This lesson shows you how to use and pronounce Japanese dates.

Key Topics Covered

Dialogue 1

The following conversation is a polite conversation between two people who know each other, perhaps colleagues or neighbours.

Japanese:
吉田：	ええと、今日は９月３０日ですよね？
田中：	いいえ、１０月一日ですよ。
吉田：	本当ですか？　もうすぐ むすめ の たんじょうび だわ。
田中：	いつですか？
吉田：	四日です。
田中：	おめでとうございます。
吉田：	ありがとうございます。
Roomaji:
Yoshida:	Eeto, kyou wa kugatsu sanjuunichi desu yo ne?
Tanaka:	Iie, juugatsu tsuitachi desu yo.
Yoshida:	Hontou desu ka? Mousugu musume no tanjoubi da wa.
Tanaka:	Itsu desu ka?
Yoshida:	Yokka desu.
Tanaka:	Omedetou gozaimasu.
Yoshida:	Arigatou gozaimasu.
English:
Yoshida:	Um, today’s the 30th of September, isn’t it?
Tanaka:	No, it’s the first of October.
Yoshida:	Really? We’ll have my daughter’s birthday soon.
Tanaka:	When is it?
Yoshida:	It’s the fourth.
Tanaka:	Happy birthday (to her // all of you)!
Yoshida:	Thank you very much.

Vocabulary

Grammar Notes

The key topic of this article is to learn how to say dates. Let’s look at some examples.

今日は９月３０日です。
Kyou wa kugatsu sanjuunichi desu.
Today is the 30th of September.

Like above, you say the month first, and the date after that. In the dialogue, we sometimes another word like “今月 (kongetsu – this month)” and “来月 (raigetsu – next month)” instead of a name of the month. For example, when the date is near the end, we often use this latter way to confirm exactly if it’s this month or next one.

Days of the month

To say a day of the month, one says the number followed by a counter word for days – which is sometimes pronounced “ka” (for the 2nd through 10th, and for the special cases 14th and 24th) and sometimes “nichi” (most of the rest of the days). There are also some special words for two dates; tsuitachi for the first of the month and hatsuka for the twentieth of the month.

For the 21nd to 29th, use “nijuu” instead of “juu” in the words for the 12th to 19th. And for 30th and 31st use “sanjuu”.

The names of months in Japanese are constructed simply by the number in order, and the word for month, gatsu. Note that April is shigatsu and July is shichigatsu; they cannot be said with the alternative readings for four (yon) and seven (nana).

Questions

The basic patterns for asking what date it is can be as follows. The expression “nan nichi” implies that you ask for the day of the month, while itsu is a time or day in general. So if asking for nan nichi, you probably know the month.

Nan nichi desu ka?
What date (of the month) is it?

Itsu desu ka?
When is it?

If asking about another day, for instance today or tomorrow, you can just add “___wa” in front of the previous pattern. In daily speach, the wa is usually omitted and just replaced with a short pause (comma). Look at the following examples.

Kyou wa nan nichi desu ka?
What date (of the month) is it today?

Ashita, nan nichi desu ka?
What date (of the month) is tomorrow?

Tanakasan no tanjoubi wa nannichi desu ka?
What date (of the month) is Tanakasan’s birthday?

Writing

As for how to write the days in Japanese, we usually write “１日”, “２日” rather than “一日” and “二日” . Originally the Japanese language was written from top to bottom, but nowadays writing from left to right as in Western writing is quite common, and Roman numerals are used more and more.

Practise

How do you say the following dates:

1. 4 July  (Answer: 7月4日 – shichigatsu yokka)
2. 2 January  (Answer: 1月2日 – ichigatsu futsuka)
3. 12 February (Answer: 2月12日 -nigatsu juuninichi)
4. 14 March (Answer: 3月14日 – sangatsu juuyokka)
5. 20 November (Answer: 11月20日 – juuichigatsu hatsuka)
6. 24 December (Answer: 12月24日 – juunigatsu nijuuyokka)

How do you ask the following questions?

1. What date is the day after tomorrow  (Answer: asatte wa nan nichi desu ka?)
2. When will you go to Japan? (Answer: itsu nihon ni ikimasu ka)
3. When is (your) birthday? (Answer: tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka?)

What is the answer to the following question? Use the pattern “___ wa ___ desu”.

1. What date is Christmas eve? (Answer: kurisumasu ibu wa juu ni gatsu nijuuyokka desu)
2. What date is the first day of the year? (Answer: toshi no saisho no hi wa 1月1日 desu – ichigatsu tsuitachi desu)

Tip: “The first day of the year” is called 年の最初の日 (toshi no saisho no hi).

Links

• Learn more about time and calendar in the Language Reference section.

Author

Written by Shizu and Johan, and edited by the StudyJapanese team.

In this lesson you will learn how to use suffixes like chan, kun and san.

Dialogue

One day, Mr. Hayashi’s older sister Mayumi visited the family. They are heading for a shopping street which has some restaurants.

The dialogue includes Mr. Hayashi, his sister Mayumi, his wife Eriko, his son Kazuya, Kazuya’s younger sister Kayo, and Kazuya’s classmate Yuki. Note that everyone uses casual Japanese.

Japanese:

林：	姉さん、何が食べたい？
真由美：	何でもいいわよ。あんたが食べたい物にしたら？　 ひろちゃんはもっと太らないとだめ。
林：	でも、俺はちゃんと食べてるんだけどな。
真由美：	確かに皆やせてるわね。和也ちゃん、ちゃんと食べてるの？
和也：	(In his mind) 「ちゃん」って言わないでよ！ (Loudly, and adult-like)　はい、ちゃんと食べてますよ。
恵理子：	真由美さん、和也は肉しか食べないのよ。
真由美：	あら、ほんと？　加代ちゃんは野菜好きなのにね。
Kazuya’s classmate Yuki is walking towards the family.
由紀：	あ、林君。
和也：	(In his mind) おばさん、お願いだから「ちゃん」って言わないでください！ 　 (To Yuki, in serious voice)　ごめん、急いでるんだ。またな。
由紀：	あら、そうなの？　じゃあ、またね。
Reaching a restaurant:
ウェートレス：	いらっしゃいませ。お客様、何名様ですか？
林：	５人です。
ウェートレス：	こちらにどうぞ。
The waitress leads them to a table, and they sit down there.
加代：	(To her father) あっちのテーブルに、木村さんたちがいたよ。
和也：	げ、木村がいるって？　今日はついてないな。
恵理子：	和也、どういう意味？
林：	(In murmured voice) 俺も、木村さんには会いたくないな。
真由美：	恵理子さん、メニューを見せてくれる？

Roomaji:

Hayashi:	Neesan, nani ga tabetai?
Mayumi:	Nandemo ii wa yo. Anta ga tabetai mono ni shitara? Hiro-chan wa motto futoranai to dame.
Hayashi:	Demo, ore wa chanto tabeteru nda kedo na.
Mayumi:	Tashika ni, minna yaseteru wa ne. Kazuya-chan, chanto tabeteru no?
Kazuya:	(In his mind) “Chan” tte iwanai de yo! (Loudly and adult-like) Hai, chanto tabetemasu yo.
Eriko:	Mayumi-san, Kazuya wa nikushika tabenai no yo.
Mayumi:	Ara, honto? Kayo-chan wa yasai suki nanoni ne.
Kazuya’s classmate Yuki is walking towards the family.
Yuki:	A, Hayashi-kun.
Kazuya:	(In his mind) Obasan, onegai dakara “chan” tte iwanai de kudasai! (To Yuki in a serious voice) Gomen, isoideru n da. Mata na.
Yuki:	Ara, sou nano? Jaa, mata ne.
Reaching a restaurant:
Weetoresu:	Irasshaimase. Okyakusama, nanmeisama desu ka?
Hayashi:	5 nin desu.
Weetoresu:	Kochira ni douzo.
The waitress leads them to a table, and they sit down there.
Kayo	(To her father) Acchi no teeburu ni, Kimura-san tachi ga ita yo.
Kazuya:	Ge, Kimura ga irutte? Kyou wa tuite nai na.
Eriko:	Kazuya, douiu imi?
Hayashi:	(In a murmured voice) Ore mo, kimura-san niwa aitakunai na.
Mayumi:	Eriko-san, menyuu o misete kureru?

English:

Hayashi:	What do you want to eat?
Mayumi:	Anything is okay. Why don’t you select your favorite one? You should get fatter, Hiro-chan.
Hayashi:	But I eat properly though.
Mayumi:	Certainly everyone is thin. Kazuya-chan, do you eat enough?
Kazuya:	Don’t say “chan”!  Yes, I eat properly.
Eriko:	Mayumi-san, he only eats meat.
Mayumi:	Really? Although you like vegetables, Kayo-chan?
Kazuya’s classmate Yuki is walking towards the family.
Yuki:	Oh, Hayashi-kun.
Kazuya:	(In his mind) Aunt Mayumi, please do not call me with “chan”! (To Yuki in a serious voice) Sorry, but I’m hurry. See you.
Yuki:	So? Then, see you.
Reaching a restaurant:
Waitress:	Hello. How many people are you?
Hayashi:	We are five.
Waitress:	Please, come here.
The waitress leads them to a table, and they sit down there.
Kayo:	(To her father) At that table over there – it’s Kimura-san and some others.
Kazuya:	Oh, my, Is Kimura there? Today I’m unlucky!
Eriko:	What do you mean, Kazuya?
Hayashi:	(In a murmured voice) I don’t see/meet Kimura-san either.
Mayumi:	Eriko-san, could you show me the menu?

Vocabulary

Notes on the Dialogue

This dialogue contains a lot of words used to address people. Here are some comments on how they were used in this dialogue.

• さん – This is the most common addressing word, and it’s often translated or explained to correspond with English Mr./Mrs./Miss. But please note that you can’t use “さん” by itself alone. It’s always used together with person’s name or other noun like 真由美さん (her first name), 木村さん (the family name), 社長さん (the title “president”), ウェートレスさん (her occupation “waitress”), 姉さん (big sister), お父さん (father) etc.
• ちゃん – This word is used commonly, too, but it’s a little different from “さん”. We tend to call someone with “ちゃｎ” when the person is younger than you, when the person is female, when you feel the person is closer to you, when the person is a little child and so on. In this dialogue, Mayumi calls her younger brother “ひろちゃん” (his first name is “Hiroki”), and it’s common. Also she calls her nephew “和也ちゃん”, but he doesn’t like this. Such a young boy (he is 17 years old) feels embarrassed it because he feels like he is treated as a child or girl. But Mayumi like him so much, so she can’t stop calling him with “ちゃん” even though she knows his feelings.
• 君（くん） – This word is used to boys generally. At school, girls call boys with this. Teachers might call boys with this, and “さん” to girls, but male teachers might call the students’ name (family/first) without any addressing words. Older teacher might use “君” to the students regardless of the gender. At work, this word is used for younger male person, but some people use “さん” to anyone regardless of the age. Older people might use “君” to younger or lower position person regardless of the gender.
• 様（さま） – This one is very polite. Generally we only write this with someone’s full name on the envelope or postcard. But you are often addressed in by this in everywhere – at hotel, restaurant, department store etc. The customers are supposed to be treated more politely, so the workers have to use “様” instead of “さん” and other some words.
• たち – When the person is not alone, you often use this word after above addressing words: 木村さんたち (a person named Kimura and someone(s)), 林君たち (a person named Hayashi and someone(s)), 加代ちゃんたち (Kayo-chan and someone(s)) etc. But this word is not polite as much as you can use with “様”. For “様”, you should use “方（がた）” like “お客様方（おきゃくさまがた）”.
• Without addressing word – Among family and closer friends, you often call the person without any addressing words like above. But when you keep calling someone with “さん” like “林さん” for example, “林さん” becomes is his nickname or so. Therefore, you may continue calling him “林さん” even though you became really close friends. On the other hand, you remove such addressing words from the person when you don’t like the person. Kazuya says “木村” simply, and it’s because he dislikes him. In fact, “木村さんたち” indicates Mr. Kimura and the son. The son is Kazuya’s class mate, and Mr. Kimura works at the same company as Mr. Hayashi. Mr. Hayashi doesn’t like him either, but he says “木村さん” because of his personality. That means, he is more polite and humble person. Kids are more straight so often.
• 先生（せんせい） – Normally it means teacher or doctor, but sometimes is used as an addressing word which expresses your respect. For example, when you realized your friend can speak English greatly, you may call him/her “先生” or with the name like “和也先生”. This is often used as a joke, but you might use it seriously at times. But the person may not accept such calling when he/she is more humble.

Credits

This lesson was written by Shizu, and edited by the Study Japanese team.