Lesson 8 - Fluency Drills:
Time
(photo
by Colin McMillen used
under terms of Creative Commons license.)
In this section, when you are asked to say something, speak loudly and clearly, and try hard to pronounce the words as the speaker does on the tape. After you have given your response, you will hear the correct version.
You
will hear Japanese
phrases which mean
"one o'clock"
through "twelve o'clock."
Each
phrase consists of
a number
and the
word ji "o'clock."
Listen:
ichi-ji |
one o'clock |
ni-ji |
two o'clock |
san-ji |
three o'clock |
yo-ji |
four o'clock |
go-ji |
five o'clock |
rok |
six o'clock |
sh |
seven o'clock |
hachi-ji |
eight o'clock |
ku-ji |
nine o'clock |
jū-ji |
ten o'clock |
jū-ichi-ji |
eleven o'clock |
jū-ni-ji |
twelve o'clock |
Now the phrases will be read again. This time listen and repeat.
When
you put
the word desu after
the phrases for
"one o'clock" and
"two o'clock," you
have sentences meaning
"it's one o'clock"
and "it's two
o'clock." Ichi-ji is "one o'clock,"
and ichi-ji desu is
"it's one o'clock." Ni-ji is
"two o'clock," and
ni-ji desu is
"it's two o'clock." Listen:
Ichi-ji desu.
Ni-ji desu.
San-ji desu.
Yo-ji desu.
Go-ji desu.
Rokki-ji
desu.
Shichi-ji
desu.
Hachi-ji
desu.
Ku-ji desu.
Jū-ji desu.
Jū-ichi-ji
desu.
Jū-ni-ji
desu.
Now these sentences will be read again. This time listen and repeat:
These sentences will be given again, in a scrambled order. After hearing each sentence, give the English equivalent. You will then hear the correct answer.
Fluency Drill 3:
The word for "now" is ima. Listen and repeat:
ima
To
say "it's
one o'clock now,"
you place ima
before ichi-ji
desu: ima
ichi-ji
desu.
Listen and
repeat:
Ima
ichi-ji desu.
For
"it's two
o'clock now," you
say ima ni-ji
desu. Listen and
repeat:
Ima
ni-ji desu.
Now
you will
hear
sentences like ichi-ji
desu
and ni-ji
desu.
After hearing
each sentence, add
the word ima.
Then give the English
equivalent of the
Japanese. You will then
hear the
correct answer.
Fluency Drill 4:
For
"half-past," or "thirty
minutes after," you
add the
word han
after ji. For
example, "it's half-past
one," or
"it's 1:30,"
is ichi-ji han
desu.
Listen and
repeat:
Ichi-ji
han desu.
For
"it's 5:30,"
or "it's half-past
five," you say
go-ji han
desu.
Listen and repeat:
Go-j i
han desu.
Now
you will
hear
sentences like san-ji
desu.
Add han
to each. Then give
the English
equivalent. You
will then hear the
correct answer.
If
you want
to give an
approximate time, you
add the
word goro
before desu. For
example, "it's about
one o'clock"
is ichi-ji
goro desu. Listen
and repeat:
Ichi-ji
goro desu.
And
"it's around
3:30" is san-ji
han goro desu.
Listen and
repeat:
San-ji
han goro
desu.
Now you will hear some time expressions with goro. After hearing each, give the English equivalent. You will then hear the correct version.
Fluency Drill 6:
Ichi-ji is "one o'clock"; ni-ji is "two o'clock." "What o'clock," or "what time," is nan-ji. Listen and repeat:
nan-ji
To
ask "what
time is it?"
you say nan-ji
desu
ka? Listen
and
repeat:
Nan-ji
desu
ka?
Before
you ask
"what time is
it?" you say
"excuse me,"
sumimasen. To
ask someone for
the time, you
say sumimasen,
nan-ji desu
ka? Now you
will hear a
Japanese person ask "excuse me,
what time is
it?" A second
person will
answer. After hearing
each answer, give
the English equivalent.
You will then hear the
correct version.
Fluency Drill 7:
Now
you will
learn
the Japanese expressions
for minutes, from one
minute through ten
minutes. You will notice that some
numbers have two
different forms, one
to refer to hours
and another to
refer to minutes.
For instance,
ichi
"one" is
used with ji
"o'clock"; but ip "one"
is
used with
pun "minute." The
biggest difference in
the two forms
occurs with "seven": shichi is
used for the
hour, but nana
is used
for minutes.
You will
also notice
that the word
for "minute"
is pun
after some numbers
and fun after
other numbers. Listen:
ichi-ji |
ip-pun |
one o'clock |
one minute |
ni-ji |
ni-fun |
two o'clock |
two minutes |
san-ji |
sam-pun |
three o'clock |
three minutes |
yo-ji |
yom-pun |
four o'clock |
four minutes |
go-ji |
go-fun |
five o'clock |
five minutes |
rok |
rop-pun |
six o'clock |
six minutes |
sh |
nana-fun |
seven o'clock |
seven minutes |
hachi-ji |
hap-pun |
eight o'clock |
eight minutes |
ku-ji |
kyū-fun |
nine o'clock |
nine minutes |
jū-ji
|
jup-pun
|
ten
o'clock |
ten
minutes |
Now you will hear the Japanese for "one minute" through "ten minutes." Listen and repeat.
Fluency Drill 8:
Now you will learn the Japanese for "eleven minutes" through "nineteen minutes." To form the numbers 11 through 19 in Japanese, the word jū "ten" is added in front of the numbers 1 through 9. Listen:
jū-ip-pun |
11 minutes |
jū-ni-fun |
12 minutes |
jū-sam-pun |
13 minutes |
jū-yom-pun |
14 minutes |
jū-go-fun |
15 minutes |
jū-rop-pun |
16 minutes |
jū-nana-fun |
17 minutes |
jū-hap-pun |
18 minutes |
jū-kyū-fun |
19 minutes |
Now you will hear the expressions again. This time listen and repeat.
Fluency Drill 9:
For "five minutes after," you say go-fun sugi. When used with minutes, sugi means "after," or "past." Listen and repeat:
sugi
go-fun sugi
For
"it's five
after five," you
say go-ji go-fun
sugi desu.
Listen and
repeat:
Go-ji-go-fun
sugi desu.
Now you will hear 10 sentences containing the word sugi. After hearing each sentence, give the English equivalent. You will then hear the correct version.
Fluency Drill 10:
For "five minutes to," you say go-fun mae. Mae means "before" and with time expressions can be translated "to." Listen and repeat:
mae
For
"it's five
minutes to five,"
you say go-ji
go-fun mae desu.
Listen and repeat:
Go-ji
go-fun mae
desu.
Now you will hear nine sentences containing the word mae. After hearing each sentence, give the English equivalent. You will then hear the correct version.
In
this drill
you will hear
12 sentences
containing the
words for "eleven
minutes" through "nineteen minutes." These
sentences also
contain the words
sugi
"after" and mae
"to." For example,
"it's five to
one" is ichi-ji
go-fun mae desu. After
hearing each item,
give the
English equivalent.
You will
then hear
the correct version.
In drills nine and ten you learned that sugi means "after" in "it's five after two" and that mae means "before" in "it's five to two." Sugi and mae are usually used from one minute after the hour to twenty minutes after the hour and from twenty minutes to the hour to one minute to the hour.
Just
where the
Japanese stop using
sugi and start
using mae
depends on
the individual. From
twenty after the
hour to
twenty to
the hour, sugi
and mae need not
be used. For
"it’s 1:25," you say
ichi-ji ni-jū-go-fun
desu.
And for
"it's 1 :35," you say ichi-ji san-jū-go-fun
desu.
In this drill you will learn how to say "it's 1:20," "it’s 1:30," and "it's 1:40," without using either sugi or mae.
"Twenty minutes" is ni-jup-pun. Listen and repeat:
ni-jup-pun
For
"it's 1:20,"
you say ichi-ji
ni-jup-pun desu.
Listen and
repeat:
Ichi-ji
ni-jup-pun desu.
For
"it's 1
:30,"
you would normally
say ichi-ji han
desu. But
if someone
is quoting from
a train schedule,
you might
hear ichi-ji
san-jup-pun desu, in
which san-jup-pun is "thirty
minutes." Listen
and repeat:
san-jup-pun
Ichi-ji
san-jup-pun desu.
"Forty minutes" is yon-jup-pun. Listen and repeat:
yon-jup-pun
For
"it's 1:40,"
you say ichi-ji
yon-jup-pun desu.
Listen and repeat:
Ichi-ji
yon-jup-pun desu.
Fluency Drill 13:
In this drill you will learn the Japanese for "twenty-one minutes" through "twenty-nine minutes," "thirty-one minutes" through "thirty-nine minutes," and "forty-one minutes" through "forty-nine minutes."
First, let's review the numbers 20, 10, and 40 without the word for "minute." "Twenty" is ni-jū. Listen and repeat:
ni-jū
"Thirty" is san-jū.
Listen and repeat:
san-jū
And "forty" is yon-jū. Listen and repeat:
yon-jū
To the words ni-jū, "twenty," san-jū, "thirty," and yon-jū, "forty," add the words for "one minute" through "nine minutes."
Listen:
ni-jū-ip-pun |
san-jū-ip-pun |
yon-jū-ip-pun |
ni-jū-ni-fun |
san-jū -ni-fun |
yon-jū-ni-fun |
ni-jū-sam-pun |
san-jū -sam-pun |
yon-jū-sam-pun |
ni-jū-yom-pun |
san-jū -yom-pun |
yon-jū-yom-pun |
ni-jū-go-fun |
san-jū -go-fun |
yon-jū-go-fun |
ni-jū-rop-pun |
san-jū -rop-pun |
yon-jū-rop-pun |
ni-jū-nana-fun |
san-jū -nana-fun |
yon-jū-nana-fun |
ni-jū-hap-pun |
san-jū -hap-pun |
yon-jū-hap-pun |
ni-jū-kyū-fun |
san-jū -kyū-fun |
yon-jū-kyū-fun |
And listen again to the words for "twenty minutes," "thirty minutes," and "forty minutes." "Twenty minutes" is ni-jup-pun. "Thirty minutes" is san-jup-pun. "Forty minutes" is yon-jup-pun.
Fluency Drill 14:
Now
you will
hear
12 sentences containing
the words for
"twenty-one minutes" through
"forty-five
minutes." For example,
"it's 1:21" is
ichi-ji ni-jū
ip-pun desu.
After
hearing each sentence,
give the English equivalent. You
will then hear the
correct version.
"What o'clock?" or "what time?" is nan-ji? "At what time?" is nan-ji ni? Listen and repeat:
nan-ji ni
"Arrive"
or "get there"
is tsukimasu.
tsukimasu
Listen and repeat:
For
"at what
time do we
get there?" or
"at what time
does it arrive?" you
say nan-ji ni
tsukimasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka?
"Leave"
is demasu. Listen
and repeat:
demasu
For
"at what
time do
we leave? " or "a t
what time does it leave? " you say
nan-ji ni
demasu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Nan-ji ni
demasu
ka?
Fluency Drill 16:
in answer to nan-ji ni? "at what time?" the time must be followed by ni. For example, ichi-ji is "one o'clock," and ichi-ji ni is "at one o'clock." Listen and repeat:
ichi-ji ni
Ni-ji is "two o'clock," and ni-ji ni is "at two o'clock." Listen and repeat:
ni-ji ni.
San-ji han is "3:30" or "half-past three," and san-ji han ni is "at 3:30." Listen and repeat:
san-ji han ni
Go-ji goro is "around five o'clock," and go-ji goro ni is "at around five o'clock." Listen and repeat:
go-ji goro ni
Fluency Drill 17:
Now
you will
hear
12 sentences indicating
arrival and departure
times of trains.
For example, "it leaves
at
one o'clock" is
ichi-ji ni
demasu.
After hearing
each sentence, give
the English equivalent.
Then you will hear
the correct version.
Fluency Drill 18:
For
arrival and
departure times of
trains, use the hour
and "one minute"
through "fifty-nine minutes."
Sugi
and mae are not
used. To your
question "at what
time does it leave?" nan-ji ni
demasu
ka? you will
get an answer
like "it leaves at
4:01," yo-ji
ip-pun ni
demasu
or "it
leaves at 12:47," jū-ni-ji
yon-jū-nana-fun ni demasu.
You have already learned the numbers through 49. "Fifty minutes" is go-jup-pun. Listen and repeat:
go-jup-pun
"Fifty-one minutes" is go-jū-ip-pun. Listen and repeat:
go-jū-ip-pun
For "fifty-two" through "fifty-nine," you add the words for "two minutes," "three minutes," and so forth to "fifty," go-jū. For example, "fifty-two minutes" is go-jū-ni-fun.
For
"it
leaves at 10:50,"
you say jū-ji
go-jup-pun ni
demasu.
Listen and repeat:
jū-ji
go-jup-pun ni
demasu.
For
"it arrives
at
10:57," you say
jū-ji go-jū-nana-fun ni
tsukimasu. Listen
and repeat:
jū-ji
go-jū-nana-fun ni tsukimasu.
Now you will hear departure and arrival times using "one" through "twelve o'clock" and "one" through "fifty-nine minutes." You will not hear sugi or mae or han or goro: just time expressions in hours and minutes. After hearing each of the 14 sentences, give the English equivalent. Then you will hear the correct version.
Fluency Drill 19:
If
you want
to ask what
time the train
arrives at
a certain
place, you add
the name of
the place plus
ni
at the
beginning of the sentence .
" In
To
ask "at
what time does
it (the train)
arrive in Tokyo?" you say
Tōkyō ni
nan-ji ni tsukimasu
ka? Listen
and
repeat:
Tōkyō ni
nan-ji ni
tsukimasu ka?
Listen to the following:
Kyōto
ni nan-ji ni
ts |
At what
time do we
arrive at
|
Nikkō
ni nan-ji ni
ts |
At what
time do we
arrive at
|
Yokohama
ni nan-ji ni
ts |
At what
time do we
arrive at
|
Kamakura
ni nan-ji ni ts |
At what
time do we
arrive at
|
Hakone
ni nan-ji ni ts |
At what time do we arrive at Hakone? |
Now you will hear eight station names. After each name is given, ask in Japanese what time the train will arrive there. Then you will hear the correct version.
Fluency Drill 20:
The word for "today" is kyō. Listen and repeat:
kyō
To
ask "at
what time today
do we arrive?"
you say kyō
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Kyō
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka?
To
ask "at
about what time
today do we
leave?" you
say kyō nan-ji goro
ni demasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Kyō nan-ji
goro ni demasu
ka?
Fluency Drill 21:
The
word for
"tomorrow" is ashita.
Listen and
repeat:
ashita
To
ask "at
what time tomorrow
do we arrive?"
you say ashita
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
ashita
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka
To
ask "at
around what time
tomorrow do we
leave?" you
say ashita
nan-ji goro
ni demasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Ashita
nan-ji
goro ni demasu
ka?
If you want to refer to the train you are about to board or the train you are riding on, you say "this" or "this one," kore. Listen and repeat:
kore
To
ask "at
what time does
this one leave?"
you say kore
nan-ji ni demasu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Kore
nan-j i ni
demasu
ka?
And
to ask
"at what time
does this one
arrive?" you say kore
nan-ji ni tsukimasu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Kore
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka?
In the expression "in five minutes," the word for "in" is de. Listen and repeat:
de
For "in five minutes," you say go-fun de. Listen and repeat:
go-fun de
And for "in ten minutes," you say jup-pun de. Listen and repeat:
jup-pun de
Fluency Drill 24:
For "in another five minutes," you say mō go-fun de. Listen and repeat:
mō go-fun de
For "in about another five minutes," you say mō go-fun gurai de. Listen and repeat:
mō go-fun gurai de
And
for "we
leave in about
another ten minutes,"
you
say mō jup-pun gurai
de demasu. Listen
and repeat:
mō
jup-pun gurai
de demasu.
Fluency Drill 26:
If
you have
asked "when does
it leave?" nan-ji ni
demasu ka?
or "when
does it arrive?"
nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka? you
may get the
answer "it will
be five more
minutes," mō go-fun desu. Listen
and repeat;
Mō
go-fun desu.
Or
you may
hear "it will be
about five more
minutes," mō
go-fun gurai
desu.
Listen and
repeat:
Mō go-fun gurai
desu.
Fluency Drill 27:
Remember that when you want to get someone’s attention, you say "excuse me," sumimasen.
To
ask someone
at what time
a train leaves,
you say sumimasen, nan-ji ni
demasu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Sumimasen,
nan-ji ni demasu
ka?
Fluency Drill 28:
When someone has given you the time, you thank him, saying "thank you.," dōmo.