Elementary Japanese Years Old and Time

To say how many years old you are, you need to add the particle “さい” after the number.

Sai

にさい

２Years Old

Exception: いっさい

1 Year Old

Exception: はっさい

8 Years Old

Exception: じゅっさい

10 Years Old

Exception: じゅういっさい

11 Years Old

Exception: はたちさい/にじゅっさい

20 Years Old

Exception: にじゅうはっさい

28 Years Old

Exception: よんじゅっさい

40 Years Old

Regular: ひゃくさい

100 Years Old

Hours in Japanese are expressed with the number followed by the particle “じ”.

Ji

Minutes are expressed a the number followed by ふん／ぷん.

Fun/Pun

Normal: いちじ

1 O’Clock (1:00)

Exception: よじ

4:00

Exception: しちじ

7:00

Exception: くじ

9:00

Exception: いっぷん

1 Minute

にふん

2 Minutes

さんぷん

3 Minutes

よんぷん

4 Minutes

ごふん

5 Minutes

Exception: ろぷん

6 Minutes

Exception: ななふん

7 Minutes

Exception: はっぷん

8 Minutes

きゅうふん

9 Minutes

じゅっぷん

10 Minutes

To tell someone what year of school you are in you need to say the number and add “ねんせい”.

Nensee

To say “half past,” add “はん”after the hour

Han

“AM” is expressed as “ごぜん”

Gozen

“PM” is expressed as “ごご”

Gogo

“あさ” (morning) can be used for AM as well.

Asa

“ひる” (‘daytime’) can also be used for AM.

Hiru

“よる” (‘night’) can be used for PM.

Yoru

You need “に” with the days of the week like “on Sunday” and numerical time expressions, like “at 10:45” and “in September”

Ex. 1. nichiyoobi ni

2. juuji yoNjuugofun ni

3. kugatsu ni

Ni

いつ

When

きょう

Today

あした

Tomorrow

毎日 (まいにち)

Everyday