎年）一年に一回 (=(maitoshi) ichinen ni ikkai) / （毎年）一年に一度 (=(maitoshi) ichinen ni ichido)

• Twice a month : 毎月二回 (=maitsuki nikai) or 毎月二度 (=maitsuki nido)

*How do you say “for ~ days/weeks/months”?

You add “間“(＝kan) after the number.

Ex. for two days: 二日間(Futsuka kan) / for two years : 3年間 (=san nenkan)

*How to count days:

Even if you can count all the numbers in Japanese ex. ichi, ni, san,etc, you may have a little trouble remembering how to count a day or refering certain dates.
For example, May 4th is not “gogatsu yon-nichi”. It is “gogatsu yokka”.
And if we want to say “I will stay in Tokyo for three days”, we usually say

東京に三日間滞在します。(=Toukyou ni mikka kan taizai shimasu.) not “san-nichikan”.

Here are some more examples of how to read the dates.

( Note : We use both Arabic number and kanji when we write numbers.)

• 一日(=tsuitachi) The first / (ichinichi) one day

Note: When you count a day, you don’t use tsuitachi. You use ichinichi.

• 二日(=futsuka) The second, two days
• 三日 (=mikka) The third, three days
• 四日 (=yokka) the fouth, four days
• 五日 (=Itsuka) The fifth, five days
• 六日 (=muika) The sixth, six days
• 七日 (=nanoka) the seventh, seven days
• 八日 (=youka) the eighth, eight days
• 九日 (=kokonoka) the ninth, nine days
• 十日 (=touka) the tenth, ten days
• 二十日(=hatsuka）the twentieth, twenty days

* However, in some occasions we hear people saying with regular way of reading numbers,
Ex. ８日間 (hachinichi kan) instead of “youka-kan”. (=for eight days.)

*How to count years:

Just add “年”(=nen)

Ex. ３年 (=san nen) Three years

Note : “Three and a half years” is 三年半 (=san nen han)

*How to count months:

You add “ヶ月” (=kagetsu)in the end.

Ex. 1ヶ月 (=ikkagetsu), ２ヶ月(=ni kagetsu)

*How to count weeks:

〜週間(~shuukan)

Ex. 2週間　(=ni shuukan) two weeks

OK, here are the basic units.

• 今日 (=kyou) : today (本日(=honjitsu) more formal *)
• 明日 (=ashita／asu) : tomorrow ( 明日(=myounichi) more formal *)
• 明後日 (=asatte) : the day after tomorrow ( 明後日(=myougonichi) more formal*)
• 一昨日 (=ototoi) : the day before yetserday ( 一昨日(=issakujitu) more formal*)

* You may hear/see this in a business situation or on the news

•明々後日（しあさって）(=shiasatte) three days from now

•一昨々日(さきおととい）(=sakiototoi) three days ago

* How do you say “~ ago“?

You add “前” (=mae) in the end.

• 二日前 (=futuka mae) : two days ago
• 三日前 (=mikka mae) : three days ago
• ２、３日前（=ni san nichi mae) : a couple of days ago
• ９時間前(=kujikan mae) : nine hours ago
• 一週間前(=isshuukan mae) : a week ago
• ２ヶ月前 (=nikagetsu mae) : two months ago.
• ４年前 (=yonen mae) four years ago

* How about “~ later” or “after ~“?

You put “後”(=go) in the end.

数年後(=suunen go) a couple of (or several) years later

２週間後(=nishuukan go) two weeks later

* How do you say “~end of (mohth, year)?

You put “末”(=matsu) in the end.

週末(=shuu matsu) weekend

月末(=getsu matsu) end of month

年末(=nenmatsu) year-end

世紀末(=seikimatsu) end of the century

Months : 月(=tsuki):

• January : 一月／1月(=ichigatsu)
• February : 二月／2月(=nigatsu)
• March : 三月／3月(=sangatsu)
• April : 四月／4月 (=shigatsu)
• May : 五月／5月 (=gogatsu)
• J une : 六月／6月 (=rokugatsu)
• July : 七月／7月 (hichigatsu/nanagatsu)
• August : 八月／8月 (hachigatsu)
• September : 九月／9月 (=kugatsu)
• October : 十月／10月 (=juugatsu)
• November : 十一月／11月(juuichigatsu)
• December : 十二月／12月 (=juuni gatsu)

The days of the week : 曜日(=youbi):

• Monday : 月曜日 (=getsuyoubi)
• Tuesday : 火曜日 (=kayoubi)
• Wednesday : 水曜日 (=suiyoubi)
• Thursday : 木曜日 (=mokuyoubi)
• Friday : 金曜日 (=kinyoubi)
• Saturday : 土曜日 (=doyoubi)
• Sunday : 日曜日(=nichiyoubi)

Ex.日曜日は何もしない。(=Nichiyoubi wa nanimo shinai.) “I don’t do anything on Sundays.”

• Weekday(s) : 平日 (=heijitsu) ↔ Weekend : 週末 (=shuumatsu)

• Holidays :

休日 (=kyuujitsu) 、祭日 (=saijitsu) 、祝日 (=shukujitsu), : holiday

国民の祝日(=Kokumin no shukujitsu) National holidays

休み (=yasumi) Holidays, day-off, vacation

夏休み (=natsuyasumi) summer holidays(vacation)、

(お)盆休み ((o)bon yasumi) obon holidays (around Aug.13~15)

冬休み (fuyu yasumi) winter holidays

(お)正月休み((o)shougatsu yasumi) New Year’s holidays.

Ex. 夏休みに入ったらどこに行きますか？ (=Natsuyasumi ni haittara dokoni ikimasu ka?)

Where are you going in summer vacation?

Ex. 正月休みにスキーに行きました。(=Shougatsu yasumi ni sukii ni ikimashita.)

I went skiing during the New Year’s holiday.

*Here are more example sentences:

Ex. 今日は何曜日ですか？(=Kyou wa nanyoubi desu ka?) What day is today?

Ex. 今日は、月曜日です。(=Kyou wa getsuyoubi desu.) It is Monday.

Ex. 今日は何日ですか？ (=Kyou wa nannichi desu ka?) What’s the date today?

Ex. 今日は８月１５日です。(=Kyou wa hachigatsu juugonichi desu.) It’s August 15th.

Ex. 今日は１月６日、水曜日です。(=Kyou wa ichigatsu muika suiyoubi desu.) It’s January 6th, Wednesday.

*Other time related words:

• 時間 (=jikan) : time (in general)

Ex. 「今、お時間ありますか？」(=Ima, ojikan arimasu ka?) Do you have some time now?
Ex. 「いえ、もう時間がありません。」(=Ie, mou jikan ga arimasen.) No, I don’t have any time left.

• 今(=ima) : now

• 先ほど(=sakihodo) : a little while ago （さっき（＝sakki)：more casual)

• 午後( =gogo) in the afternoon P.M.、午前 (=gozen) in the morning A.M.

• 朝(=asa) morning

• 昼 (=hiru) daytime

• 夕方 evening

• 晩 (=ban) evening/night

• 夜 (=yoru)　night

CF.　朝食 (=choushoku) or 朝ご（or 御）飯 (=asa gohan) : breakfast

昼食 (=chuushoku)/ 昼ご（or 御）飯(=hirugohan) : lunch

夕食 (=yuushoku) 夕飯(=yuuhan) 夕ご（or 御）飯（＝yuugohan) or 晩（or 御)飯 dinner（＝

bangohan) / 夜食（＝Yashoku) late dinner

• 早朝 (=souchou)　early in the morning

Ex.早朝割引 (=souchou waribiki) early bird discount(specials)

• 正午 (=shougo)　at noon
• 夜中 (=yonaka)　middle of the night
• 真夜中 (=mayonaka) midnight

• 今朝 (=kesa) this morning、

• 今夜 (=kon-ya) tonight or 今晩 (=konban) tonight
• 昨夜(=sakuya) last night or 昨晩(=sakuban) last night

Ex. 昨晩は冷えましたね。(=Sakuban wa hiemashita ne.) : “It was cold last night, wasn’t it?”
Ex.今朝、何を食べましたか？(=Kesa nani wo tabemashita ka?) “What did you eat this morning?”

年 (nen) year:

１年 (=ichinen) one year、２年 (=ninen) two years、

１年間 (=ichinenkan) for a year、２年間(=ninenkan) for two years

１年目 (=ichinen-me) the first year、２年目(=ninen-me) the second year、

今年(=kotoshi)　this year

去年 (=kyonen) & 昨年 (=sakunen) last year 　(昨年 (=sakunen) is more formal.)

一昨年(=ototoshi/issakunen) two years ago

来年(=rainen) next year 再来年 (=sarainen)　year after next

２年後 (=ninen go) two years later

３年前 (=san nen mae) three years ago

数年(=suunen)　a couple of (several) years

Note: 数(=suu) means a couple (of) or several

• 数ヶ月(=suukagetsu) a couple of (several)months

• 数日(=suujitsu) a couple of (several) days

時間(=jikan) time, hour(s)

１時 (=ichiji) one o’clock 、２時 (=niji) two o’clock、３時 (sanji) three o’clock、

Ex. 今、何時ですか？ (=Ima nanji desu ka?) What time is it now?
Ex. ８時１０分前です。(=hachiji juppun mae desu.) It’s 10 minutes before eight.
Ex. 今、４時ちょうどです。(=Ima yoji choudo desu.) It’s just four o’clock sharp.
Ex. ７時半です。(=hijiji han desu.) It’s seven thirty.
Ex. ２時過ぎ (=niji sugi) It’s past two.
Ex. ６時前 (=rokuji mae) It’s before six.
Ex. ５時頃(=goji goro) Around 5 o’clock. 5ish

Note : In Japan, it is very common to use 13:00~24:00 for the time table instead of 1:00 P.M ~ 12:00 A.M.

* What particle do we need to use when we say “at +number+ o’clock”?

Usually we use “に”(=ni).

Ex. 明日何時に会いましょうか？(=Ashita nanji niaimashou ka?) What time shall we meet tomorrow?
Ex. ７時に会いましょう。(=Hichiji ni aimashou.) Let’s get together at 7 o’clock!
Ex. ９時頃に会いましょう。(=Kuji goro ni aimashou.) Let’s meet around nine.
Ex. 昨夜、２：４０に東京で地震がありました。(Sakuya niji yonjyuppu ni toukyou de jishin ga arimashita.)There was an earthquake at 2:40 last night. in Tokyo.

Ex. ８時に約束があります。(=Hachiji ni yakusoku ga arimasu.) I have an appointment (an engagement) at 8:00 tomorrow.
Ex. ９時に予定が入っています。(=Kuji ni yotei ga haitte imasu.) I have plans for 9:00 tomorrow.

• 早い(=hayai)　early まだ早い（です）(=mada hayai (desu)) It is still early.

Ex. 彼は、朝早く出かけた。(=Kare wa asa hayaku dekaketa) He left early in the morning.

• 遅い(=osoi)　　late

Ex. もう遅い（です）(=mou osoi( desu)) It is already late.

• 季節(=kisetsu) Season(s)

Ex. 季節の挨拶(=Kisetsu no aisatsu) Season’s greetings

Ex. 季節の変わり目(=Kisetsu no kawarime.)　changing seasons, turn of the year

• 四季(=shiki) four seasons:

• Spring : 春 (=haru)
• Summer : 夏 (=natsu)
• Fall : 秋(=aki)
• Winter : 冬(=fuyu)

Ex. 今は秋です。(=Ima wa aki desu.) It’s autumn now.
Ex. もうすぐ冬が来ます。(=Mousugu fuyu ga kimasu.) Winter is coming soon.

Ex. 春が来たら、会いましょう。(=Haru ga kitara, aimashou.) Let’s get together in spring.

From the picture above :

「マギー先生、レポートは今週中に提出すればいいですか？」

(=Maggie sensei, repouto wa konshuu juu ni teishutsu sureba iidesu ka?)

“Miss Maggie, is it all right if I submit the report by the end of the week?”

• 提出する(=teishutsu suru) to submit, to turn in
• 〜すればいいですか？（＝sureba ii desu ka?) Will it be OK if I + verb

• 今週中(=konnshuu chuu): sometime within the weekbefore the week is over.

~中 (=chuu/juu) ：Within ~ 今年中（kotoshi juu)、今月中 (kongetsu chuu)

「いいえ、明日の８時１７分きっかりに持って来て！」

(=Iie, asu no hachiji juunanafun kikkari ni motte kite!)

“No, bring it at 8:17 sharp tomorrow! “

• きっかり(=kikkari) = 丁度（ちょうど）(=choudo) : just, on the dot, sharp.

Note : You can also use it for money.

Ex. Just 100 yen. →きっかり（ちょうど）１００円。(=kikkari （choudo) hyakuen)

Maggie先生より (=Maggie-sensei yori) From Maggie-sensei

今日のレッスンも長くなっちゃったなあ。でも明日も明後日も毎日ここに来て勉強してね。(=Kyou no ressun mo nagaku nacchatta naa.. Demo asshita mo asatte mo mainichi koko ni kite benkyou shitene.)

It ended up a long lesson again today. But plese come back here tomorrow, the day after tomorrow…well, every day to study!

Get Shareaholic

17 Responses to “Time related Japanese (Re-uploaded) 時の日本語（Toki no nihongo)”

Aki on April 26th, 2011

wow!!! so detailed and clear – I LOVED IT!!! you should make a quiz out of this on twitter!

Reply
- Maggie on April 26th, 2011
  
  @Aki
  
  OK, I will sometime!
  
  Reply
Harin on October 5th, 2009

I’m sorry, it didn’t finish before I submitted. For the last one I meant:

今は午後10時5分前です。 It is 5 minutes to 10.

Reply
Harin on October 5th, 2009

Hello again Maggie!

I have another question.
Is it correct to say this:

今は午後10時5分過ぎです。 It is 5 past 10.
今は午後10時

Reply
- Maggie on October 5th, 2009
  
  Harin-san,
  
  The both sentences are perfect!
  どちらの文章も完璧です！
  よく出来ました〜！！
  
  Reply
goldenzephyr on September 26th, 2009

あぁ！凄いだね！私はたくさん日本語の文法に習いました。ありがとうございましたマギー先生。

Reply
- Maggie on September 26th, 2009
  
  goldenzephyr-san,
  
  こちらこそ、ありがとう！
  せっかく来てくれたからコメントの文法直してあげるね。
  凄いだね　ー＞凄いね
  日本語に習いました。ー＞日本語を習いました。
  
  あとは完璧！！goldenzephyrさんの日本語は凄いよ！
  がんばってね！
  
  Reply
Laetitia on September 25th, 2009

Watashi no bokokugo ha furansugo desu.
Yours is english or japanese ? :o

Saikin, Maggie sensei no video “okinasai” o mimashita. Sugoi kawai ne ^^

Reply
- Maggie & Yukari on September 25th, 2009
  
  Laetitia-san,
  Furansu go mo Furansu mo daaaaisuki! Maggie no bokokugo wa inu-go desu! Yukari (Maggie no assistant) no bokokugo wa nihongo desu.
  Okinasai no video mite kurete arigatou! Ibiki ga sugoi desho!
  
  Reply
Laetitia on September 25th, 2009

Thank you for the correction ^^ As I wrote this sentence I knew there was something wrong but couldn’t correct it myself ^^;;
By the way, sorry if my english sounds wrong too, I hope it’s still comprehensible.

Arigatou :O
Have a nice day !

Reply
- Maggie on September 25th, 2009
  
  Laetina-san,
  
  No problem! Your English is better than mine! What is your mother language? (あなたの母国語は何ですか？）
  
  Reply
Repost the comment from Laetitia-san on September 24th, 2009

Watashi ha futsuka goto ni gurai Maggie sensei no blog o yomimasu. Lesson ha nagai no ni, totemo omoshiroi desu ! Demo, oboeranakya ikenai koto ga takusan aru no de, raishuu, watashi ha benkyouu o sureba ii ! (<– Machigai ga attara, sumimasen ; ; )

Kyou no lesson, arigatou ^^

Mata ne !

Reply
- Maggie on September 24th, 2009
  
  Laetina-san,
  
  Kinou lesson wo keshite shimatta node comment mo kiechatte gomennasai!
  (I deleted the lesson yesterday and your comment was gone. I am sorry!)
  
  You made a great sentence. May I correct just a bit?
  “Watashi wa futsuka goto ni gurai Maggie sensei…..” -> “Daitai futsuka goto ni”
  (Or if you really want to use “gurai” you could say “futsuka gurai goto ni”)
  Itsumo kono blog ni kite kurete hontou ni arigatou!! Tottemo ureshii desu!
  
  Reply
Harin on September 24th, 2009

Hello again Maggie-sensei!

I have a question regarding ～おきに and ～ごとに
If you say 二日おきに、does it have the same meaning as 一日ごとに?

二日おきにコンピューター授業を受けています。
I take computer lessons every two days.

一日ごとにコンピューター授業を受けています。
I take computer lessons every two days.

違いは不明ですね＾＾；

Reply
- Maggie on September 24th, 2009
  
  Harrin-san
  
  前のコメント消えちゃってごめんなさい！説明のところ書き直しました。m(_ _)m
  As I wrote you in my previous comment, even many many Japanese people get confused with the difference between “gotoni” and “okini”
  
  If you have to do something, (“o” means the day you do and “x” means the day you don’t do, OK?)
  
  futsuka gotoni= xo xo
  mikka gotoni = oxx oxx oxx oxx
  yokka gotoni =oxxx oxxx oxxx oxxx
  
  And
  
  futsuka oki ni = oxx oxx
  mikka oki ni = oxxx oxxx oxxx
  yoykka okini = oxxxx oxxxx oxxxx
  
  So technically “mikka goto ni” has the same pace as “futsuka oki” ni.
  And “二日おきに” has the same pace as “三日毎に”
  “goto” is one unit that the number indicates. Oki’s kanji is 置き. (置く= to place, to put)　So you leave the number of the time unit in between.
  
  一日毎に（日毎：higoto) means every day. (But there is a slight nuance difference between 毎日. And some Japanese think it means every other day)
  Thank you! Your questions always make me think. I will talk to other Japanese doggies about it.
  Arigato!!
  
  Reply
Draquoir on September 24th, 2009

Dear Maggie-Sensei,

This is very useful information! Might I request you add the word for “weekend” (週末) into the lesson?

~Draquoir

Reply
- Maggie on September 24th, 2009
  
  Dear Draquoir-san,
  
  そ〜でした！それを忘れたなんて信じられない！。早速追加しました。(=soudeshita. Sore wo wasureta nante shinjirarenai! Sassoku tsuika shimashita.)
  That’s riiiight! I can’t believe I missed that one. I have just added it now.
  助かりました。ありがとう！(=Tasukarimashita. Arigatou) Thank you for your help!
  
  Reply