Units
Unit 4
Printables
Unit 4 · なんじ · Part 1

Telling the time

〜じ〜ふん ・ なんじ
Goals

By the end of this part, you can…

A conversation you can have in Japanese
YouWhat time is it now?
TanakaIt is half past two.
YouWhat time is your work?
TanakaNine a.m.
In this part
Warm-up — vocabulary

Say it in Japanese

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Grammar 1

Telling the time

The clock is the number plus じ for the hour and ふん for the minutes, with はん for half past. ごぜん and ごご come first, not last. Three hours break the pattern and they are the three everybody gets wrong: よじ, しちじ, くじ.

1See how it works
Pattern
 すうじsuuji じji すうじsuuji ふんfunthe time
Three hours break the patternThe hour is the number plus じ — except three of them. 4 is よじ, 7 is しちじ, 9 is くじ. Those three are the ones a student gets wrong, so drill them on their own before anything else.
nowいまimahalf past twoにじはんnijihan(polite)ですdesuIt is half past two.a.m.ごぜんgozennine o'clockくじkuji ですdesuIt is nine a.m. いまimawhat timeなんじnanji(question) ?ですかdesu kaWhat time is it now?
2Build the piecenumber → 〜じ
e.g.いちichione→いちじichijione o'clock
3Say it in Japanese
Summary

This part at a glance

Grammar 1
Telling the time
すうじsuuji じji すうじsuuji ふんfun
いまima にじはんnijihan ですdesuIt is half past two.
Drill — fill in the blank

Choose the right word

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Drill — translate

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Reading — read it aloud

いま なんじ ですか

At the office, in the morning. Ms. Suzuki has lost track of the time.
すずきたなかさん、いまtanakasan、imaなんじnanjiですかdesu ka。
たなかいまimaくじkujiですdesu。
すずきくじkujiですか。しごとdesuka。shigotoはwaなんじnanjiですかdesu ka。
たなかごぜんgozenくじkujiですdesu。
すずきそうですか。にほんごsoudesuka。nihongoはwaなんじnanjiですかdesu ka。
たなかごごgogoよじyojiですdesu。
すずきよじyojiですか。しちじdesuka。shichijiはwaなんじnanjiですかdesu ka。
たなかしちじshichijiはwaかいしゃkaishaです。ごごdesu。gogoしちじshichijiですdesu。
すずきそうですか。ありがとうsoudesuka。arigatouございgozaiましたmashita。
Reading — questions

Answer in Japanese

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