Time, Daily Routines, and Opening Hours

This lesson connects basic numbers to useful daily-life conversations. You will learn to tell the time, describe when an action happens, and ask when a place is open.

Before You Start: Numbers for Time

This lesson teaches every number reading used in its examples, including the complete 1–10 time readings. The Numbers vocabulary page provides broader number practice later.

Numbers and Hours: 1–12

Phone Digit: 0

Minutes: 1–10

Additional Minute Readings Used in This Lesson

For a two-digit minute, join the number reading to 分. For example, 45分 is よんじゅうごふん: よんじゅう (40) + ごふん (5 minutes).

The hour reading changes for 4, 7, and 9: よじ, しちじ, and くじ. Learn these as complete time expressions.

今 [Hour] 時 [Minute] 分です。

Description

Use this structure to say what time it is. 時 means "o'clock," 分 means "minute," and 半 means "half." Use 何時 and 何分 to ask for an unknown hour or minute.

Examples

Usage Notes

• 時 follows the hour and 分 follows the minutes.
• The reading of 分 changes after some numbers. Use the preparation table as a guide.
• Put 半 after an hour: 3時半 means 3:30.
• 今 refers to the present moment, so it does not take に.

Vます / Vません / Vました / Vませんでした

Description

Japanese polite verbs can express a present habit, a future action, a past action, or a past negative action. The ます form is used for both habits and future plans.

Examples

Usage Notes

• A verb question is made by adding か at the end: 昨日勉強しましたか。
• Answer a verb question by repeating the verb: はい、勉強しました。 / いいえ、勉強しませんでした。
• Do not use そうです or 違います as the complete answer to a verb question.

[Time] に Vます。

Description

Add に after a specific time to show when an action happens.

Examples

Usage Notes

• Use に with a clock time, such as 6時半, and with a specific date.
• Do not use に after relative time words such as 今日, 昨日, 明日, 毎朝, 毎晩, and 毎日.
• With a day of the week, 朝, 昼, 晩, or 夜, に is optional.

Time Ranges: から〜まで

Description

から marks a starting point and まで marks an ending point. This pattern is useful for hours, dates, and places.

Examples

Usage Notes

• Use から and まで together for a complete range.
• You can use only から when the end is not important, or only まで when the start is not important.
• Add です after a time range when the topic is a place's hours or an event's schedule.

Connecting Nouns with と

Description

Use と to join two nouns as a complete pair.

Examples

Usage Notes

• と means "and" when it joins nouns.
• This lesson uses と for two items. Longer lists can be learned later.

Sentence ね

Description

Add ね to the end of a sentence to invite agreement, confirm information, or share a reaction.

Examples

Usage Notes

• ね is softer than a direct statement and helps the conversation feel cooperative.
• Say it with a confirming tone when you are checking information.

Practical Conversation: Asking About Opening Hours

Read this original phone conversation, then replace 図書館 with 銀行, デパート, or 美術館 and change the hours.

Quick Check