Japanese Vocabulary Lesson: Times and Seasons

Today, let’s look at a large list of time and season related vocabulary words. This lesson is taken from our book, Ninja Penguin.  This book teaches the geography of Japan (learn all about Japan’s prefectures) but it also is full of short language lessons such as this. Check it out at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com.au, or TheJapanShop.com.

DAYS OF THE WEEK

日曜日にちようび Sunday
月曜日げつようび Monday
火曜日かようび Tuesday
水曜日すいようび Wednesday
木曜日もくようび Thursday
金曜日きんようび Friday
土曜日どようび Saturday
週しゅう a week
先週せんしゅう last week
今週こんしゅう this week
来週らいしゅう next week

Like most languages, the names of the days of the week are based on planetary names or an elemental force of nature:
日にち—the sun
月げつ—the moon
火か—fire
水すい—water
木もく—wood
金きん—gold
土ど—the earth; ground

BASIC TIME WORDS

日ひ a day
今日きょう today
昨日きのう yesterday
明日あした tomorrow [also: あす]
年ねん a year [also とし]
去年きょねん last year
今年ことし this year
来年らいねん next year

THE SEASONS

春はる spring
夏なつ summer
秋あき fall; autumn
冬ふゆ winter

PREFIXES FOR VOCABULARY MULTIPLICATION

There are many helpful prefixes in Japanese that will substantially increase your vocabulary with minimal effort. One such prefix is 今いま which by itself means “now.” Its pronunciation is somewhat irregular, but learn these well:

今日きょう—today
今週こんしゅう—this week
今月こんげつ—this month
今年ことし—this year

Another is 来らい meaning “to come.”
来週らいしゅう—next week
来月らいげつ—next month
来年らいねん—next year

COUNTING THE DAYS

一日ついたち 1st of the month
二日ふつか 2nd of the month; 2 days
三日みっか 3rd of the month; 3 days
四日よっか 4th of the month; 4 days
五日いつか 5th of the month; 5 days
六日むいか 6th of the month; 6 days
七日なのか 7th of the month; 7 days
八日ようか 8th of the month; 8 days
九日ここのか 9th of the month; 9 days
十日とおか 10th of the month; 10 days
二十日はつか 20th of the month; 20 days

If you learn the above, you can easily come up with the rest of the days of the month. Simply use the “Chinese” numbers with 日にち. For example, the 11th is 十一日じゅういちにち.
To say a span of days—two days time, for example—simply add 「間かん」 after the name of the day. EXCEPT—isn’t there always an exception?—one day. To say “one day,” use 一日いちにち.

1 day = 一日いちにち
2 days = 二日間ふつかかん
10 days = 十日間とおかかん
25 days = 二十五日間にじゅうごにちかん

If you liked this lesson, Ninja Penguin has many more such lessons, covers interesting facts about Japan’s geography and culture, and includes free MP3s for all the Japanese. Get it today. It is cheap! About $4.49 for the eBook (includes downloadable MP3s) and not much more for the paperback version (also includes downloadable MP3s). Check it out at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com.au, or TheJapanShop.com.