How to say the months and dates? What’s today’s date? |
Do you know how to say the date in Japanese? By the end of this lesson, you will. |
To say the month in Japanese, you just add がつ (gatsu) to the numbers. |
いちがつ。にがつ。さんがつ。しがつ。ごがつ。 |
(ichi-gatsu. ni-gatsu. san-gatsu. shi-gatsu. go-gatsu.) |
ろくがつ。しちがつ。はちがつ。くがつ。じゅうがつ。じゅういちがつ。じゅうにがつ。 |
(roku-gatsu. shichi-gatsu. hachi-gatsu. ku-gatsu. jū-gatsu. jū ichi-gatsu. jū ni-gatsu.) |
Pretty easy, isn’t it but please be careful about 四月 (shi-gatsu) and 九月 (ku-gatsu) . |
Don’t say よんがつ (yon-gatsu) or きゅうがつ (kyū-gatsu). |
Now let’s move on to days of the month. Days 1 through 10 have special names that don’t follow a pattern. You must memorize them. So let’s practice. |
ついたち。ふつか。みっか。よっか。いつか。むいか。なのか。ようか。ここのか。とおか。 |
(tsuitachi. futsuka. mikka. yokka. itsuka. muika. nanoka. youka. kokonoka. tooka.) |
ついたち (tsuitachi) has a special pronunciation but did you notice the pattern after ふつか? (futsuka?) ふつか。 (futsuka.) |
いつか。 (itsuka.) |
なのか。 (nanoka.) these end with か (ka) which is one of the 音読み (onyomi) readings of this kanji. After the first ten days, there is a pattern that’s easier to follow. It’s just number plus にち。 (nichi.) |
じゅういちにち。 (jū ichi-nichi.) にじゅうごにち。 (ni-jū go-nichi.) |
さんじゅうにち。 (san-jū nichi.) |
However 14th, 20th and 24th are the exceptions to the pattern. |
じゅうよっか。 (jū yokka.) はつか。 (hatsuka.) にじゅうよっか。 (ni-jū yokka.) |
So now let’s take a look at how to say months and day together in Japanese. いちがつついたち。 (ichi-gatsu tsuitachi.) In Japanese, note that a month always comes before the day. |
Okay now let’s practice. Look at the calendar and say what day it is in Japanese. |
いちがつじゅうごにち。 (ichi-gatsu jū go-nichi.) さんがつはつか。 (san-gatsu hatsuka.) ごがつみっか。 (go-gatsu mikka.) |
Now I have homework for you. |
When is your birthday? |
Leave us a comment and let us know your birthday in Japanese. See you next time. |
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