Japanese@Once : Part 1 - Everyday Conversation

Numbers from 1 to 10

Here, we introduce the basic numbers from one to ten. See Part 2; Chapter 1 for further numbers.

1.	one	ichi	6.	six	roku
2.	two	ni	7.	seven	shichi, nana
3.	three	san	8.	eight	hachi
4.	four	shi, yon, (yo)	9.	nine	kyuu, (ku)
5.	five	go	10.	ten	juu

"Four" can be shi or yon. yo is used for time, yo-ji (4:00).
"Seven" can be shichi or nana.
"Nine" is kyuu. ku is used for time, ku-ji (9:00).
See the below note.

Nan-ji desu ka? What time is it?

The sentence structure of [A] wa [B] desu is also used when you ask or tell the time.
-ji is a number counter indicating time; e.g., 5-ji (go-ji) means "five o'clock."

The numbers 4, 7 and 9 have more than one reading. For expressing time yo-ji should be used for 4:00, ku-ji should be used for 9:00. Both shichi-ji and nana-ji are used for 7:00.

nan means "what" and Nan-ji desu ka? means "What time is it?"

1:00	ichi-ji	7:00	shichi-ji
2:00	ni-ji	8:00	hachi-ji
3:00	san-ji	9:00	ku-ji
4:00	yo-ji	10:00	juu-ji
5:00	go-ji	11:00	juuichi-ji
6:00	roku-ji	12:00	juuni-ji

See Part 2; Chapter 1 for numbers, Chapter 2 for number counters, and Chapter 3 for time words.

kara from & made until

Kara and/or made is used to ask and tell the time, when the event such as cinema or conference starts and ends, or the store opens and closes.

Kara means "from." There are a few ways to translate 1-ji kara desu; "it is from 1:00," "it opens from 1:00" or "it starts at 1:00." Made means "until."
2-ji made desu means "it is until 2:00," "it closes at 2:00" or "it ends at 2:00."

Kara and made are also used with the other words for time such as day, week, month and year, or even place; Tokyo kara Kyoto made "from Tokyo to Kyoto."

See the third sentence in the dialogue. nan-ji kara is an expression to ask the starting time of something. Nan-ji made is used to ask what time it ends.

As described in Chapter 1, the interrogative sentence is simply made by adding ka? at the end. The word order does not change.
Goro means "around." This is used only for words for time. This is quite often used because the Japanese prefer vague expressions in general. In the sentences, 5 and 6 above, the subject (eiga=movie) is omitted.

Sumimasen & Suimasen

Sumimasen means "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry".
In the actual daily conversation, people normally say Suimasen, therefore we use suimasen in our materials.

1.

Ima nan-ji desu ka?

What time is it now?

2.

Ginkoo wa 9-ji (ku-ji) kara desu.

The bank opens at 9:00. (lit. The bank is from 9:00.)

3.

Konsaato wa 6-ji (roku-ji) han kara desu.

The concert will start at 6:30. (lit. The concert will be from 6:30.)

4.

Yuubinkyoku wa 5-ji (go-ji) made desu.

The post office closes at 5:00. (lit. The post office is until 5:00.)

5.

Shigoto wa 5-ji (go-ji) han made desu.

I finish my work at 5:30. (lit. (my) Work is until 5:30.)

	6.	A	:	Depaato wa nan-ji kara desu ka?
		B	:	Depaato wa 10-ji (juu-ji) kara desu.

A	:	What time does the department store open?
B	:	The department store opens at 10:00.

	7.	A	:	Depaato wa nan-ji made desu ka?
		B	:	Depaato wa 7-ji (shichi-ji) han made desu.

A	:	What time does the department store stay open until?
B	:	The department store stays open until 7:30

	1.	at the office
		Ishida	:	Kaigi wa nan-ji goro made desu ka?
		Kanda	:	Tabun 3-ji goro made desu.

Ishida	:	What time is the meeting until?
Kanda	:	Maybe around till 3 o'clock.

	2.	at the restaurant
		Katoo	:	Suimasen. Koko wa nan-ji made desu ka?
		Ueitaa	:	12-ji made desu ga, rasuto-oodaa wa 11-ji han desu.

Katoo	:	Excuse me, what time do you close?
Waiter	:	12 o'clock, but the last order is at 11:30.

	3.	at the station
		Satoo	:	Suimasen. Tsugi no Tokyo-yuki wa nan-ji desu ka?
		Eki'in	:	Tsugi wa 1-ji 5-fun desu. Kyuukoo desu.
		Satoo	:	Soo desu ka. Doomo arigatoo.

Satoo	:	Excuse me, what time does the next train bound for Tokyo leave?
Station man	:	The next train leaves at 1:05. It's an express.
Satoo	:	OK, thank you.