Telling Time in Japanese: Hours, Minutes, and the ふん vs ぷん Chaos

Time Is Everywhere

You can survive without kanji for a while. You can dodge complex grammar. But you can't avoid time. Train schedules, meeting someone for lunch, class start times, store hours — time comes up on day one.

The good news: Japanese tells time with a very logical system. The tricky news: the minute counter has some sound changes that just need to be memorized. Let's tackle the whole thing.

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Part 1: Hours (〜時)

Hours use the counter 時 (ji). Attach a number in front and you're done.

The Irregular Readings

Most hours are perfectly regular — just number + 時. But three have special readings:

• 4:00 → よじ (yo-ji), NOT よんじ or しじ
• 7:00 → しちじ (shichiji), NOT ななじ
• 9:00 → くじ (kuji), NOT きゅうじ

These three are non-negotiable. You'll hear them wrong in your head for a while, but they'll become automatic with practice.

AM and PM

Japanese uses 午前 (gozen) for AM and 午後 (gogo) for PM, placed before the time:

• 午前九時 — 9:00 AM (gozen kuji)
• 午後三時 — 3:00 PM (gogo sanji)

In everyday speech, people also say 朝 (asa — morning), 昼 (hiru — midday), 夜 (yoru — night) for context:

• 朝六時に起きます。— I wake up at 6 in the morning.
• 夜十一時に寝ます。— I go to bed at 11 at night.

Half Past: 半 (han)

To say "half past," add 半 (han) after the hour:

• 三時半 — 3:30 (sanji han)
• 十時半 — 10:30 (jūji han)
• 九時半 — 9:30 (kuji han — note: still くじ, not きゅうじ)

半 always means :30. There's no "quarter past" equivalent — for :15 or :45, you use minutes.

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Part 2: Minutes (〜分) — Where It Gets Fun

The minute counter is 分. Simple enough. But 分 has two readings: ふん (fun) and ぷん (pun). Which one you use depends on the number in front of it.

This is the part that makes learners want to flip a table. But there's a pattern — let me show you.

The Full Minute Chart

The Pattern Behind the Chaos

It looks random, but there's a phonetic reason. The changes follow a rule called 連濁 (rendaku) and 促音 (sokuon — double consonant). Here's the shortcut:

ぷん (pun) happens after: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 ふん (fun) happens after: 2, 5, 7, 9

A mnemonic that might help: "1, 3, 4 — PUN. 6, 8, 10 — PUN." The PUN numbers are the ones that end in sounds that naturally "harden" the ふ into ぷ.

And watch for the double consonants (っ) — these are the real curveballs:

• 1分 → いっぷん (ippun) — the ち drops, っ appears
• 6分 → ろっぷん (roppun) — the く drops, っ appears
• 8分 → はっぷん (happun) — the ち drops, っ appears
• 10分 → じゅっぷん (juppun) — the う drops, っ appears

The double consonant creates a tiny pause before the ぷん. It's short but important — listen for it in native speech.

Minutes 11–59

For larger minutes, the tens digit follows the same pattern as counting, and the ones digit follows the ふん/ぷん rules above:

The ones digit controls the ふん/ぷん choice. So 25分 ends in 5 → ごふん. 38分 ends in 8 → はっぷん. The system is consistent — it just takes practice.

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Part 3: Putting It All Together

The full time format is:

[午前/午後] + [number]時 + [number]分

Examples:

For :30 you can always use 半 instead of 三十分 — it's shorter and more natural in conversation.

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Part 4: Asking and Answering

"What time is it?"

今、何時ですか？ Ima, nanji desu ka? What time is it now?

何時 (nanji) = "what hour." The answer:

三時十五分です。 Sanji jūgofun desu. It's 3:15.

"What time does it start?"

何時に始まりますか？ Nanji ni hajimarimasu ka? What time does it start?

Notice the に particle — it marks the specific point in time.

"What time do you...?"

毎朝何時に起きますか？ Maiasa nanji ni okimasu ka? What time do you wake up every morning?

七時に起きます。 Shichiji ni okimasu. I wake up at 7.

"From... to..."

Use から (kara — from) and まで (made — until):

授業は九時から十二時までです。 Jugyō wa kuji kara jūniji made desu. Class is from 9:00 to 12:00.

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Quick Reference: The Trouble Spots

If you remember nothing else, memorize these:

Irregular hours:

• 4:00 = よじ (not よんじ)
• 7:00 = しちじ (not ななじ)
• 9:00 = くじ (not きゅうじ)

Minutes with っ (double consonant):

• 1分 = いっぷん
• 6分 = ろっぷん
• 8分 = はっぷん
• 10分 = じゅっぷん

ぷん minutes: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 ふん minutes: 2, 5, 7, 9

Practice

Try saying these times out loud:

1. 2:15 → ？
2. 4:30 → ？
3. 8:06 → ？
4. 11:58 → ？
5. AM 9:01 → ？

Answers: にじじゅうごふん、よじはん、はちじろっぷん、じゅういちじごじゅうはっぷん、ごぜんくじいっぷん

Every time you check your phone, try saying the time in Japanese. It's the fastest way to make this automatic.

時間は大切！ (Jikan wa taisetsu!) — Time is precious!