LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

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

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

今いま、3時ときです。 — It's three o'clock. 9時ときに会あいましょう。 — 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分ふん いっぷん 6分ふん ろっぷん
2分ふん にふん 7分ふん ななふん
3分ふん さんぷん 8分ふん はっぷん
4分ふん よんぷん 9分ふん きゅうふん
5分ふん ごふん 10分ふん じゅっぷん

7時とき15分ふんです。 — It's 7:15. (しちじ じゅうごふん) 8時とき40分ふんに出でます。 — 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めしを食たべます。 — 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時とき午後ごご 午後ごご○ 午後ごご3時とき。 — 3 PM. ○ 午前ごぜん7時ときに起おきます。 — I get up at 7 AM.

In conversation, though, Japanese usually skips them entirely and uses time-of-day words instead: 朝あさ7時とき ("seven in the morning"), 夜よる8時とき ("eight at night"), 昼ひるの1時とき ("one in the afternoon"). 午前ごぜん/午後ごご sound formal — timetables, announcements, business.

Beyond the basics

3時とき and 3時間じかん are not the same word

This is the one that actually causes misunderstandings.

3時ときに会あいましょう。 — 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時ときかかります 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 一日いちにち間あいだ, 二週間にしゅうかん (two weeks), 三ヶ月さんかげつ (three months), 四年よねん間あいだ (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時ときに行いきます。 — 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, 来週らいしゅう — it does not. 今週末こんしゅうまつ and 来月らいげつ are in the second group too, which surprises people.

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時とき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時ときに予約よやくしました。 — I booked it for ten.

Note 3時ときから — 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時ときから5時とき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時ときに変更へんこうできますか ("could we change it to four?").

Approximate and precise

3時ときごろ。 — 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時ときちょうど。 — Exactly three. 3時とき5分前ふんまえ。 — Five to three. 3時とき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時ときごろ ("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 these attach to durations (時間じかん, 分ふん, 日にち), not to clock times — 3時とき後あと is not a sentence. And 前まえ has the same double life as English "before": 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時とき 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時とき — midnight, in official writing. 深夜しんや2時とき — 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時とき rather than 深夜しんや1時とき — same moment, different convention, and both are normal.

Common mistakes

  • よんじ for 4時とき. It is よじ. Likewise くじ for 9時とき, not きゅうじ.
  • 3時ときかかります. 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時とき午後ごご. 午前ごぜん and 午後ごご come first: 午後ごご3時とき.
  • 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.
  • Using 午前ごぜん/午後ごご in casual conversation. They sound like a timetable. Say 朝あさ7時とき or 夜よる8時とき instead.

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時とき out loud.

Show answer

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

2. Read 9時とき out loud.

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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分ふん out loud.

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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."

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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."

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

6. Say "it takes three hours."

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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。

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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, 来週らいしゅう) take no に. Fixed points on a clock or calendar do.

8. Say "3 PM."

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午後ごご3時とき — 午前ごぜん and 午後ごご come before the time, the reverse of English. In conversation, 昼ひるの3時とき is more natural.

9. What is the difference between 3時ときごろ 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時ときごろ 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.

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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.

FAQ

Is 7時とき ever read ななじ? You will hear it, especially when someone is being careful to avoid confusion with 1時とき 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時ときから5時ときまで. 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時とき (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時とき means 1 AM.

What about "o'clock sharp"? ちょうど: 3時ときちょうど ("exactly three"). It can also go first — ちょうど3時ときです ("it's just gone three"). Both are natural.

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 identical to 本ほん and 杯はい, so you are only learning it once.

How do I say "every day at seven"? 毎日まいにち7時ときに. 毎日まいにち takes no に but 7時とき 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時とき 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.

More drills like the ones above, plus a timed JLPT-style mock test: Practice · N5

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