LEARNING TASK 4: Telling Time

(Week 4: August 28-September 1, 2023)

TOPIC: Telling time

TOPIC OVERVIEW

Be able to understand the importance of punctuality, being on time in Japan.

The learners can identify and express the twelve-hour clock in nihonggo as well as the
written, either the twelve-hour clock or the twenty-four-hour clock is used for telling time in
Japanese, listening skill will also help learners to recognize common time phrases

DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this learning task, the students must be able to:

1. Identify time by hour in Japanese

2. Express and tell time in Nihonggo
3. Recognize time phrases

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT 4

I. Introduction

Punctuality is relative
Reputations are weird things. Japan has a reputation for extreme punctuality, where
everything runs like a well-oiled machine and the train companies apologize for being
a minute late, and this is generally true.

Show Up Early
The basic idea of punctuality in Japan is that you should be ready to go with whatever
is planned at the starting time. This means, for example, if your work shift starts at
9:00 you should be in the office, at your desk with your computer on at 9:00. Thus,
you should show up early enough to make that possible. Do you need some time to
have a coffee, use the restroom, and get yourself energized for the day? Then show up
well before 9:00.
 If you have a meeting scheduled for 3:30, that means the boss is expecting everyone
to be ready to start the discussion at 3:30, so you’d best be in your seat by 3:20 or so.
Is your boss coming to an after-work dinner or party? You’d best be there ten minutes
early. Starting times are expected to be just that, times to get started, and so in any
work-related event showing up then is considered being late. It’s best to remember
that.

II. Telling Time in Japanese Lesson for Beginners!

A. Let’s start off with the question – What Time Is It in Japanese?

 What time is it?

 Nanji desu ka?
 何時ですか。

 What time is it now?

 Ima wa nanji desu ka?
 今は何時ですか。

Use this formula. For telling time in Japanese

 (number) + ji + desu.
 (number) 時です
 Just add the number in Japanese and say “ji desu” after it.

 Or, if you want to say… XX:30, add han!

 (number) + ji +han + desu.
 (number)時半です

So, for example:

 It’s 3 o’clock.
 sanji desu.
 3 時です。
 It’s 4 o’clock.
 yoji + desu. (yes, we use YO, not YON, when using 4 alone – remember this rule)
 4 時です。
 It’s 7 o’clock
 Shichiji desu. (yes, not nana, but using 7 alone – remember this rule)
 7 時です。
 It’s 8:30.
  Hachiji han desu.
 8 時半です。
 It’s 9 o’clock.
 Kuji desu (yes, not kyuu, but using 9 alone – remember this rule)
 9 時です。

Now, you can say its 10 o’clock or it’s 3:30! Now, let’s get a little detailed. Let’s talk about
AM and PM.

B. AM & PM in Japanese

Japanese don’t often use AM and PM because they use a 24-hour clock system. So, what would
be 9PM for you is 21 for them. What’s 11PM for you is 23 for them. BUT, you can still use the
12-hour clock system with the following words:

 gozen – 午前 – (morning or used as AM)

 gogo – 午後 – (afternoon or used as PM)
Now, you can take these words and use them for telling time in Japanese. Add them to the front.

 It’s 3AM
 Gozen sanji desu
 午前 3 時です
 It’s 11PM
 Gogo juuichiji desu
 午後 11 時です

Now, what about the minutes in Japanese? Let’s get precise with telling time in Japanese.

C. Precise Time Telling & How to Use Minutes in Japanese

So, let’s say it’s 12:53 or 9:59. Here’s what you need.

1. the list of numbers below

a. Or just plain learning how to count in Japanese – refer to NC learning module 3(FL1)

2. and the following formula – add minute which is usually fun/pun or ppun
 a. (number) + ji + (number) + fun/pun/ppun

For example, let’s try saying:

 It’s 12:53.
 Juuniji gojuusanpun
 12 時 53 分です。
 It’s 9:01
 Kuji ippun desu.
 9 時 1 分です。
 It’s 20:42
 Nijuuji yonjuunifun desu.
The minute word varies depending on the number. Pun? Fun? Ppun?

In some, you can obviously see the numbers like 3 is san+pun and 4 is yon+pun, but there are
exceptions. Like, one minute is NOT ichipun and 6 minutes is NOT rokufun. See them in red
below. Also, pay attention to which are the puns and which are the funs!

 1 – ippun
 2 – nifun
 3 – sanpun
 4 – yonpun
 5 – gofun
 6 – roppun
 7 – nanafun
 8 – happun
 9 – kyuufun
 10 – juuppun

Knowing the Japanese minutes from 1 to 10 is enough. You can apply them to 11 to 59 easily.

 Apply 10’s phrasing to the other 10s:

 20, 30, 40, 50 are all -ppun
 nijuuppun, sanjuuppun, yonjuuppun, gojuuppun

 Minutes 1 to 9, as you learned above, will affect THE LAST NUMBER in all the bigger
numbers like 13, 45, 59.
 Let’s try 13:
 You know that 10 is juu
 You know that 3 minutes is sanpun
 Juusanpun! That’s it.
 Let’s try 45:
 40 is yonjuu
 you know that 5 minutes is gofun
 Yonjuugofun!
 And 59?
 50 is gojuu
 You know that 9 minutes is kyuufun
 gojuukyuufun!

D. Time reference

The suffix for hours or o'clock is -ji. Note that 4 o'clock is pronounced as yoji, not yonji.

1 o'clock ichiji
2 o'clock niji
3 o'clock sanji
4 o'clock yoji *
5 o'clock goji
6 o'clock rokuji
7 o'clock shichiji
8 o'clock hachiji
9 o'clock kuji
10 o'clock juuji
11 o'clock juuichiji
12 o'clock juuniji

For minutes attach -fun to the standard set of numbers.

: : juur : sanj : yonj

ipp
0 1 opp 3 uuip 4 uuro
un
1 6 un 1 pun 6 ppun
: nif : juu : sanj : yonj
 nan uuna
0 1 3 uuni 4
un afu nafu
2 7 2 fun 7
n n
sanj
: san : juu : : yonj
uusa
0 pu 1 hap 3 4 uuha
npu
3 n 8 pun 3 8 ppun
n
juu sanj yonj
: yo : : :
kyu uuy uuky
0 np 1 3 4
ufu onp uufu
4 un 9 4 9
n un n
: : niju : sanj :
gof goju
0 2 ppu 3 uug 5
un ppun
5 0 n 5 ofun 0
sanj
: rop : niju : : goju
uuro
0 pu 2 uip 3 5 uipp
ppu
6 n 1 pun 6 1 un
n
sanj
: na : niju : : goju
uuna
0 naf 2 unif 3 5 unif
nafu
7 un 2 un 7 2 un
n
niju sanj
: ha : : : goju
usa uuha
0 pp 2 3 5 usan
npu ppu
8 un 3 8 3 pun
n n
niju sanj
: ky : : : goju
uyo uuk
0 uuf 2 3 5 uyon
npu yuuf
9 un 4 9 4 pun
n un
: jup : niju : yonj : goju
1 pu 2 ugo 4 upp 5 ugof
0 n 5 fun 0 un 5 un
niju
: juu : : yonj : goju
uro
1 ipp 2 4 uuip 5 urop
ppu
1 un 6 1 pun 6 pun
n
niju
: juu : : yonj : goju
una
1 nif 2 4 uuni 5 unan
naf
2 un 7 2 fun 7 afun
un
: juu : niju : yonj : goju
1 san 2 uha 4 uusa 5 uhap
3 pu 8 ppu 3 npu 8 pun
 n n n
juu niju yonj
: : : : goju
yo uky uuy
1 2 4 5 ukyu
np uuf onp
4 9 4 9 ufun
un un un
: juu : sanj : yonj
1 gof 3 upp 4 uug
5 un 0 un 5 ofun

To make a time of day combine the hour from above with the minute.

Examples:

yoji sanjunifun - 4:32

goji gojuuhappun - 5:58

One can also use the term han for half past the hour. Han literally means half.

Example:

hachiji han - 8:30

To distinguish between A.M. and P.M. use the terms gozen and gogo. A.M. is gozen and P.M. is
gogo. Note that gozen and gogo should appear before the time, not after.

Examples:

gogo sanji - 3 P.M.

gozen niji juuippun - 2:11 A.M.

To ask what time it is now, the phrase Ima, nanji desu ka. can be used.

E. Time Phrases

Here are some useful phrases to know for time and asking the time in Japanese.

 What time does it start?

 何時に始まるの？
 Nanji ni hajimaruno?
 What time does it close? (store)
 何閉店ですか。
 Nanji ni heiten desu ka?

 What time do you wake up?

 何時に君は起きるの。
 Nanji ni kimi wa okiru no?

 What time is it in Tokyo?

 東京は今何時ですか。
 Toukyou wa ima nanji desu ka?

 What time can you come?

 何時に来れますか。
 Nanji ni kuremasu ka?
 What time do you go to bed?
 何時に寝るのですか。
 Nanji ni neru no desu ka?

 I don’t know what time it is.

 私は何時かわかりません。
 Watashi wa nanji wakarimasen.

POST-ASSESSMENT no4.

Instruction:

1. Download and answer 04assessment task1, after answering submit to your instructor
next face to face meeting.