How to use and pronounce Japanese dates

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).