JLPT N5 - Lesson 18 - Telling Date


How to describe the date in Japanese

In English telling the date may be very straightforward, say 1st January 2018, 2nd January 2018 and so on, just cardinal numbers used followed by month name and the year. However, when referring to the days of the month in Japanese, you’ll see there are some irregularities, for example, '20th day'is pronounced and written as 'はつか' instead of 'にじゅうにち'. In the picture above, you may need to take care of those days that appeared in red fonts. Here in this lesson, we will learn how to express the date in Japanese and how to refer to and pronounce the names of the days, months and years.
Note: In this lesson, I will be using romaji and hiragana interchangeably.

Structure: Year-Month-Day

Let's say today's date is 1st January 2018, in Japanese, we can say 今日は２０１8年1月1日です 。[きょうはにせんじゅうはちねんいちがつついたちです。]
Tomorrow is 2nd January 2018, which is in Japanese, 明日は 2018年1月2日です 。[あしたはにせんじゅうはちねんいちがつふつかです。]
Now let's break down the above sentences-
今日は [kyou wa] = today
明日は [ashita wa] = tomorrow
2018年 [nisen juu hachi nen] = year 2018
2月 [ni gatsu] = February
1日 [tsuitachi] = 1st day of the month
2日 [futsuka] = 2nd day of the month
です [desu] = the verb 'to be'
So, to tell the date in Japanese, now we need to know the names of the months, the names of the days of the week and the days of the month.

Names Of The Months

  • 1月 [ichi gatsu] = January
  • 2月 [ni gatsu] = February
  • 3月 [san gatsu] = March
  • 4月 [shi gatsu] = April
  • 5月 [go gatsu] = May
  • 6月 [roku gatsu] = June
  • ７月 [shichi gatsu] = July
  • ８月 [hachi gatsu] = August
  • ９月 [ku gatsu] = September
  • １０月 [juu gatsu] = October
  • １１月 [juuichi gatsu] = November
  • １２月 [juu ni gatsu] = December

The Days Of The Week

にち「日」 * げつ「月」 * か「火」 * すい「水」 * もく「木」 * きん「金」 * ど「土」
Sun * Moon * Fire * Water * Wood * Gold * Earth(Soil)
  • 日曜日 [nichi youbi] = Sunday (“Day of the Sun”)
  • 月曜日 [getsu youbi] = Monday ("Day of the Moon")
  • 火曜日 [ka youbi] = Tuesday ("Day of Fire")
  • 水曜日 [sui youbi] = Wednesday ("Day of Water")
  • 木曜日 [moku youbi] = Thursday ("Day of Wood")
  • 金曜日 [kin youbi] = Friday ("Day of Gold")
  • 土曜日 [do youbi] = Saturday ("Day of the Earth")
Please note 曜日 [ようび] is the suffix that used together with the all seven days names. Though the kanji for '「曜=よう」may not be tested for Level N5, but no harm to learn it as it is frequently used in the text books.

The days of the month

The rule is - Number + 日 (にち) but when pronounced, instead of 'にち' some (almost half) of the dates are pronounced as 'か' and the 1st of the month pronounced as 'ついたち'. This may be a bit difficult area for the beginners and need to take some care.
  • １日 [tsuitachi] = 1st day of the month
  • ２日 [futsuka] = 2nd day of the month
  • ３日 [mikka] = 3rd day of the month
  • ４日 ]yokka] = 4th day of the month
  • ５日 [itsuka] = 5th day of the month
  • ６日 [muika] = 6th day of the month
  • ７日 [nanoka] = 7th day of the month
  • ８日 [youka] = 8th day of the month
  • ９日 [kokonoka] = 9th day of the month
  • １０日 [touka] = 10th day of the month
  • １１日 [juuichi nichi] = 11th day of the month
  • １２日 [juuni nichi] = 12th day of the month
  • １３日 [juusan nichi] = 13th day of the month
  • １４日 [juu yokka] = 14th day of the month
  • １５日 [juugo nichi] = 15th day of the month
  • １６日 [juuroku nichi] = 16th day of the month
  • １７日 [jushichi nichi] = 17th day of the month
  • １８日 [juuhachi nichi] = 18th day of the month
  • １９日 [juuku nichi] = 19th day of the month
  • ２０日 [hatsuka] = 20th day of the month
  • ２１日 [nijuuichi nichi] = 21st day of the month
  • ２２日 [nijuuni nichi] = 22nd day of the month
  • ２３日 [nijuusan nichi] = 23rd day of the month
  • ２４日 [nijuu yokka] = 24th day of the month
  • ２５日 [nijuugo nichi] = 25th day of the month
  • ２６日 [nijuuroku nichi] = 26th day of the month
  • ２７日 [nijuushichi nichi] = 27th day of the month
  • ２８日 [nijuuhichi nichi] = 28th day of the month
  • ２９日 [nijuuku nichi] = 29th day of the month
  • ３０日 [sanjuu nichi] = 30th day of the month
  • ３１日 [sanjuuichi nichi] = 31st day of the month

Practice

4th January 2018 = 2018年1月4日
[にせんじゅうはちねんいちがつよっか]
6th May 2010 = 2010年５月６日
[にせんじゅうねんごがつむいか]
Wednesday 24th January = 一月二十四日 水曜日
[いちがつにじゅうよっかすいようび]

Past, Present and Future

Some relevant terms for days, weeks, months and years in past, present and future time frame:
  • おととい (一昨日)= the day before yesterday
  • きのう / さくじつ (昨日)= yesterday
  • きょう / ほんじつ (今日 / 本日)= today
  • あした / あす (明日) = tomorrow
  • あさって (明後日) = the day after tomorrow
  • せんしゅう (先週) = last week
  • こんしゅう (今週) = this week
  • らいしゅう (来週) = next week
  • せんげつ (先月) = last month
  • こんげつ (今月) = this month
  • らいげつ (来月) = next month
  • きょうねん (去年) = last year
  • ことし (今年) = this year
  • らいねん (来年) = next year
  • まいにち(毎日) = every day
  • まいしゅう(毎週) = every week
  • まいつき (毎月) = every month
  • まいとし (毎年) = every year

More Practice with question words

なん ようび (何曜日)? = What day of the week?
今日は、何曜日ですか？ [きょうは, なん ようびですか？]= Today is which day of the week?
For example today is Tuesday, the answer will be きょうはかようびです。
なん = what and かん = the counter suffix for time-period. Now let's see the usage:
なんにちかん (何日間) ? = how many days?
Example: ふつかかん (二日間)= 2 days
Example: じゅうにちかん (十二日間) = 12 days
なんしゅうかん (何週間) = How many weeks?
Example: いっしゅうかん (一週間) = 1 week
Example: はっしゅうかん (八週間) = 8 weeks
なんかげつかん (何ヶ月間) = How many months?
Example: いっかげつかん (一ヵ月間) = 1 month
Example: ろっかげつかん (六ヵ月間) = 6 months
Example: じゅうっかげつかん (十ヵ月間) = 10 months
なんねんかん (何年間) = How many years?
Example: いちねんかん (一年間) = 1 year
Example:よねんかん (四年間) = 4 years
Example:はんとしかん (半年間) = half year

Some Other Useful Words

  • たんじょうび (誕生日) = birthday, Example: おたんじょうびはいつですか？= When is your birthday?
  • がんじつ (元日) = new year's day
  • ふつかまえ (二日前) = 2 days ago
  • いっかげつご (一ヶ月後) = after 1 month
It will be my pleasure if this lesson helps you in your Japanese Language learning journey.
JLPT N5 Resources: Vocabulary Lists:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

JLPT N5 - Verb List

Image
Verbs necessary to pass JLPT N5 The following is a list of 109 verbs which you need to know in order to make yourself confident to pass the JLPT level N5. Here, the dictionary form (plain form) and Masu form (polite form) of the verbs are listed with English meaning, hope this will work as your reference material. Note: Need to pay proper attention how the forms changed when you need to make it a [ます] form of verb. For example: おきる = to get up and おく = to put, to keep; but when written in hiragana, [ます] form of おきる is おきます and masu form of おく is also おきます. Let's see more verbs how they change from dictionary form to polite form: おきる → おきます; DROP [る] from [おきる] to make it [ます] form; おく → おきます; CHANGE [く] to [き] to make it [ます] form; たべる → たべます; DROP [る] from [たべる] and add ます. いく → いきます; CHANGE [く] to [き] and add ます. あそぶ → あそびます; CHANGE [ぶ] to [び] and add ます. のむ → のみます; CHANGE [む] to [み] ます. くる → きます; CHANGE [く] to [き] and DROP [る] and add ます. する → します; CHANGE [る] to [し]...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 3 - Hiragana Part 1

Image
Hiragana Keyboard The first step of your Japanese learning journey is to learn the Hiragana and Katakana characters. The Japanese writing system has 3 components which are Hiragana - 46 basic characters to write the native words. Katakana - 46 Katakana characters for writing foreign words. Kanji - Kanji are actually Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing system used as stem of a word convey meaning of the word as well as sound. Please note that all these are characters and not alphabets. In this lesson I will introduce Hiragana and in next two lessons I will introduce Katakana and Kanji. Once you master Hiragana, Katakana will become easier to learn. Hiragana -  Each Hiragana character represents a particular syllable. First five hiragana characters 'a' 'i' 'u' 'e' 'o' represents vowel sound and only one character n represents consonant sound, remaining all characters represents a consonant-vowel sound. Here is the basic ...
Read more

JLPT N5 Lesson 19: Counting and Counter Words

Image
Counting in Japanese In the above picture, it is shown how to count from 1 to 20 in Japanese. Now we will see how to count upto 10000 easily by following some pattern. 1st pattern is, ten (10) is じゅう (juu), twenty(20) is にじゅう (ni-juu), thirty(30) is さんじゅう (san-juu) and so on up to ninety (90). And the 2nd pattern is, for example, ten (10) is じゅう (juu), eleven (11) is じゅういち (juu-ichi), twelve (12) is じゅうに (juu-ni). Using the same pattern with Twenty which is にじゅう (ni-juu), we can make twenty one = にじゅういち (ni-juu-ichi), twenty two = にじゅうに (ni-juu-ni), twenty three = にじゅうさん (ni-juu-san) and so on. Now let us count 100 and above. 100 = 百 [ひゃく] 200 = 二百 [にひゃく] 300 = 三百 [さんびゃく] 400 = 四百 [よんひゃく] 500 = 五百 [ごひゃく] 600 = 六百 [ろっぴゃく] 700 = 七百 [ななひゃく] 800 = 八百 [はっぴゃく] 900 = 九百 [きゅうひゃく] 1000 = 千 [せん] 2000 = 二千 [にせん] 3000 = 三千 [さんぜん] 4000 = 四千 [よんせん] 5000 = 五千 [ごせん] 6000 = 六千 [ろくせん] 7000 = 七千 [ななせん] 8000 = 八千 [はっせん] 9000 = 九千 [きゅうせん] 10000 = 一万 [いちまん] Now let us count some...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 4 - Hiragana Part 2 - Dakuon and Handakuon

Image
Dakuon ( '' ) or dakuten are two small strokes placed on top-left corner of certain hiragana/katakana that changed the sound of those basic kana. It is the voiced sound of か [ka],さ [sa], た [ta] and は [ha]-row syllables. The 'K' sound will be 'G' sound with dakuten, for example, か (Ka) will become が (Ga). The 'S' sound will be 'Z' sound with dakuten, for example, さ (Sa) will become ざ (Za). The 'T' sound will be 'D' sound with dakuten, for example, た (Ta) will become だ (Da). The 'H' sound will be 'B' sound with dakuten, for example, は (Ha) will become ば (Ba). Handakuon (。) or handakuten is a small circle placed over は [ha]- row syllables and modify the consonant pronunciation from H sounds to P sounds. All the Dakuon and Handakuon characters are listed in the above picture. Now let us make some words with the Hiragana characters that we have learnt already だけ [dake] - Only ごご [gogo] - Afternoon どこ [dok...
Read more

JLPT N5 Resources - Vocabulary List 01

Image
JLPT N5 - Resources - Vocabulary List - 01 Words Starting With あ い う え お As of 2010, the JLPT no longer publishes an official vocabulary list. I have collected all the data from various sources, mostly past exam books and general idea, so please note this list is not very particular and there are chances words may appear out of this list. Furigana Kanji Meaning 1 あう 会う to meet 2 あお 青 blue 3 あおい 青い blue 4 あか 赤 red 5 あかい 赤い red 6 あかるい 明い bright 7 あき 秋 autumn 8 あく 明く開く空く to open, be open閉じていたものがひらく。 9 あける 開ける to open 10 あげる 上げる to give 11 あさ 朝 morning 12 あさごはん 朝御飯 breakfast 13 あさって あさって day after tomorrow 14 あし 足 foot, leg 15 あした 明日 tomorrow 16 あそこ あそこ over there 17 あそぶ 遊ぶ to play, to make a visit 18 あたたかい 暖かい warm 19 あたま 頭 head 20 あたらしい 新しい new 21 あちら あちら there 22 あつい 暑い hot 23 熱い あつい hot to the touch 24 あつい 厚い kind, deep, thick ...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 1 - Why Japanese Language

Image
Japan - the Land of the Rising Sun -  is one of the most advanced nations both economically and  technologically. Besides that, it has a vibrant culture, a rich history and the urge to be 'the number one' -"Dai Ichi" in everything. All of these features may attract you to know more about Japan and may appeal to you to learn Japanese Language as well. Moreover you need to know Japanese Language - to work or study in Japan. Japanese is the 2nd most popular language after English and many Universities around the world offers Japanese Language and Literature. JLPT  - The Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services are two authorities that administer and conduct tests on Japanese Language Proficiency and issue official certificates for the specific level a student sits for. The tests are held world wide twice a year for non-native Japanese speakers. There are 5 levels - ranging from basic level (N5) to very advanced level (N1).  Additional b...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 5 - Katakana Part 1

Image
Katakana - actually there are no difference in sound in both sets of characters only the looks are different - hiragana is curvy but katakana is more straight compare to hiragana and few characters looks very similar for example He - へ ヘ and Ri - りリ . Another difference is that hiragana is used as okurigana - prefixes for kanji but katakana character's usage is limited to writing foreign/loan words mostly. # Other than words of foreign origin, to write any foreign person name or place name or any object name Katakana is used. # For writing repeating word or onomatopoeia also Katakana is used for example ワンワン [wanwan] - dogs barking sound. # Sometimes to emphasis a particular word in a sentence also written in Katakana, such as それはダメです。 46 Basic katakana characters are shown in the below picture: Now let's practice some words in Katakana. After any consonant vowel, if another pure vowel is used then it become long vowel. For long vowel ー this sign (a long dash sign)...
Read more

JLPT N5 Lesson 20: Asking Questions

Image
How to ask a question This lesson aimed at helping elimentary level students learn how to ask questions. Here we will learn how to form an interrogative sentence in Japanese. We will also learn about the question words those are necessary to ask a question. Note: In the above illustration, the verb 'にげる (run away)' has been used in one of the sentence, but this verb may not be tested in JLPT N5 level. Question Marker In Japanese, the particle 'か' is used as the equivalent of English question mark (?) . Just by placing the particle か at the end of a simple affirmative or negative sentence we can make it an interrogative sentence and the structure of the sentence will not be affected in any other parts of the sentence. Whereas in English we know the sentence structure needs to be changed to agree with numbers (singular/plural) and to agree with the tense of the verbs when we transform a simple sentence to an interrogative sentence. In that sense Japanese is ea...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 9 - Japanese Particles Inrtroduction

Image
About Japanese particles: In this lesson we will know about Japanese particles. As we know particle means small element, here Japanese particles are small words that helps to create sentences indicating the relations of words within a sentence. To identify topic, subject or object or to specify direction or possession or many other reason these particles follow other parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives of a sentence and make the sentence complete and meaningful. Some particles may be compared to prepositions some may be compared to conjunctions in English or some have other kind of usage. There are 188 particles in Japanese language but we will learn only those which are necessary to attempt JLPT exam. Here we introduce some most common particles and as the lesson will progress we will introduce more and more particles. Special attention need for how these three particles are written and pronounced: は (written ha, pronounced wa as a particle), へ (written he, pron...
Read more

JLPT N5 - Lesson 8 - Japanese Everyday Greetings

Image
あいさつ [Aisatsu] is the word for greetings in Japanese. In Japanese society, greetings play an important role in everyday life. Today we learn some common greetings. おはよう ございます おはよう ございます [ohayou gozaimasu] - Good Morning!　is a formal greetings used in Japanese every day life. In the morning hour meeting with people you may greet him or her by saying おはよう ございます, in reply the other party also greet you as saying the same word. When the relation between the both parties are very casual then they may greet each other by just saying おはよう. In kanji it is お早う。 こんにちは Once you have the feelings the morning is already over you may greet people with こんにちは [konnichiwa] which means 'Good Day!' or 'Good Afternoon' or you may use it just as like 'Hello!'. If someone greet you first with こんにちは in reply you also need to say the same thing 'こんにちは'. Note in writing you need to use は [ha] character instead of わ [wa] character. こんにちは is written in kanji as 今日は。(今[kon]+日[...
Read more
Flag Counter