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11: Time
ごろ, Duration ぐらい
ごろ and ぐらい are suffixes to indicate approximation of time (about or approximately). ごろ is limited to approximating clock time (NOT duration of time). In contrast, ぐらい is used for approximating length of time.
Num + ごろ
Num + ぐらい
On the Clock
よじごろです。
よじぐらいです。
It's about 4 o'clock.
Length of Time
Not used
30ぷんぐらいです。
It's about 30 minutes.
FYI: In casual conversation, ぐらい may be used as general approximation for everything including clock time expressions (３じぐらい rather than the officially correct ３じごろ). However, this may be marked incorrect in formal tests like JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test).
12: Time of the Day
Click on
the words (あさ, ひる, ゆうがた, よる, ごぜん, ごご) in the picture and
listen to the pronunciation.
あさ or morning is from dawn till noon. あさの９じ means 9 o'clock in the morning.
ひる or daytime is from noon to right before dusk. ひるの１２じ means 12 noon. (FYI: 12 p.m. in English is ごご０じ in Japanese. Never say ごご１２じ by translating 12 p.m. directly.)
ゆうがた or late afternoon roughly refers to the time when
the sun is setting. ゆうがたの５じ means 5 o'clock towards evening.
よる or evening starts after dark. よるの１２じ means 12 midnight. (FYI: 12 a.m. in English is ごぜん０じ in Japanese. Never say ごぜん１２じ by translating 12 a.m. directly.)
13:
ごぜん and ごご
To say 3:00 a.m., you say ごぜんさんじ, not さんじごぜん.
The same word order rule applies to ごご (p.m.). To say 7 o'clock in the morning, you say あさ(の)７じ, not ７じあさ. Except for ごぜん and ごご, the particle の is required.
Time of day
Num
じ
ごぜん／ごご
６
じ
6 a.m./p.m.
あさ／よる
の
７
じ
7 o'clock in the morning/evening
ひる／よる
の
１２
じ
12 noon/midnight
あさ／ゆうがた
の
５
じ
5 o'clock in the morning/(late) afternoon
ごぜん
０
じ
12 a.m. or 12 midnight
ごご
０
じ
12 p.m. or 12 noon
14: Time
に Organized Activityが あります
The あります verb we learned earlier can be used to state the time of organized activities (often involving one person) such as classes, meetings, part-time jobs, etc. A1 below asks WHAT organized activities does the listener have at a given time by using the TimeにXがあります pattern.
Timeに
Xが
あります
A1:
リーさんは
９じに
なにが
ありますか。
What do you have at 9 o'clock, Mr. Lee?
B1:
（ぼくは）
クラスが
あります。
I have a class (at 9).
A2:
リーさんは
なんじに
クラスが
ありますか。
What time do you have a class, Mr. Lee?
B2:
（ぼくは）
９じに
あります。
I have (it) at 9.
To respond to a Yes-No question, one can answer by simply saying ええ、あります or いいえ、ありません as shown in B1 and B2 below. (FYI: You cannot use ええ、そうです or いいえ、そうじゃありません here. The latter ones are used only in response to noun sentence questions.)
If you need to qualify your negative answers, the particle は normally replaces が as shown in (B3) below. If what's negated is not the subject as shown in (B4) below, the particle は is added. (This は is called the "contrastive は.")
Timeに
Xが
あります
A1:
リーさんは
ごご１じに
クラスが
ありますか。
Do you have a class at 1 p.m.
B1:
ええ、
あります。
Yes, I do.
B2:
いいえ、
ありません。
No, I don't.
To qualify your negative answers:
B3:
いいえ、
クラスは
ありません。
No, I don't have a class.
B4:
いいえ、
ごご１じには
ありません。
No, I don't at one p.m.
15: X
は Timeに ありますor XはTimeです
Instead of the person, organized activities can become the topic of the sentence. The verb sentence can be rephrased as a shorter noun sentence by replacing the にあります with です. Make sure you drop the particle に when you use Timeです expressions.
Xは
Timeに
あります or です
じゅぎょうは
ごご１じに
あります。
The class is at one p.m.
じゅぎょうは
ごご１じ
です。
[Short version. に is not used.]
The following examples show other possible topics besides organized activities. Note that the second half of the sentence is no longer limited to just Timeにあります.
きょうは
クラスがあります。
Today, there is a class.
日本は
いま ごご１１じです。
In Japan, it is 11 p.m. now.
16: Time
のまえ(に)、Timeのあと(に)
Two nouns まえ and あと can express the notion of before and after respectively as shown below. The particle に is NOT required if です follows まえ or あと.
Topicは
Time or
Activityの
まえ(に) あと(に)
えいがは
じゅぎょうの
まえ
です。
The movie is before the class.
えいがは
じゅぎょうの
まえに
あります。
There is a movie before the class.
じゅぎょうは
えいがの
あと
です。
The class is after the movie.
じゅぎょうは
えいがの
あとに
あります。
There is a class after the movie.
17: Time
から Timeまで
Two particles から (from) and まで (to/till) can be used to discuss the time something starts and the time it ends. Both ～です and ～あります can be used to discuss the schedule of this kind. (The particle に is not needed for the verb あります if you use から and まで.)
Topicは
Timeから
Timeまで
じゅぎょうは
９じから
です。
The class is from 9.
じゅぎょうは
１０じまで
です。
The class is until 10.
じゅぎょうは
９じから
１０じまで
です。
The class is from 9 to 10.
えいがは
３じから
４じ まで
あります。
The movie is from 3 to 4.
18: Date and Month
(～月～日)
The date of the month is referred to by the 月 (がつ) and 日 (にち) counters. The first through tenth of the month are exceptions as noted below by the yellow flag (). In addition, fourteenth (14th), twentieth (20th) and twenty-fourth (24th) are exceptional.
). In addition, fourteenth (14th), twentieth (20th) and twenty-fourth (24th) are exceptional.