Time 2

What time is it?
To ask What time is it? in Japanese, say 何時ですか (nanji desu ka) To give an answer, just say the number and add 時 (ji)!
何時ですか？
Nanji desu ka?
What time is (it)?
二時です。
Ni‑ji desu.
(It) is two o’clock.
時 (ji) literally means hour, so you’re really asking What hour is it?
Numbers
Many words in Japanese can be written in either hiragana or kanji (though depending on the word, one way is often more common than the other). Let’s revisit some numbers, but with kanji this time!
The first three are pretty easy to recognize. Just count the lines!
1一
ichi
2二
ni
3三
san
4四
yon
5五
go
6六
roku
7七
shichi
8八
hachi
9九
ku
10十
jū
Keep in mind, numbers sometimes change pronunciation a bit, like with 一分 (ippun). Depending on context, 四 can be read as yon or shi, 七 can be nana or shichi, and 九 can be ku or kyū!
Zero, on the other hand, is written in katakana because the word comes from a foreign language!
0ゼロ
zero
Combining Numbers
In Japanese, you just combine the numbers above to make bigger numbers. Take a look!
18十八
jūhachi
If you want to say 18, it’s ten plus eight.
40四十
yonjū
40 is four tens!
48四十八
yonjūhachi
So for 48, it’s four tens, plus eight!
Counting Minutes
For a more precise time including minutes, you follow the same pattern you do with hours. So 1:01 would be one hour one minute. Notice that the pronunciation changes a little bit, depending on the number!
今は三時十五分です。
Ima wa san‑ji jūgo‑fun desu.
(It) is 3:15 right now.
Pronunciation
This table will show you the pronunciation changes you need to know for saying what time it is!
1:01一時一分
ichi‑ji ip‑pun
2:02二時二分
ni‑ji ni‑fun
3:03三時三分
san‑ji san‑pun
4:04四時四分
yo‑ji yon‑pun
5:05五時五分
go‑ji go‑fun
6:06六時六分
roku‑ji rop‑pun
7:07七時七分
shichi‑ji nana‑fun
8:08八時八分
hachi‑ji hap‑pun
9:09九時九分
ku‑ji kyū‑fun
10:10十時十分
jū‑ji jūp‑pun
Since the numbers from 11 ‑ 99 are all made with those first ten numbers, they use the same pronunciation changes!
8:18八時十八分
hachi‑ji jūhap‑pun
6:20六時二十分
roku‑ji nijūp‑pun
So, what time is it?

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