Telling Time in Japanese

by Tomoyuki Higuchi

How do you say “It’s 5:30.” in Japanese?

Today’s phrase is :

It’s (current time).

(current time) 時だよ。

　ji dayo

“時 (ji)” means “o’clock”.

When you want to say “It’s (current time).”, put the time just before “時 (ji)”.

For example, if the current time is “5:00”, you can say like this :

５時だよ。

　goji dayo

Or if you want to speak politely :

５時です。

　goji desu

The Time in Japanese

We always use a 12-hour clock in everyday conversation. We say “午前 (gozen)” for AM, “午後 (gogo)” for PM.

　*We pronounce “juu” like “jū”.

So how do you say “It’s 5:30.” ?

You can say like this :

５時半だよ。

　goji han dayo

Or politely :

５時半です。

　goji han desu

“半 (han)” means “a half”.

▸How to Say “What time is it?” in Japanese