So you want to ask your friend if they can meet again in two hours. Easy in English, right? And in Japanese? You may want to talk about a meeting that happens every Monday. Do you have the Japanese skills to do it? Talking about time and actions is just a natural part of the conversation. Will your Japanese help you talk about time or will you waste it?
Read this Japanese article for beginners to learn about the weather. It will help you understand time intervals like ni-jikan (“two hours”) and how to inform people about the actions you plan to take, such as kutsu or kaimasu (“I’m going to buy shoes”). You need this item to take your Japanese to the next level!
Vocabulary: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:
mine-san – “everyone”
Matsumoto-joo – “Matsumoto Castle”
they have – “half” (when used with the hour and a half)
jiyuu-jikan – “free time”
galore – “afternoon, PM”
ringo-in – “apple farm”
ima – “now”
ni-jikan – “two hours”
tabemasu – “to eat” (masu form)
(or) soba – “buckwheat noodles”
Grammar: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:
Useful phrases and vocabulary
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juuni-ji han “half past twelve, 12:30”
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They have means “half”. When we use it with a time, it means “and a half (30 minutes)”. However, the order of the words is different from English.
Correct: juuni-ji han
Incorrect: han juuni-ji
Japanese / “English”
ichi-hee / “1:00”
ichi-hee han / “1:30”
ni-hee / “2:00”
ni-hee han / “2:30”
san-hee / “3:00”
san-hee han / “3:30”
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galore “late, PM”
enjoy “I AM”
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In English, PM and AM come after the hour, while galore (PM) and enjoy (AM) come before Japanese time.
For example:
- 8:00 PM
Correct: in abundance, hachi-ji
Incorrect: hachi-ji galore
- 8:00 AM
Correct: gozen, hachi-ji
Incorrect: hachi-ji gozen
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ni-jikan “2 hours”
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Jikan it is an hour meter.
“English” / Japanese
“for an hour” / ichi-jikan
“during two hours” / ni-jikan
“for three hours” / san-jikan
“for four hours” / I-jikan
“for five hours” / go-jikan
“for six hours” / roku-jikan
“for seven hours” / nana-jikan gold shichi-jikan
“for eight hours” / hachi-jikan
“for nine hours” / ku-jikan
“for ten hours” / juu -jikan
“How many hours?” / nan-jikan?
“an hour and a half” / ichi-jikan han
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Today’s destination phrase
(Watashi wa) o-soba or tabemasu.
“I’m going to eat buckwheat noodles.”
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Japanese / “English”
Watashi / “I me”
Washington / “theme markup particle”
osoba / “buckwheat noodles”
or / “object marker particle”
tabemasu / “eat” (masu form)
We place the object marker particle or after a noun and indicates that the noun is the object of the sentence. We use or with transitive verbs.
Note that we can use Japanese sentences that end with – masu verbs for habitual or future actions. Then, watashi wa o-soba or tabemasu It can mean “like buckwheat noodles” or “I’m going to eat buckwheat noodles.”
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Sentence patterns
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Affirmative sentences
-
Subject / Washington / object / or / verb
Watashi / Washington / asa-gohan / or / tabemasu.Shizuka-san / Washington / o-soba / or / tabemasu.
Watashi / Washington / katsudon to sashimi / or / tabemasu.
*Note: Asa-gohan means “breakfast”.
Negative sentences A negative form of masu Verb form: SEE Newbie Article 22 for details.
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Subject / Washington / object / or / verb
Watashi / Washington / asa-gohan / or / tabemasen.Mizuki-san / Washington / o-soba / or / tabemasen.
Phrase question The particle that ends the sentence ka turn the sentence into a question. SEE Newbie Article 22 for more details.
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Subject / Washington / object / or / verb / ka?
(Anata / Washington) / asa-gohan / or / tabemasu / ka?Lorii-san / Washington / o-soba / or / tabemasu / ka?
Answers:
- Yes- Hai, tabemasu.
Not- Iie, kikimasen.
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Subject / Washington / nani (“what”) / or / verb / ka?
(Anata / Washington) / nani / or / tabemasu / ka?
Lor-san / Washington / nani / or / tabemasu / ka?
Note that the anata The example is very straightforward and is therefore considered somewhat rude. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid its use unless necessary.
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Examples with other verbs
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kikimasu “listen, listen”
Japanesepod101 or kikimasu.“I’m going to listen to Japanesepod101.” or “I listen to Japanesepod101”.
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kaimasu “to buy”
Kutsu or kaimasu.“I’m going to buy shoes.” or “I buy shoes.”
-
tabemasu “eat”
Niku or tabemasen.“I’m not going to eat meat.” or “I don’t eat meat.”
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mimasu “to see”
Terebi or mimasu ka?
“Will you watch TV?”
-
nomimasu “to drink”
Nani or nomimasu ka?“What will you drink?” or “What do you drink?”
-
shimasu “to do”
Nichi yoobi nani or shimasu ka?“What are you going to do on Sunday?” or “What do you do (usually) on Sundays?”
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Practice:
Answer the following questions.
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- Ongaku or kikimasu ka? (* ongaku means “music”)
- Eiga or mimasu ka? (* eiga means “movies”)
- Furansu no eiga or mimasu ka?)
- O-sake or nomimasu ka? (* for love means “alcohol”)
- Nichi yoobi nani or shimasu ka?
