Hover a line for its reading in kana and its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Alex has forgotten his phone and asks Kenji, a colleague, about the day's schedule.
Four times break the pattern and must be memorised: 四時 is よじ (not よんじ), 七時 is しちじ, 九時 is くじ, and 四分 is よんぷん. Everything else is the plain number plus 時.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. …時です — telling the time
Attach 時 to the number for the hour, and add 半 for the half hour: 十時, 十時半. To ask, use 何時 — the same slot, with 何 in place of the number.
2. …から…まで — from… until…
から marks the start and まで the end, and the pair works for times, places and dates alike: 十一時から十二時まで, 東京から大阪まで. Either half can stand alone.
3. に — at a specific time
A clock time takes に when something happens at it: 五時に終わります, 三時に電話があります. Vague time words do not — 今日, 明日, いつも and 今 never take に.
4. い-adjectives before です
忙しい, 近い, 遠い and かわいい all end in い and go straight in front of です with nothing between: 忙しいです. Do not insert の or な — that belongs to a different family of adjectives, coming in Lesson 6.
A. Fill in the Blank · 空欄をうめましょう
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.今、ですか。what time
- 2.十時です。half past
- 3.十一時十二時までです。from
- 4.五時終わります。at
B. Multiple Choice · えらびましょう
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say "four o'clock"?
- 2.Which time word does NOT take に?
- 3.How do you say "from eleven to twelve"?
- 4.Which is correct?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · ならべかえましょう
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · ○か×か
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.It is half past ten.
- 2.The meeting runs from eleven to twelve.
- 3.The afternoon is completely full.
- 4.The working day ends at six.
E. Matching · せんでむすびましょう
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · やくしましょう
Translate items 1–2 into Japanese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.What time is it now?
- 2.We finish at five.
- 3.十一時から十二時までです。
- 4.午後は忙しいですか。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 16 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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The trains are the clock
Japanese rail punctuality is an operating standard rather than a stereotype: average delays on major lines are measured in seconds, and a train more than five minutes late issues 遅延証明書, a delay certificate, so passengers can prove to an employer why they were late. That certificate tells you the rest — being on time is an obligation you are expected to be able to account for. For a meeting, on time means several minutes early, and 昼休み is a genuinely fixed hour rather than a flexible one.