Telling Time in Japanese: 時, 分, 半, AM, and PM

To tell time in Japanese, place the hour before 時（じ） and the minutes before 分（ふん／ぷん）. The basic order is straightforward, but the readings are not completely mechanical. Four o’clock is よじ, seven o’clock is しちじ, and nine o’clock is くじ. One minute is いっぷん, three minutes is さんぷん, and six minutes is ろっぷん. Learning the complete clock time prevents these changes from becoming a guessing game.

Read the hour as one complete unit

The three bold forms are the ones most likely to be overgeneralized. Do not say よんじ, ななじ, or きゅうじ for clock hours. You may hear ななじ when a speaker needs to avoid confusion, especially over a poor connection, but しちじ is the standard beginner form to learn.

分 changes between ふん and ぷん

The written counter is always 分, but its pronunciation changes. The useful pattern is to memorize each of the first ten minutes, then build larger numbers from the final digit. For example, 21 minutes ends like one minute and becomes にじゅういっぷん; 26 minutes ends like six and becomes にじゅうろっぷん.

At the beginner level, use はっぷん for eight minutes. The form はちふん also occurs, but choosing one consistent basic form makes production easier. For ten and multiples of ten, both the じゅっぷん and じっぷん patterns are accepted; use the version used by your course or teacher consistently.

Use 半 for half past the hour

半（はん） means “half.” After a clock hour, it means thirty minutes past that hour. Therefore 7:30 can be 七時三十分, but 七時半 is shorter and extremely common. 半 comes after 時, not after 分.

Japanese also has expressions meaning “before” a particular hour, but beginners do not need them to tell every time. Saying 九時五十五分 is perfectly clear for 8:55? No: it means 9:55. For 8:55, say 八時五十五分. Keeping the hour and minutes exact is safer than translating English “five to nine” word for word.

Place 午前 and 午後 before the time

午前（ごぜん） identifies a time before noon, and 午後（ごご） identifies a time after noon. They come before the clock time: 午前九時 and 午後三時. In schedules and announcements, the 24-hour clock is also common, so 18時 means 6:00 p.m. The form 18時 is read じゅうはちじ.

Ask 何時 and 何時何分

何時（なんじ） asks for the hour or general time. 何分（なんぷん） asks how many minutes or which minute, depending on context. To request the exact clock time, use 何時何分（なんじ なんぷん）. In ordinary conversation, 何時ですか often receives an answer that includes minutes when they matter.

Use に when a clock time marks an action

A specific clock time normally takes the particle に when it tells when an action happens: 七時に起きます. When the time is the predicate after です, no に is used: 集合は七時です. Relative time words such as 今日, 明日, 昨日, 今朝, and 毎日 normally do not take に. You can combine a relative day with a clock time: 明日の九時に starts with no particle after 明日 but uses に after the exact time.

Common errors

Practice: 14 answers you can score

1. Write 四時 in kana.
2. Write 七時 in kana.
3. Write 九時 in kana.
4. Write 1分 in kana.
5. Write 6分 in kana.
6. Write 28分 in kana.
7. Write 7:15 in Japanese and kana.
8. Write 4:30 using 半.
9. Write “9:08 a.m.” in Japanese and kana.
10. Write the question “What exact time does the train leave?”
11. Choose に or no particle: 毎日（　）六時に起きます。
12. Choose に or no particle: 授業は十時（　）始まります。
13. Correct: 会議は午後に三時です。
14. Translate: “The store is open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.”

Summary

Build a Japanese clock time in the order hour, 時, minutes, and 分. Memorize よじ, しちじ, and くじ as complete hour readings, and learn the first ten minute forms so that larger minutes become predictable. Use 半 for thirty minutes past the hour, put 午前 or 午後 before the time, and ask 何時何分 when exact minutes matter. Add に when a specific time marks an action, but leave it out when the time itself ends the sentence with です.