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The suffix for hours or o’clock is -ji. Note that 4 o’clock is pronounced as yoji, not yonji.
| O’clock | Japanese Hour Romaji |
Hiragana | Kanji | Japanese Minute Romaji |
Katakana | Kanji |
| 1 o’clock | ichiji | いちじ | 一時 | ippun | いっぷん | 一分 |
| 2 o’clock | niji | にじ | 二時 | nifun | にふん | 二分 |
| 3 o’clock | sanji | さんじ | 三時 | sanpun | さんぷｎ | 三分 |
| 4 o’clock | yoji | よじ | 四時 | yonpun | よんぷん | 四分 |
| 5 o’clock | goji | ごじ | 五時 | gofun | ごふん | 五分 |
| 6 o’clock | rokuji | ろくじ | 六時 | roppun | ろっぷん | 六分 |
| 7 o’clock | shichiji | しちじ | 七時 | nanafun | ななふん | 七分 |
| 8 o’clock | hachiji | はちじ | 八時 | happun | はっぷん | 八分 |
| 9 o’clock | kuji | くじ | 九時 | kyufun | きゅふん | 九分 |
| 10 o’clock | juuji | じゅうじ | 十時 | juppun | じゅっぷん | 十分 |
| 11 o’clock | juuichiji | じゅういちじ | 十一時 | juuippun | じゅういっぷん | 十一分 |
| 12 o’clock | juuniji | じゅうにじ | 十二時 | juunifun | じゅうにふん | 十二分 |
| ? | nanji | なんじ | 何時 | nanpun | なんぷん | 何分 |
For minutes attach -fun to the standard set of numbers.
| :01 | ippun | :21 | nijuuippun | :41 | yonjuuippun |
| :02 | nifun | :22 | nijuunifun | :42 | yonjuunifun |
| :03 | sanpun | :23 | nijuusanpun | :43 | yonjuusanpun |
| :04 | yonpun | :24 | nijuuyonpun | :44 | yonjuuyonpun |
| :05 | gofun | :25 | nijuugofun | :45 | yonjuugofun |
| :06 | roppun | :26 | nijuuroppun | :46 | yonjuuroppun |
| :07 | nanafun | :27 | nijuunanafun | :47 | yonjuunanafun |
| :08 | happun | :28 | nijuuhappun | :48 | yonjuuhappun |
| :09 | kyuufun | :29 | nijuukyuufun | :49 | yonjuukyuufun |
| :10 | juppun | :30 | sanjuppun | :50 | gojuppun |
| :11 | juuippun | :31 | sanjuuippun | :51 | gojuuippun |
| :12 | juunifun | :32 | sanjuunifun | :52 | gojuunifun |
| :13 | juusanpun | :33 | sanjuusanpun | :53 | gojuusanpun |
| :14 | juuyonpun | :34 | sanjuuyonpun | :54 | gojuuyonpun |
| :15 | juugofun | :35 | sanjuugofun | :55 | gojuugofun |
| :16 | juuroppun | :36 | sanjuuroppun | :56 | gojuuroppun |
| :17 | juunanafun | :37 | sanjuunanafun | :57 | gojuunanafun |
| :18 | juuhappun | :38 | sanjuuhappun | :58 | gojuuhappun |
| :19 | juukyuufun | :39 | sanjuukyuufun | :59 | gojuukyuufun |
| :20 | nijuppun | :40 | yonjuppun |
Below are some examples of how to say the time of the day in Japanese i.e. combining the hour with the minute.
| fun | pun | |
| 1:05 | ichi-ji gofun | |
| 1:10 | ichi-ji juppun | |
| 1:15 | ichi-ji juugofun | |
| 1:20 | ichi-ji nijuppun | |
| 1:25 | ichi-ji nijuugofun | |
| 1:30 | ichi-ji han ichi-ji sanjuppun |
|
| 1:35 | ichi-ji sanjuugofun | |
| 1:40 | ichi-ji yonjuppun | |
| 1:45 | ichi-ji yonjuugofun | |
| 1:50 | ichi-ji gojuppun |
| jikan 時間 |
time |
| fun, pun 分 |
minutes |
| gozen 午前 |
a.m. |
| gogo 午後 |
p.m. |
| shougo 正午 |
noon |
| mayonaka 真夜中 |
midnight |
| Nan ji desu ka. 何時ですか。 |
What time is it? |
| Ichiji desu. 一時です。 |
It’s one o ‘clock. |
| Gozen ku ji desu. 午前九時です。 |
It’s 9 a.m. |
| Gogo san ji han desu. 午後三時半です。 |
It’s 3:30 p.m |
Note that gozen and gogo should appear before the time, not after. Han means half, as in half past the hour.
If you are not sure at any point, you can always cross check your understanding with Yahoo’s online dictionary.
After mastering time, how about learning some Japanese greetings?