何時 – Telling Time in Japanese
Telling time in Japanese is pretty much the same as telling time in English. You start with the hour and then add on the minutes then the seconds. Here is how you do it in more detail.
INDEX
The Hour of the Day in Japanese
In order to tell the hour of the day you just take whatever the number for the hour is and stick 時 to the end of it. This Kanji, 時 means time but when talking about the time of day it means hour.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2020/06/18/time-of-day-in-japanese/
In Japanese, you can use either the 12-hour system or military time which is common. If you use the twelve-hour format you can add on the words for AM or PM to be more specific.
- 午前 – AM
- 午後 – PM
When you use 午前 or 午後 you add them to the beginning instead of the end. So, 6:00 am would be 午前6時.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/Twelve Hours of the Day
| 1時 |
| 2時 |
| 3時 |
| 4時 |
| 5時 |
| 6時 |
| 7時 |
| 8時 |
| 9時 |
| 10時 |
| 11時 |
| 12時 |
The Minutes of the Hour
Next, for the minutes you would add the Kanji 分 to the end. Depending on the proceeding number this can be pronounced as ふん or ぷん. If the last number in the minute before 分 is 2, 5, 7, or 9 then you will pronounce it as ふん. Otherwise, it will be pronounced as ぷん.
How to Pronounce the Minutes
| 1分 |
| 2分 |
| 3分 |
| 4分 |
| 5分 |
| 6分 |
| 7分 |
| 8分 |
| 9分 |
| 10分 |
How to say the Seconds
Finally, we have the seconds. All you need to do is add 秒 meaning seconds to the end of the number and voila you have the seconds.
1 to 10 Seconds
| 1秒 |
| 2秒 |
| 3秒 |
| 4秒 |
| 5秒 |
| 6秒 |
| 7秒 |
| 8秒 |
| 9秒 |
| 10秒 |
Telling the Time in Japanese – Putting it all Together
Now that you have the basic three parts of the time, you just follow the following format:
- 〇時〇分〇秒
All you do is substitute the 〇 for the number and you can now tell the time!
