Day of the Week

[ybi] [Reading] getsuybi kaybi suiybi mokuybi kinybi doybi nichiybi nanybi Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Which day of the week? [English]

[Japanese]

The last syllable [bi] is sometimes omitted in daily conversation. For example, [getsuy], [kay], [suiy]... Day of the Month [hi] [yomi] tsuitachi futsuka mikka yokka itsuka muika nanoka 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th [eigo]

[nihongo]

yka kokonoka tka jichi-nichi jni-nichi jsan-nichi jyokka jgo-nichi jroku-nichi jshichi-nichi jhachi-nichi jku-nichi hatsuka ni-jichi-nichi san-j-nichi nan-nichi

8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 1th 1th 1th 1th 1th 1th th th th Which day?

See Numbers page to learn how to read numbers. Add [nichi] after numbers. Irregular readings are colored in red. In general, Arabic number is used more often than the kanji numbers.

Month

[tsuki] [] [] ichi-gatsu [] January

ni-gatsu san-gatsu shi-gatsu go-gatsu roku-gatsu shichi-gatsu hachi-gatsu ku-gatsu j-gatsu jichi-gatsu jni-gatsu nan-gatsu

February March April May June July August September October November December Which month?

Add [gatsu] after numbers. Irregular readings are colored in red.

Year

[nen] nisenyo-nen seireki gohyaku-nen kigenzen yonj-nen heisei nij-nen heisei gan-nen nan-nen year 2004 500 A.D. 40 B.C. the 20th year of Heisei the 1st year of Heisei What year?

Add [nen] after numbers. Western calendar is called [seireki]. But it's usually omitted. There is a Japanese system of counting era. The present era is called Heisei, and the last one is Shwa. The next era begins at the coronation of the new emperor. Year 2010 is the 22nd year of Heisei. Both western and the Japanese one are used in daily life. Easy way to convert is to add/subtract 12 years.

Examples hachi-gatsu jroku-nichi nisen-nen go-gatsu muika shichi-gatsu nijshichi-nichi getsuybi 16th August 6th May 2000 Monday 27th July

Duration

[kikan]

( ( ( ( ( (

ichi-nichi futsukakan jni-nichikan nan-nichikan isshkan hasshkan jusshkan

1 day 2 days 12 days ? 1 week 8 weeks 10 weeks

 ( ( ( ( ( (

nan-shkan ikkagetsukan rokkagetsukan jukkagetsukan nan-kagetsukan ichi-nenkan yo-nenkan han-toshikan nan-nenkan

? 1 month 6 months 10 months ? 1 year 4 years half year ?

For days, add after the day of the month. But 1 day is [ichi nichi] not [tsuitachi kan]. For weeks, add [shkan] after the numbers. For months, add [kagetsukan] after the numbers. Other spellings - and are also commonly used. For years, add [nenkan] after the numbers. [Kan] can be omitted in daily conversation (except for weeks).

Past, Present, Future Day

ototoi (issakujitsu) kin (sakujitsu) ky (honjitsu)

the day before yesterday yesterday today

( (

( (

ashita (asu) asatte (mygonichi)

tomorrow the day after tomorrow

Words in parentheses are used at the formal situations. For example, [ky] is widely used in daily conversation, and [honjitsu] is used at the official speeches or documents.

Week

Month

sensensh sensh konsh raish saraish

the week before last last week this week next week the week after next

Year

sensengetsu sengetsu kongetsu raigetsu saraigetsu

the month before last last month this month next month the month after next


Every...

ototoshi (issakunen) kyonen (sakunen) kotoshi (honnen) rainen sarainen

the year before last last year this year next year the year after next

( (

mainichi maish maitsuki maitoshi every day every week every month every year

Special Days tanjbi ganjitsu misoka birthday new year's day new year's eve

Related Phrases

on, in 5 2 doybi ni gogatsu ni around 2 gatsu 15 nichi goro ni just chodo ni nenkan about yaku 2 shkan before futsuka mae after 3 kagetsu go ky wa, nan ybi desuka? how long? donokurai kakarimasuka? How long does it take? after 3 months which day of the week? Which day of the week today? 2 days ago about 2 weeks just 2 years on around 15th Feb. on Saturday in May