δ½ζγ§γγ
Nan-ji desuka
What time is it?
πΈ Asking and Telling Time πΈ
π¬ Dialogue
Sumimasen, ima nan-ji desu ka.
Excuse me, what time is it now?
Ima, go-ji desu.
It is five o'clock now.
Kaigi wa nan-ji kara desu ka.
What time does the meeting start?
Go-ji han kara desu.
It starts from five-thirty.
Sou desu ka. Arigatou gozaimasu.
I see. Thank you very much.
Iie.
You're welcome.
π Vocabulary
5 wordsβ Key Sentence
Ima nan-ji desu ka?
What time is it now?
- Pattern: γγΎ [Time] γ§γγγ
- Meaning: Asking for the current time.
Ima san-ji desu.
It is 3 o'clock now.
Ima juu-ji han desu.
It is 10:30 now.
π Explanation
To ask for the time in Japanese, we use the question word δ½ζ (nan-ji).
The particle γ at the end of a sentence turns it into a question, acting like a question mark.
To tell the time, attach ζ (ji) to a number. For example, 1:00 is ichi-ji. To say 'half-past', add han after the hour.
Nan-ji desu ka
= 'What time is it?'
Ku-ji han desu
= 'It is 9:30.'
π Quiz
How do you say 'It is 5 o'clock' in Japanese?