Time Check

Ima nanji desû ka? I learned this phrase about 19 years ago when I was in Manila. There was Japanese language lesson on TV. The phrase means, What time is it now?

Translation: ima=now, nan=what, ji=time, and desû ka means the sentence is a question. Desû, by the way, is pronounced by cutting short the air at your throat when you pronounce û. The û sound becomes almost silent in rapid speech.

Answer: Kyuji han desû. It's 9:30am. Actually, this is the time our class starts. It ends at 12:30pm. That's Juni han desû. Kyu=nine and juni=twelve. You should take note, by the way, that juni is a compound word or a concatenation of two words ju=ten and ni=two.

So, what time is it really? Japan is one hour ahead of the Philippines. The same with Korea. So, at this moment, it is 10:20am here and only 9:20am back home.


The Japanese words for numbers 1-12 are as follows: ichi=one, ni=two, san=three, yon=four, go=five, roku=six, nana=seven, hachi=eight, kyu=nine, ju=ten, juichi=eleven and juni=twelve.

Last week, I was mumbling out loud, Ima nanji desû ka? I looked at the clock and answered myself by saying, Kyuji han desû. Miss Yumiko Tokumaru, our English interpreter overheard me. Then, she said I sounded so natural. That was a nice compliment. It was as if she was telling me that I am Japanese.

This is good omen for me. I already know from a Japanese that I will be able to speak fluent Japanese in the near future.