Part V: Numbers I, Time and Age
V-A: Numbers I
The following is how to count from 1 to 100 in Japanese:
1: いち (ichi)
2: に (ni)
3: さん (san)
4: よん／し (yon/shi)*
5: ご (go)
6: ろく (roku)
7: なな／しち (nana/shichi)*
8: はち (hachi)
9: きゅう／く (kyuu/ku)*
10: じゅう (jyuu)
11: じゅういち (jyuuichi)
12: じゅうに (jyuuni)
13: じゅうさん (jyuusan)
14: じゅよん (jyuuyon)
15: じゅご (jyuugo)
16: じゅろく(jyuuroku)
17: じゅなな (jyuunana)
18: じゅはち (jyuuhachi)
19: じゅきゅう (jyuukyuu)
20: にじゅう (nijyuu)
30: さんじゅう (sanjyuu)
40: よんじゅう (yonjyuu)
50: ごじゅう (gojyuu)
60: ろくじゅう (rokujyuu)
70: ななじゅう (nanajyuu)
80: はちじゅう (hachijyuu)
90: きゅうじゅう (kyuujyuu)
100: ひゃく (hyaku)
*In the case of the numbers four, seven and nine, there are certain times that the し, しち and く readings are used, most notably when referring to months and time. More commonly, though, the よん, なな and きゅう readings are used.
V-B: Time
To tell time in Japanese, you need a few counter markers, namely ~時 (ji / hour), ~分 (pun/bun/fun / minute) and ~半 (han / half). The following is how to say a certain hour in Japanese:
いちじ／一時 (ichiji) — 1 o'clock
にじ／二時 (niji) — 2 o'clock
さんじ／三時 (sanji) — 3 o'clock
よじ／四時* (yoji) — 4 o'clock
ごじ／五時 (goji) — 5 o'clock
ろくじ／六時 (rokuji) — 6 o'clock
しちじ／七時* (shichiji) — 7 o'clock
はちじ／八時 (hachiji) — 8 o'clock
くじ／九時* (kuji) — 9 o'clock
じゅうじ／十時 (jyuuji) — 10 o'clock
じゅういちじ／十一時 (jyuuichiji) — 11 o'clock
じゅうにじ／十二時 (jyuuniji) — 12 o'clock
*In the cases of よじ, しちじ and くじ, these are always read and pronounced as written here in reference to time. They are special exceptions to the number rules.
That being said, you can now tell basic time.
Ex. A: いまなんじですか。
(Ima nanji desu ka.)
What time is it now?
B: 六時です。
(Rokuji desu.)
It's 6 o'clock.
Let's get a little more complicated. The following is how to say a certain minute in Japanese:
いっぷん／一分 (ippun) — :01
にふん／二分 (nifun) — :02
さんぷん／三分 (sanpun) — :03
よんぷん／四分 (yonpun) — :04
ごふん／五分 (gofun) — :05
ろっぷん／六分 (roppun) — :06
ななふん／七分 (nanafun) — :07
はっぷん／はちふん／八分 (happun/hachifun) — :08
きゅうふん／九分 (kyuufun) — :09
じゅっぷん／十分 — (juppun) — :10
じゅういっぷん／十一分 (juuippun) — :11
じゅうにふん／十二分 (juunifun) — :12
じゅうさんぷん／十三分 (juusanpun) — :13
じゅうよんぷん／十四分 (juuyonpun) — :14
じゅうごふん／十五分 (juugofun) — :15
じゅうろっぷん／十六分 (juuroppun) — :16
じゅうななふん／十七分 (juunanafun) — :17
じゅうはっぷん／じゅうはちふん／十八分 (juuhappun/juhachifun) — :18
じゅうきゅうふん／十九分 (juukyuufun) — :19
にじゅっぷん／二十分 (nijuppun) — :20
さんじゅっぷん／三十分／半／はん (sanjuppun/han)* — :30
*While it is fine (though a little weird) to say さんじゅっぷん to denote that it is half-past whatever hour, はん is more commonly used to say "It's 1:30" or something of the like.
Two other words that you will need to tell specific time are ごぜん／午前 (gozen), or a.m., and ごご／午後 (gogo), or p.m.
To tell time more specifically, use the following formula:
(a.m./p.m.) (Hour) (minute) です。
Ex. A: いまなんじですか。
B: ごごよじのじゅうさんぷんです。
(Gogo yoji juusanpun desu.)
It's 4:13 p.m.
The sole exception to this rule is with はん. In that case, you would say the following:
B: ごごよじはんです。
(Gogo yoji han desu.)
It's 4:30 p.m.
In other words, you just take out the の.
V-C: Age
To denote someone's age, the suffix ~さい／歳／才 (~sai) is used. The following is how to express age in Japanese:
いっさい／一歳* (issai) — 1 year old
にさい／二歳 (nisai) — 2 years old
さんさい／三歳 (sansai) — 3 years old
よんさい／四歳 (yonsai) — 4 years old
ごさい／五歳 (gosai) — 5 years old
ろくさい／六歳 (rokusai) — 6 years old
ななさい／七歳 (nanasai) — 7 years old
はっさい／八歳* (hassai) — 8 years old
きゅうさい／九歳 (kyuusai) — 9 years old
じゅっさい／十歳 (jyuusai) — 10 years old
じゅういっさい／十一歳 (jyuuissai) — 11 years old
にじゅっさい／二十歳／はたち* (nijyuusai/hatachi) — 20 years old
*In the case of いっさい and はっさい, they take on special forms and are always written and spoken as presented above. In the case of saying that you're 20, a special scenario arises. Being 20 years old means that you're officially an adult in Japanese society and thus, there is a special word for being twenty, that being はたち. While you can use にじゅっさい to say "I'm 20", it's traditional to use はたち.
So, if someone ever asks you how old you are (which will probably be a rare occurence, since it's actually considered rude in Japanese culture; don't do it!!), use the following as an example.
Ex. スパイキ：ケイさんはなんさいですか。
(Supaiki: Kei-san wa nansai desu ka.)
Spikey: How old are you, Kei?
ケイ：私はにじゅうにさいです。スパイキくんはちょっとルードですね。
(Kei: Watashi wa nijyuunisai desu. Supaiki-kun wa chotto ruudo desu ne.)
Kei: I'm 22 years old. You're a little rude, aren't you, Spikey.
(Note: Don't tack on the part about being rude, heh.)
