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N5Talking to real people · Sep 13, 2026

How to tell time in Japanese: 時とき, 分ふん, and the readings that break

Telling time in Japanese is two counters — 時とき for the hour and 分ふん for the minute — plus about eight irregular readings you simply have to memorise. The one that costs real money is 3時じ versus 3時間じかん: three o'clock and three hours are not the same word.

Numbers feel like the safe part of a language, which is exactly why this catches people. You can count to a hundred perfectly and still say よんじ for four o'clock, which is not a word.

The basics

The hours — and the three that break

Hour Reading Hour Reading
1時じ いちじ 7時じ しちじ
2時じ にじ 8時じ はちじ
3時じ さんじ 9時じ くじ
4時じ よじ 10時じ じゅうじ
5時じ ごじ 11時じ じゅういちじ
6時じ ろくじ 12時じ じゅうにじ

Three to memorise: 4時じ = よじ (never よんじ), 7時じ = しちじ, 9時じ = くじ (never きゅうじ).

今いま、3時じです。 — It's three o'clock. 9時じに会あいましょう。 — Let's meet at nine.

The minutes and their sound changes

分ふん is read ふん or ぷん depending on the number, following the same pattern as other counters: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 take ぷん.

Min Reading Min Reading
1分ぷん いっぷん 6分ぷん ろっぷん
2分ふん にふん 7分ふん ななふん
3分ぷん さんぷん 8分ぷん はっぷん
4分ぷん よんぷん 9分ふん きゅうふん
5分ふん ごふん 10分ぷん じゅっぷん

7時じ15分ふんです。 — It's 7:15. (しちじ じゅうごふん) 8時じ40分ぷんに出でます。 — I'm leaving at 8:40.

半はん is half past, and it is easier than the minutes

7時半じはん。 — Half past seven. 12時半じはんに昼ひるご飯はんを食たべます。 — I eat lunch at half past twelve.

半はん never changes sound and never takes 分ふん. It is the one part of this that is purely easy, so use it wherever you can.

午前ごぜん and 午後ごご go before the time

This is the reverse of English, and it is the most common structural mistake.

✗ 3時じ午後ごご 午後ごご○ 午後ごご3時じ。 — 3 PM. ○ 午前ごぜん7時じに起おきます。 — I get up at 7 AM.

In conversation, though, Japanese often skips them and uses time-of-day words instead: 朝あさ7時じ ("seven in the morning"), 夜よる8時じ ("eight at night"), 昼ひるの1時じ ("one in the afternoon"). 午前ごぜん/午後ごご are not rude or stiff — they are normal in speech too (午後ごご3時じに待ち合まちあわせ) — but they are the default in timetables, announcements and business.

Beyond the basics

3時じ and 3時間じかん are not the same word

This is the one that actually causes misunderstandings.

3時じに会あいましょう。 — Let's meet at three o'clock. 3時間じかんかかります。 — It takes three hours.

時とき is a point on the clock. 時間じかん is a length of time. Saying 3時じかかります would be telling someone the task takes "three o'clock," which is not a thing.

Duration counters follow the same pattern across the board: 一日いちにち (one day) vs 一日いちにち間かん, 二週間にしゅうかん (two weeks), 三ヶ月さんかげつ (three months), 四年よねん間かん (four years). Minutes are the exception — 5分ふん covers both "five past" and "five minutes' duration," with context deciding.

The に rule: specific times take it, relative times do not

Attach に to a time on the clock or the calendar. Do not attach it to words like today, tomorrow, now, or every day.

○ 3時じに行いきます。 — I'll go at three. ○ 月曜日げつようびに行いきます。 — I'll go on Monday. .✗ 明日あしたに行いきます。 。○ 明日あした行いきます。 — I'll go tomorrow.

The test: if the word tells you a fixed point on a clock or calendar, it takes に. If it is relative to now — 今日きょう, 明日あした, 昨日きのう, 今いま, 毎日まいにち — it does not. 来週らいしゅう, 来月らいげつ and 今週末こんしゅうまつ usually go without に, but with に is also natural (来月らいげつに引っ越ひっこします). A に can still appear in the sentence without belonging to the time word, as in 明日あした、学校がっこうに行いく, and today, tomorrow and yesterday points out that the に there goes with 学校がっこう, not 明日あした.

Asking the time, and asking about a time

Two different questions, one particle apart.

今いま、何時なんじですか。 — What time is it now? 何時なんじに会あいますか。 — What time shall we meet? 何時なんじから何時なんじまでですか。 — From what time to what time?

何時なんじ is built the same way as every other question word, and 何時間なんじかん asks about duration: 何時間なんじかんかかりますか ("how many hours does it take?").

Making an appointment

The time words become useful the moment you attach them to a plan. These four shapes cover almost every scheduling conversation:

何時なんじがいいですか。 — What time works for you? 3時じからでもいいですか。 — Would three onwards be all right? 1時間じかんぐらいかかります。 — It'll take about an hour. 10時じに予約よやくしました。 — I booked it for ten.

Note 3時じから — から and まで attach to times exactly as they do to places, which makes 〜から〜まで one of the most reusable frames you have: 9時じから5時じまで働はたらきます ("I work from nine to five").

And when you need to move something, 〜に変更へんこう is the word: 4時じに変更へんこうできますか ("could we change it to four?").

Approximate and precise

3時じごろ。 — Around three. (ごろ — for points in time) 3時間じかんぐらい。 — About three hours. (ぐらい/くらい — for amounts) 3時じちょうど。 — Exactly three. 3時じ5分前ふんまえ。 — Five to three. 3時じ5分ふん過すぎ。 — Just after three.

ごろ versus ぐらい is worth keeping straight: ごろ attaches to a point in time, ぐらい to a quantity or duration. 3時じごろ ("around three o'clock"), 3時間じかんぐらい ("about three hours").

〜後あと and 〜前まえ: in ten minutes, ten minutes ago

Attach 後あと (ご) or 前まえ (まえ) to a duration and you get relative time, which is what most conversation actually needs.

10分後ふんごに出でます。 — I'm leaving in ten minutes. 30分前ふんまえに着つきました。 — I arrived thirty minutes ago. 2時間後じかんごに電話でんわします。 — I'll call in two hours.

Note that 後あと attaches to durations, not to clock times — 3時じ後あと is not a sentence (use 3時じ過すぎ or 3時以降じいこう). 前まえ does both: 3時前じまえ means "before three o'clock," while 3時間前じかんまえ means "three hours ago."

The everyday versions are すぐ ("right away"), 後あとで ("later") and さっき ("just now"), and they carry far more conversation than any exact figure: 後あとで電話でんわします is what people actually say.

How does it sound in anime and real life?

Short forms dominate, and 半はん does a lot of work:

何時なんじ集合しゅうごう? — What time are we meeting? (casual) 7時半じはんね。 — Half seven, then. もうこんな時間じかん。 — Look at the time. (literally "already this time") 時間じかんないよ。 — There's no time.

もうこんな時間じかん is the standard thing to say when you realise you have stayed too long, and it is far more natural than announcing the actual number.

午前ごぜん0時じ and 正午しょうご: the two edges

Midnight and noon have their own words, and the ordinary numbers get slippery around them.

正午しょうご(しょうご) — noon. 午前ごぜん0時じ — midnight, in official writing. 深夜しんや2時じ — 2 AM. (literally "deep night two") 夜中よなかに目めが覚さめた。 — I woke up in the middle of the night.

深夜しんや is the useful one: it covers roughly midnight to dawn and is how timetables label late trains. You will also see venues advertising hours like 25時じ rather than 深夜しんや1時じ — same moment, different convention, and both are normal.

Common mistakes

  • よんじ for 4時じ. It is よじ. Likewise くじ for 9時じ, not きゅうじ.
  • 3時じかかります. Duration needs 時間じかん: 3時間じかんかかります.
  • 明日あしたに行いきます. Relative time words take no に. 明日あした行いきます.
  • 3時じ午後ごご. 午前ごぜん and 午後ごご come first: 午後ごご3時じ.
  • いちふん, さんふん. The sound changes are いっぷん, さんぷん, よんぷん, ろっぷん, はっぷん, じゅっぷん.
  • Piling on words nobody needs. In casual talk 7時じ alone, or 朝あさ7時じ, is enough.

Practice

Answers are hidden — build yours first, then open. Questions 5 and 6 are a pair: one character apart, and the meaning changes completely.

1. Read 4時じ out loud.

Show answer

よじ — never よんじ. Along with くじ (9時じ) and しちじ (7時じ), this is one of the three hour readings you have to memorise.

2. Read 9時じ out loud.

Show answer

くじ — not きゅうじ. If you say きゅうじ you will be understood, but it is not the standard reading.

3. Read 8分ぷん out loud.

Show answer

はっぷん — 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 take ぷん. 2, 5, 7 and 9 take ふん.

4. Say "half past seven."

Show answer

7時半じはん — 半はん never changes sound and never takes 分ふん. Use it wherever you can.

5. Say "let's meet at three o'clock."

Show answer

3時じに会あいましょう — 時とき is a point on the clock, and a specific time takes に.

6. Say "it takes three hours."

Show answer

3時間じかんかかります — duration needs 時間じかん, not 時とき. This is the pair to question 5: one character, and the sentence goes from a meeting time to a length of time.

7. Something is wrong here: 明日あしたに行いきます。

Show answer

明日あした行いきます — relative time words (今日きょう, 明日あした, 今いま, 毎日まいにち) take no に. Fixed points on a clock or calendar do.

8. Say "3 PM."

Show answer

午後ごご3時じ — 午前ごぜん and 午後ごご come before the time, the reverse of English. In conversation, plain 3時じ is enough — the context makes it PM.

9. What is the difference between 3時じごろ and 3時間じかんぐらい?

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ごろ is for points in time, ぐらい for amounts — 3時じごろ is "around three o'clock"; 3時間じかんぐらい is "about three hours."

10. Ask how many hours something takes.

Show answer

何時間なんじかんかかりますか — 何時なんじ asks the clock time, 何時間なんじかん asks the duration. The same 時とき/時間じかん split as questions 5 and 6.

Use a trial lesson to say 3時じ and 3時間じかん in sentences about a meeting, so that nobody waits for you at the wrong hour.

FAQ

Is 7時じ ever read ななじ? You will hear it, especially when someone is being careful to avoid confusion with 1時じ over the phone, but しちじ is the standard reading. Produce しちじ and recognise ななじ.

How do I say "from 9 to 5"? 9時じから5時じまで. から and まで work for times exactly as they do for places, and 〜から〜まで is one of the most reusable frames in Japanese.

Does Japan use the 24-hour clock? On timetables, tickets and official schedules, yes — 18時じ (じゅうはちじ). In speech people use 12-hour time with 朝あさ/昼ひる/夜よる attached. Bars and late-night venues sometimes go past 24, so 25時じ means 1 AM.

What about "o'clock sharp"? ちょうど: 3時じちょうど ("exactly three"). It can also go first — ちょうど3時じです ("it's exactly three o'clock"). Both are natural. For "just after three" use 3時じ過すぎ.

Are the minute sound changes really necessary? Yes. いちふん and さんふん are not words, in the same way "a three-o'clock" is not English. The pattern is similar to 本ほん and 杯はい (1, 6, 8 and 10 double the consonant), though 3 and 4 differ, so some of it you only learn once.

How do I say "every day at seven"? 毎日まいにち7時じに. 毎日まいにち takes no に but 7時じ does, so both rules apply in the same sentence — which is a useful thing to say out loud a few times until it feels normal.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

時	じ — o'clock
分	ふん — minute
半	はん — half past
時間	じかん — hour (duration); time
4時	よじ — four o'clock
7時	しちじ — seven o'clock
9時	くじ — nine o'clock
1分	いっぷん — one minute
8分	はっぷん — eight minutes
午前	ごぜん — AM
午後	ごご — PM
何時	なんじ — what time
何時間	なんじかん — how many hours
朝	あさ — morning
昼	ひる — noon, daytime
夜	よる — night
今	いま — now
明日	あした — tomorrow
毎日	まいにち — every day
月曜日	げつようび — Monday
起きる	おきる — to get up
出る	でる — to leave, to go out
会う	あう — to meet
かかる	かかる — to take (time)
ちょうど	ちょうど — exactly
ごろ	ごろ — around (a point in time)
ぐらい	ぐらい — about (an amount)

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime. Numbers feel safe, which is why 3時じ and 3時間じかん slip past for so long — and it is the one mistake here that can actually make someone wait for you at the wrong time.

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Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

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