How to tell time in Japanese, hours and minutes?

Goal. Learn to tell time fast with clean rules for hours, minutes, and real speech changes. You will see each rule, hear the number part with your audio, and get one simple set of irregular minute forms with full clips. Hours use the counter 時, minutes use 分. Once you lock the rhythm for the number plus the counter, every time of day becomes automatic.

Hours in Japanese

Hours use 〜時 read as じ. Most hours are the number plus じ with three fixed forms you must remember. Four o’clock is よじ, not よんじ. Seven o’clock is しちじ in formal speech, with ななじ common in casual talk. Nine o’clock is くじ, not きゅうじ. Midnight and 0 o’clock can be れいじ. The table shows standard readings. The audio plays the number part only so you can lock the timing of each digit.

Core rules you will actually use

Use 午前 for a.m. and 午後 for p.m. The particle に marks time points. Exact time takes ちょうど. About is ごろ. Half past is 半. Duration uses 時間 for hours and 分 for minutes without 時.

Minutes in Japanese

Minutes use 〜分. The sound of 分 changes to ぷん or っぷん in set places. Learn one line and you are done: 1 いっぷん, 2 にふん, 3 さんぷん, 4 よんぷん, 5 ごふん, 6 ろっぷん, 7 ななふん, 8 はっぷん, 9 きゅうふん, 10 じゅっぷん. The same pattern repeats above ten with the last digit driving the change. Your new five clips below cover every type of change. All other rows play the number segment you already have.

Put hours and minutes together

Say the hour first, then the minute. Add 半 for the half hour. Add the particle に for time points. The two blocks below give you clean pairs that match the minutes pattern. Audio again plays the number sections so you can hold a steady beat while you speak the full phrase.

Ask and answer time

Use 何時 for “what time”. With minutes, add 分. Keep に for time points. For “about”, add ごろ. For “before” a time, use 前. For “after”, use 過ぎ. These are the lines you will use every day.

Half hours, quarters, before and after

Japanese does not use quarter past or quarter to as a set phrase. Say the exact minutes instead. Half is 半. Before is 前. After is 過ぎ. The patterns below are all you need.

Durations vs clock time

Clock time uses 時 and 分. Durations use 時間 and 分. Do not attach に to durations. The difference is simple and it matters.

Twenty four hour time

Transport, timetables, and business schedules prefer the 24 hour clock. Speak it the same way you build any hour. 13時 is じゅうさんじ. Add minutes with the same 分 rules. This style removes 午前 and 午後 and reads fast on the phone or in a meeting.

How to think so you never hesitate

First, nail the three hour fixes. よじ, しちじ, くじ. Say them three times each. Next, memorize the one minute line one through ten. Say it in a single breath. Last, treat every large minute as tens plus the last digit. The last digit decides fun, pun, or っぷん. Your mouth does not guess. It follows the digit.

Mini drills

Read the Japanese, then say it without looking. Play the number clips to hold the rhythm if you slip. Keep each line short and clean. Do two passes. Target zero hesitation.

FAQ that actually helps

しちじ or ななじ

しちじ is standard on trains and announcements. ななじ is easy to hear in a noisy room. You will hear both. Say しちじ in careful speech and switch to ななじ if you are not understood.

くじ or きゅうじ

Hours take くじ. Say くじ. For other counters like people, say きゅうにん. You are not mixing them by mistake. They are different rules.

じゅっぷん or じっぷん

じゅっぷん is the safe form and the most common. Pronounce a short っ before ぷん. Keep it tight, not long.

何時半

Add 半 directly after the hour. 七時半, not 七時三十分 unless you need an exact number for a form or a test.

前 and 過ぎ

Use 前 for before, 過ぎ for after. 十時五分前, 十時五分過ぎ. Speak the hour, then the minute, then 前 or 過ぎ. Do not reverse it.

One last pass

Run the three hour fixes five times. よじ. しちじ. くじ. Then the minute line from 1 to 10 in one breath. Next, pick three real times from your day and say them out loud with に. Repeat tomorrow. That is it.