JLPT N5: Japanese Telling Time : O’clock, Minutes, and Hours in Japanese - MLC Japanese

Japanese Telling Time (JLPT N5)

On this page, you will learn how to tell time in Japanese at the JLPT N5 level. You can study o’clock, minutes, and hours with hiragana, romaji, and simple pronunciation notes to build a solid foundation.

O’clock in Japanese: ～じ ...ji

Use ～じ (ji) to say the hour in Japanese. Pay attention to pronunciation changes such as よじ (yo-ji), しちじ (shichi-ji), and くじ (ku-ji), which are common at the JLPT N5 level.

o'clock (in roma-ji)o'clock (in hiragana)
  • 1:00　いちじ　ichi-ji
  • 2:00　にじ　ni-ji
  • 3:00　さんじ　san-ji
  • 4:00　よじ　yo-ji　(not よんじ yon-ji)
  • 5:00　ごじ　go-ji
  • 6:00　ろくじ　roku-ji
  • 7:00　しちじ　shichi-ji　(not ななじ nana-ji)
  • 8:00　はちじ　hachi-ji
  • 9:00　くじ　ku-ji　(not きゅうじ kyuu-ji)
  • 10:00　じゅうじ　juu-ji
  • 11:00　じゅういちじ　juuichi-ji
  • 12:00　じゅうにじ　juuni-ji

  • AM　ごぜん　gozen
  • morning　あさ　asa
  • PM　ごご　gogo
  • night　よる　yoru

Minutes in Japanese: ～ふん / ～ぷん, ...fun / ...pun

Minutes in Japanese use the counters ～ふん (fun) and ～ぷん (pun). Notice how the consonant changes, for example いっぷん (ippun), さんぷん (sampun), and ろっぷん (roppun), which are important patterns for beginners.

minute(s) in roma-jiminute(s) in Hiragana
  • 00:01　いっぷん　ippun
  • 00:02　にふん　nifun
  • 00:03　さんぷん　sampun ("n" becomes "m" in front of P, B and M)
  • 00:04　よんぷん/よんふん　yompun/yonfun
  • 00:05　ごふん　gofun
  • 00:06　ろっぷん　roppun
  • 00:07　ななふん　nanafun
  • 00:08　はっぷん/はちふん　happun/hachifun
  • 00:09　きゅうふん　kyuufun
  • 00:10　じゅっぷん　juppun

Hours in Japanese: ～じかん, ...jikan (Duration)

The counter ～じかん (jikan) is used for the number of hours, not for clock time. Learn common patterns such as いちじかん, にじかん, and いちじかんはん so you can talk about how long something takes.

Hours
  • 1:00　いちじかん　ichi-jikan
  • 2:00　にじかん　ni-jikan
  • 3:00　さんじかん　sani-jikan
  • 4:00　よじかん　yoi-jikan (not よんじかん/しじかん yon-jikan/shi-jikan)
  • 5:00　ごじかん　goi-jikan
  • 6:00　ろくじかん　rokui-jikan
  • 7:00　ななじかん/しちじかん　nanai-jikan/shichii-jikan
  • 8:00　はちじかん　hachii-jikan
  • 9:00　くじかん　kui-jikan (not きゅうじかん kyuu-jikan)
  • 10:00　じゅうじかん　juui-jikan

  • 01:30　いちじかんはん/いちじかんさんじゅっぷん　ichii-jikan han / ichii-jikan sanjuppun
  • 02:30　にじかんはん/にじかんさんじゅっぷん　ni-jikan han / ni-jikan sanjuppun

O'clock and Hour(s)

O'clock and hour(s)

Updated Jan. 2026