Phrases & Vocabulary

Time

now
今 (ima)

later
後で (atode)

before
前に (mae ni)

before ___
___ の前に ( ___ no mae ni)

morning
朝 (asa)

afternoon
午後 (gogo)

evening
夕方 (yūgata)

night
夜 (yoru)

Clock

For clock times, you will be understood if you simply substitute gozen 午前 for "AM" and gogo 午後 for PM, although other time qualifiers like 朝 asa for morning and 夜 yoru for night may be more natural. The 24-hour clock is also commonly used in official contexts such as train schedules.

six o'clock AM
朝6時 (asa rokuji)

nine o'clock AM
午前9時 (gozen kuji)

noon
正午 (shōgo)

one o'clock PM
午後1時 (gogo ichiji.)

two o'clock PM
午後2時 (gogo niji)

midnight
夜12時 (yoru jūniji)

Duration

_____ minute(s)
_____ 分 (fun or pun)

_____ hour(s)
_____ 時間 (jikan)

_____ day(s)
_____ 日 (nichi)

_____ week(s)
_____ 週間 (shūkan)

_____ month(s)
_____ ヶ月 (kagetsu)

_____ year(s)
_____ 年 (nen)

Days

today
今日(kyō)

yesterday
昨日(kinō)

tomorrow
明日(ashita)

this week
今週(konshū)

last week
先週(senshū)

next week
来週(raishū)

Sunday
日曜日 (nichiyōbi)

Monday
月曜日 (getsuyōbi)

Tuesday
火曜日 (kayōbi)

Wednesday
水曜日 (suiyōbi)

Thursday
木曜日 (mokuyōbi)

Friday
金曜日 (kin'yōbi)

Saturday
土曜日 (doyōbi)

Days of the Month

The 1st through the 10th of the month have special names:

First day of the month
1日 (tsuitachi)

Second day of the month
2日 (futsuka)

Third day of the month
3日 (mikka)

Fourth day of the month
4日 (yokka)

Fifth day of the month
5日 (itsuka)

Sixth day of the month
6日 (muika)

Seventh day of the month
7日 (nanoka)

Eighth day of the month
8日 (yōka)

Ninth day of the month
9日 (kokonoka)

Tenth day of the month
10日 (tōka)

The other days of the month are more orderly, just add the suffix -nichi to the ordinal number. Note that 14, 20, and 24 deviate from this pattern.

Eleventh day of the month
11日 (jūichinichi)

Fourteenth day of the month
14日 (jūyokka)

Twentieth day of the month
20日 (hatsuka)

Twenty-fourth day of the month
24日 (nijūyokka)

Months

Months are very orderly in Japanese, just add the suffix -gatsu to the ordinal number.

January
１月 (ichigatsu)

February
２月 (nigatsu)

March
３月 (sangatsu)

April
４月 (shigatsu)

May
５月 (gogatsu)

June
６月 (rokugatsu)

July
７月 (shichigatsu)

August
８月 (hachigatsu)

September
９月 (kugatsu)

October
１０月 (jūgatsu)

November
１１月 (jūichigatsu)

December
１２月 (jūnigatsu)

Writing

Dates are written in year/month/day (day of week) format, with markers:

2006年3月21日(火)

Note that Imperial era years, based on the name and duration of the current Emperor's reign, are also frequently used. 2006 in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to Heisei 18 (平成18年), which may be abbreviated as "H18". Dates like "18/03/24" (March 24, Heisei 18) are also occasionally seen.