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Japanese counting system is complex and has a lot of irregular pronunciations. It can take some time to master all of them.

But to be practical, you just need to know the following.

Master how to count 1 to 100. (You just need to memorise 1-10.)

Know the basic principles. For example, time is "ji" and "fun", date is "gatsu" and "nichi", etc.

In addition, days of the week and dates (1st to 10th) would be good to know.

People will understand when you say roku-fun (not roppun) or ni-nichi (not futsuka).

In the Japanese society, everything supposed to be on time. And people do care about it.

If you are asked to come at 2pm, it really means 2:00pm sharp - not later than that. In general, people show up 5-10 minutes before.

If you are late, better to apologize with no fake excuse which could make the situation worse.

If you are meeting with someone important to you, and if you want to give a good impression. Be on time. This is true especially in business.

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So, let's start!

Numbers:

It should be enough if you memorize 1-10 and know how to count 1-100.

You can download and print out . Just look up the list when you have a difficulty with bigger numbers.

*1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyū, jū

*11-19: jū ichi (10+1), jū ni (10+2), jū san (10+3)...

*20-99: ni-jū (2x10), ni-jū ichi (2x10+1), ni-jū ni (2x10+2)...

*zero: 0 / hyaku: 100 / sen: 1,000 / man: 10,000

(Basically, you can read any numbers in this way. But there are some irregular pronunciations. For example, 300 is san-byaku (not san-hyaku), 600 is rop-pyaku (not roku-hyaku).)

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Time:

Basically, you use "ji" for hours and "fun" for minutes.

For example, 1:25 is ichi-ji ni-jū go-fun.

But there are irregular pronunciations.

For hours, some numbers are pronounced differently.

*1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 -(o'clock)ichi-ji, ni-ji, san-ji, yo-ji, go-ji, roku-ji, shichi-ji, hachi-ji, ku-ji, jū-ji, jū ichi-ji, jū ni-ji

For minutes, some numbers are pronounced differently and "fun" becomes "pun" in many cases.

*1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - (minutes past)ip-pun, ni-fun, san-pun, yon-pun, go-fun, rop-pun, nana-fun, hap-pun, kyu-fun, jup-pun.

*11-19, jū ip-pun, jū ni-fun, jū san-pun, jū yon-pun...

*20-59, ni-jup-pun, ni-jū ip-pun, ni-jū ni-fun... san-jup-pun...

(ima: now

nan-ji: what time?

gozen: a.m. / gogo: p.m.

asagohan: breakfast

han: half past

kara: from / made: to (till)

shōgo: noon)

*now, what time? - Ima, nan-ji desuka?

*3:15pm. - Gogo, san-ji jūgo-fun desu.

*breakfast what time? - Asagohan wa nan-ji desuka?

*from 7:30 to 9:00. - Shichi-ji han kara ku-ji made desu.

*check-out what time? - Chekkuauto wa nan-ji desuka?

*noon. - Shōgo desu.

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Date:

Basically, you use "gatsu" for months and "nichi" for days.

For example, January 25th is ichi-gatsu ni-jū go-nichi.

But there are irregular pronunciations...

For months, some numbers are pronounced differently.

*Jan., Feb., Mar., - ichi-gatsu, ni-gatsu, san-gatsu,

*Apr., May, Jun., - shi-gatsu, go-gatsu, roku-gatsu,

*Jul., Aug., Sep., - shichi-gatsu, hachi-gatsu, ku-gatsu,

*Oct., Nov., Dec. - jū-gatsu, jū ichi-gatsu, jū ni-gatsu

For days, 1st to 10th and 20th are quite different from the usual way. Other days are more straight forward.

*1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (day) - tsuitachi, futsuka, mikka, yokka, itsuka, muika, nanoka, yōka, kokonoka, tōka.

(tanjōbi: birthday

nan-nen: what year? / nan-gatsu: what month? / nan-nichi: what day?

kekkonshiki: wedding

tsugi no: next

orinpikku: olympics)

Example:

*birthday when? - Tanjobi wa itsu desuka?

May 23rd. - Go-gatsu ni-jū san-nichi desu.

*departure which day? - Shuppatsu wa nan-nichi desuka?

11th. - ju-ichi-nichi desu.

*wedding which month? - Kekkonshiki wa nan-gatsu desuka?

June. - Roku-gatsu desu.

*next olympics what year? -Tsugi no orinpikku wa nan-nen desuka?

2012. - Ni-sen jū ni-nen desu.

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Days of the week:

*Mon., Tue., Wed., Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. - getsu-yōbi, ka-yōbi, sui-yōbi, moku-yōbi, kin-yōbi,do-yōbi, nichi-yōbi

*yesterday, today, tomorrow - kinō, kyō, ashita

*last week, this week, next week - senshū, konshū, raishū

(yōbi: day of the week

nan-yōbi: which day of the week?

no: of

yasumi: day-off

to: and)

Example:

*today which day? - Kyō wa nan-yōbi desuka?

Monday. - Getsu-yōbi desu.

*tomorrow which day? - Ashita wa nan-yōbi desuka?

Tuesday. - Ka-yōbi desu.

*next Friday what date? - Raishū no kin-yobi wa nan-nichi desuka?

30th. - San-ju-nichi desu.

*day-off which day? - Yasumi wa nan-yobi desuka?

Saturdays and Sundays. - Do-yōbi to nichi-yōbi desu.

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*minutes: "fun(kan)" or "pun(kan)". 5 minutes is - go-fun or go-funkan.

*hours: "jikan". 2 hours is - ni-jikan.

*days: "ka(kan)" or "nichi(kan)". 3 days is - mikka or mikkakan.

*weeks: "shūkan". 2 weeks is - ni-shukan.

*months: "kagetsu(kan)". 4 months is - yon-kagetsu or yon-kagetsukan.

*years: "nen(kan)". 6 years is - roku-nen or roku-nenkan.

(donokurai: how much (time)

kakarimasu (kakaru): to take

yaku: about / kurai: about

ni imasu (iru): be at, be in)

Example:

*How long does it take? - Donokurai kakarimasuka?

About 2 weeks. - Yaku ni-shūkan desu.

*to Kyoto how many hours? - Kyōto made nan-jikan kakari masuka?

about 3 hours. - San-jikan kurai desu.

*how many days be in Japan? - Nan-nichikan Nihon ni imasuka?

18 days. - Jū hachi-nichikan desu.

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I read books everyday. - Mainichi, hon o yomi masu.

Present tense = verb + masu, masuka?, masen

mai: every

mai-nichi: every day / mai-shū: every week

mai-asa: every morning / mai-ban: every night

yomi masu (yomu): to read

mi masu (miru): to watc, to see

oki masu (okiru): to wake up, to get up

ne masu (neru): to sleep, to go to bed

o: comes after the object of the verbs (read, watch, etc.)

ni: at

Example:

*every Friday I watch movies - Mai-shū kin-yōbi ni eiga o mi masu.

*every morning, at 7 I get up - Mai-asa shichi-ji ni oki masu.

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I went to Kyoto. - Kyōto e iki mashita.

Past tense = verb + mashita, mashitaka?, masendeshita

Future tense = same as the present tense

iki masu (iku): to go

ai masu (au): to meet

tabe masu (taberu): to eat

ki masu (kuru): to come

e: to - comes after the object of the verb go.

to: with - comes after the object of the verb meet.

kesa: this morning / konya: tonight

hirugohan: lunch

ga: comes after the subject of the verb come.

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Yesterday was rainy. - Kinō wa ame deshita.

Sentenses with the verb "be".

Present & Future: desu, desuka?, dewaarimasen

Past: deshita, deshitaka?, dewaarimasendeshita

-mae: before / -go: after

hare: / kumori: cloudy / ame: rain

han-toshi: half year

tabun: probably

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I studied Japanese. - Nihongo o benkyō shi mashita.

shi masu (suru): do

The verb suru is usually used solely. And in this case, the particle "o" comes after the object.

For example, benkyō o shimasu.: I do study.

But sometimes, a noun together with suru functions as a verb.

For example, benkyō shimasu.: I study.

benkyō (study) suru: to study

ryokō (travel) suru: to travel

sōji (cleaning) suru: to clean

sengetsu: last month / kongetsu: this month / raigetsu: next month

kyonen: last year / kotoshi: this year / rainen: next year

ajia: Asia

heya: room

sakkā: soccer

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