Non-Deictic Time I: The Date & Telling Time
In Lesson 61, we learned how “deictic time” expressions are understood by having a reference point of “now,” meaning the time when the speaker is talking. Then, there are “non-deictic time” expressions, which rely on specifying some other reference point to be understood.
Take, for example, the difference between 明日 and 翌日. 明日 is always interpreted as the day after the time in which someone is talking, but 翌日 gets its definition from context, and once it has been defined, the flow of time does not change its definition as is the case for deictic time expressions. If we were to say 土曜日の翌日, then we know 翌日＝日曜日 in that context. We can also predict when it is valid again and mark that on our calendar. These expressions do not flow with the passage of time; rather, the passage of time flows past them.
One defining grammatical characteristic that non-deictic time expressions have, as opposed to deictic time expressions, is that they are marked by the particle に. They can then be categorized by the following categories based on semantics.
・The year
・Months of the year
・Days of the month and week
・Seasons
・Time of day
・Phrases with Determiners: 当～・翌～, Etc.
・Intervals: ～おきに, ～ごとに, ～たびに, Etc.
・Vague Context-Dependent Time Phrases
To make this discussion easier and more comprehensive, this first lesson will only focus on calendar-based phrases and those needed to tell the time.
Calendar-Based Phrases
If a time phrase can be marked on a calendar, whether it is to repeat or not, it is non-deictic, thus taking the particle に. Though rather unintuitive from the perspective of English grammar, we will focus on these calendar-based phrases from those with the largest scope to those with the smallest scope, as this is how they are ordered in Japanese.
i. ２０２４年１月１日（（の）月曜日）２０時１５分頃に新しいレッスンを投稿します！
I will post a new lesson on Monday January 1st, 2024 at approximately 8:15 PM!
From this example, we can clearly see that the ordering is as follows:
YEAR – MONTH – DAY – DAY OF WEEK – HOUR – MINUTE – SECOND
Other phrases such as those for the seasons appear after the year but before the month if stated.
ii. ２０２３年の秋
The [fall/autumn] of 2023
Likewise, any other demarcation will be inserted accordingly in the order of largest to smallest scope.
iii. １０月中旬の金曜日
The Friday of mid-October
The Year 年の呼び方
There are many calendars in use in the world. In Japan, two methods of demarcating the year are used: the imperial era (元号) and the Common Era/Western Calendar (西暦). In either system, the year is marked by ～年, which combines with numbers as follows:
| 1 | いちねん | 2 | にねん | 3 | さんねん |
| 4 | よねん | 5 | ごねん | 6 | ろくねん |
| 7 | しちねん◎ ななねん | 8 | はちねん | 9 | くねん◎ きゅうねん |
| 10 | じゅうねん | 14 | じゅうよねん | 100 | ひゃくねん |
Reading Note:
1. The preferred reading for 7 and 9 is しち and く respectively. As for 7, なな is still quite commonly used instead of しち to prevent mishearing it as いち. As for 9, however, きゅうねん is not heard often in regard to a specific year (see Lesson 66 for “period of years”).
Any word such as 元号, 西暦, 紀元前 (BC), etc. that clarify what year in which is being referenced always go before the “number + ～年,” following the principle of “larger scope > smaller scope.”
1. 僕は平成５年（１９９３年）に生まれました。
I was born in Heiwa Year 5 (1993).
2. ２０２４年に日本は二つの深刻な問題に直面する。
Japan will face two serious problems in 2024.
3. 日付は2017年4月22日です。
The date is April 22nd, 2017.
4. 来年は令和６年になります。
Next year will be Reiwa Year 6.
The Seasons 四季
Seasons (季節) come in four kinds known collectively in Japanese as 四季, and they are individually as follows:
| Spring | Summer | Fall/Autumn | Winter |
| 春 | 夏 | 秋 | 冬 |
There is also a four-character idiom, 春夏秋冬, which is also used to mean “the four seasons,” instead utilizing the characters’ ON readings.
Grammatically, these words may function deictically. This is notably so when the particle に is absent as well as when they are paired with 今～ in formal language.
5. 桜の花はなぜ春になると咲くの？
Why is it that cherry blossom flowers bloom when it becomes spring?
6. 今夏の猛烈な暑さは予測されていたのでしょうか？ (Deictic)
Had this summer’s extreme heat been predicted?
7. この冬にはハワイへ行こうと思っています。
I’m thinking about going to Hawaii this winter.
Grammar Note: English does allow demonstratives like “this” with non-deictic time expressions simultaneously with a preposition like “at/on,” which would be the equivalents of に, albeit not as frequently as is the case in Japanese. For instance, in English, it is possible to say, “I plan on going on in the spring of this year,” but this would usually get simplified to, “I plan on going this spring,” which is deictic in nature.
Japanese time expressions largely show a dual capacity for viewing things with either having “now” being the point (deictic) of reference or not (non-deictic), with no particular preference, exhibiting means of going back and forth to reflect how the speaker views that time frame1, though that does not mean there is always a logical equivalent2.
One situation, however, that will result in に being absent is when the the season itself is somehow being defined. In this scenario, the adverbial aspect inherent to time phrases is lost.
8. この冬は暖冬となる予想です。
This summer is predicted to be a warm winter.
9a. 秋は食べ物が一番おいしい季節です。(秋 w/o Adverbial Function)
Autumn is the season when food is most delicious.
9b. 秋には食べ物が一番美味しい。(Stronger Adverbial Function)
In autumn, food is most delicious.
In the following example, in both English and Japanese, the non-deictic route is most emphatic for the very reason that the statement is not anchored to “now.”
10. 春（に）も秋（に）も誰かがどこかで死ぬ。
Whether be (in) spring or (in) autumn, someone dies somewhere.
The Months 月の呼び方
The names of the months (月) are simply expressed with the number of the month plus the counter ～月（がつ）.
| January | いちがつ | February | にがつ |
| March | さんがつ | April | しがつ |
| May | ごがつ | June | ろくがつ |
| July | しちがつ | August | はちがつ |
| September | くがつ | October | じゅうがつ |
| November | じゅういちがつ | December | じゅうにがつ |
| What Month? | なんがつ |
11. 日本では新学期は4月に始まります。
In Japan, new semesters begin in April.
12. 私は1月19日に大阪に引っ越しました。
I moved to Osaka on January 19th.
13. 彼女は5月の終わりにカナダに向かいました。
She headed for Canada at the end of May.
14. 僕の誕生日は11月16日です。
My birthday is on November 16th.
15. クリスマスは12月25日ですね。
Christmas is on December 25th, right?
The particle の tends to only show up in between parts of a date when the speaker is attempting to add clarity to the time period being referenced. In the following example, the speaker refrains from specifying the date, but in doing so, more emphasis is placed on the vague time period in January.
16. コロナ前までは毎年大晦日の夜に近くの神社に行って初詣をしていましたが、コロナが流行してからは[1月の5日すぎあたりに]行くようにしています。
Up until before COVID, I would go to the temple nearby every year on the night of New Year’s Eve for my first shrine visit of the New Year, but since COVID has been prevalent, I have been trying to go past January 5th or thereabouts.
The Suffix ～旬
～旬 means “tens days of a month” and is used in the following phrases.
| 上旬 | First ten days of the month |
| 中旬 | Middle ten days of the month |
| 下旬 | Last ten days of the month |
When translating these naturally into English, however, it may be more natural to use “early,” “mid-,” and “late” respectively.
17. 3月上旬に発表します。
We will announce it in the first ten days of next month.
18. 9月中旬に出張することになりました。
I am to go on a business trip in mid-September.
19. この調査船は、先月下旬にオーストラリアを出発して南極海で気候変動の観測に当たっていましたが、今月２４日、厚い氷に航路を阻まれ航行できなくなりました。
The research vessel left Australia late last month and was heading for measuring climate change in the Antarctic Sea, but its course was obstructed by thick ice this month on the 24th, and it is now unable to pass through.
Days of the Month 日にち
The days of the month are notably complicated because of how some derive from native vocabulary, others from Sino-Japanese vocabulary, and still others which are a hybrid of the two.
| 1日 | ついたち | 2日 | ふつか |
| 3日 | みっか | 4日 | よっか |
| 5日 | いつか | 6日 | むいか |
| 7日 | なのか | 8日 | ようか |
| 9日 | ここのか | 10日 | とおか |
| 11日 | じゅういちにち | 12日 | じゅうににち |
| 13日 | じゅうさんにち | 14日 | じゅうよっか |
| 15日 | じゅうごにち | 16日 | じゅうろくにち |
| 17日 | じゅうしちにち | 18日 | じゅうはちにち |
| 19日 | じゅうくにち | 20日 | はつか |
| 21日 | にじゅういちにち | 22日 | にじゅうににち |
| 23日 | にじゅうさんにち | 24日 | にじゅうよっか |
| 25日 | にじゅうごにち | 26日 | にじゅうろくにち |
| 27日 | にじゅうしちにち | 28日 | にじゅうはちにち |
| 29日 | にじゅうくにち | 30日 | さんじゅうにち |
| 31日 | さんじゅういちにち | 何日 | なんにち |
Reading Notes:
1. Native vocabulary is marked in bold, and aside from the word for the first, all utilize the counter ～日（か）. Some dialects3, however, simplify out these native morphemes entirely.
2. ついたち derives from the contraction of 朔（つきたち） meaning “the start of the month.” In the business world, you may hear いっぴ, which is another example of Sino-Japanese and native vocabulary being meshed together.
3. ７日 is traditionally read as なぬか. Nowadays, this is rarely used outside of literature.
4. The last day of a month is called 晦・三十日, which is why New Year’s Eve is called 大晦日.
5. The first three days of the New Year are called 三が日.
Particle Note: The particle に, despite being characteristic of non-deictic time expressions, is often deleted in both formal and colloquial speech. In formal speech, a pause accompanied with a comma is to be expected.
20. 今日は何日ですか。
What day is it?
21. 7日の朝に到着しました。
I arrived on the morning of the seventh.
22. 九州では5日からたくさん雨が降っています。
In Kyushu, a lot of rain has been falling since the fifth.
23. 11日に、海に浮いている象を海軍の船が見つけました。
On the eleventh, a navy vessel found an elephant floating in the ocean.
24. 横浜港で14日、ヒアリが500匹くらい見つかりました。
About 500 fire ants were found on the fourteenth in the Port of Yokohama.
The Days of the Week 曜日
The days of the week (曜日) each start with the first character of the seven luminous bodies (planets) in our solar system in the following order: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
| Sunday | 日曜日 | Monday | 月曜日 |
| Tuesday | 火曜日 | Wednesday | 水曜日 |
| Thursday | 木曜日 | Friday | 金曜日 |
| Saturday | 土曜日 | What day (of the week)? | 何曜日 |
All days of the week may be abbreviated by dropping the final ～日（び）. In writing, you may see days of the week written with only the initial character. They can even be combined to together in this way. For instance, 木金 stands for “Thursday and Friday.”
25. 一週間の真ん中の日は何曜日ですか。
What is the day of the week that is in the middle of the week?
26. 日曜日の新聞には旅行特集の記事が載っています。
There is a travel supplement article in the Sunday newspaper.
27. 火曜日から木曜日まで働きます。
I work from Tuesday to Thursday.
28. 明日は何曜（日）ですか？
What day is it tomorrow?
29. 木曜日は水曜日の前ですか、後ですか？
Is Thursday before or after Wednesday?
30. 明後日は土曜です。
The day after tomorrow is Saturday.
31. なぜ日曜日に学生は学校に行かないんですか。
Why don’t students go to school on Sunday?
32. 日曜日は一週間の初めの日で、土曜日は終わりの日だ。
Sunday is the first day of the week, and Saturday is the last day.
Hours of the Day 一日の時間
In Japan, military time – ２４時間制 (24-hour time system) – is heavily used. You will see it on most people’s phones, train stations, airports, and every walk of life.
Hours are expressed with the numbers 0-24 used with the counter ～時. As for numbers with variant pronunciations, you will find below that only one variant is deemed proper.
| 0:00 | れいじ （零時） | 1:00 | いちじ | 2:00 | にじ |
| 3:00 | さんじ | 4:00 | よじ | 5:00 | ごじ |
| 6:00 | ろくじ | 7:00 | しちじ | 8:00 | はちじ |
| 9:00 | くじ | 10:00 | じゅうじ | 11:00 | じゅういちじ |
| 12:00 | じゅうにじ | 13:00 | じゅうさんじ | 14:00 | じゅうよじ |
| 15:00 | じゅうごじ | 16:00 | じゅうろくじ | 17:00 | じゅうしちじ |
| 18:00 | じゅうはちじ | 19:00 | じゅうくじ | 20:00 | にじゅうじ |
| 21:00 | にじゅういちじ | 22:00 | にじゅうにじ | 23:00 | にじゅうさんじ |
| 24:00 | にじゅうよじ | ? | なんじ |
Notes:
1. As 0:00 and 24:00 are synonymous, speakers will typically default to 0:00 to refer to midnight, but ゼロ and にじゅうよん often replace れいじ・にじゅうよじ respectively in casual speech.
2. ななじ (7:00) and じゅうななじ (17:00) are permissible in certain dialects as well as when one wants to make absolutely certain one is heard correctly. On the phone or over an intercom, しち can be misheard as いち, and so many speakers deviate to using なな in these situations for all expressions.
33. 私たちは家族4人で8時に公園に行きました。
We, the four of us in the family, went to the park at 8:00.
34. 14時に起こしてください。
Please wake me up at 14:00.
35. 今、何時ですか。
What time is it now?
36. ほとんどの社員が17時頃に退社した。
Most of the company employees left work at around 17:00.
37. 毎朝、NHK総合テレビの7時台のニュースを見ます。
Every morning, I watch the 7 o’clock news on NHK General TV.
Pronunciation Note: NHK stands for 日本放送協会, and it is Japan’s national public broadcast organization.
38. 零時にシャワーを浴びました。
I took a shower at midnight.
39. 何時に開店しますか。
At what time do you open?
40. バスは何時に着きますか。
At what time does the bus arrive?
41. 9時に朝ご飯を食べて、12時に昼ご飯、17時に早めの夕食を取ることにしています。
I’m trying to eat breakfast at 9:00, lunch at 12:00, and dinner early at 17:00.
42. 私はたいてい7時に学校に行きます。
I generally go to school at 7:00.
43. 私は16時から晩ご飯の支度とお風呂の掃除をして、18時に晩ご飯を食べます。
I prep for dinner and clean the bath at 16:00, then I eat dinner at 18:00.
A.M & P.M
AM and PM may respectively be expressed with 午前 and 午後, with the Kanji 午 representing “noun” and 前/後 meaning “before/after.” In actual practice, these phrases can cause confusion.
The utilization of AM/PM is most practical when telling time with a 12-hour time system (１２時間制). In English-speaking countries, “midnight” is usually interpreted as 12 AM, and “noon/midday” corresponds to 12 PM. The following hour after 12 AM is 1 AM, and the following hour after 12 PM is 1 PM.
In Japanese, “midnight” is either 午前０時 (0 hours since the pre-noon part of the day began) or 午後１２時 (12 hours since the start of the post-noon part of the day began), and “noon/midday” can either be interpreted as 午前１２時 (12 hours since the start of the pre-noon part of the day began) or 午後０時 (0 hours since the start of the post-noon part of the day began). The following hour after 午前０時・午後１２時 is 午前１時, and the following hour after 午後０時・午前１２時 is 午後１時.
Unlike English, we see that 0 helps unambiguously start the pre-noon and post-noon parts of the day, and if 12 is to be used instead, 12 indicates how many hours have past just like any other number. When 0 is used, the switch between 午後・午前 must occur with it, but if 12 is used, this is postponed until the next hour.
Literally translating 午前１２時 as 12 AM into English, thus, would be a mistake. However, due to American influence, especially in and around bases, some speakers mistakenly interpret 午前１２時 as 12 PM following the English norm. Similarly, whereas 午後１２時 should be interpreted as 12 AM, some speakers mistakenly interpret as referring to noon for the same reason.
Speakers often opt to replacing 午前・午後 altogether with the generic time period for the time of day in question. Aside from 0 and 12 still being interchangeable, there is the issue of how average people interpret these words. Attempts have been made, especially in meteorology and news reporting, to give these time expressions specific time frames, but these do not always match with their dictionary definitions.
| Time Frame | Word | Strict Interpretation | Loose Interpretation |
| Early Morning Hours | 未明 早朝 | 未明＝ 12 AM ~ 3 AM 早朝 = Sunrise ~ 6 AM | 未明 = 12 AM ~ Sunrise 早朝 = Sunrise ~ 7/9 AM |
| Morning Hours | 朝 | 6:00 AM ~ 9:59 AM | 3:00 AM ~ 10:59 AM 12 AM ~11:59 AM |
| Afternoon Hours | 昼 | 昼 ＝ 12 PM | 10/11 AM ~ 2/6 PM |
| Evening Hours | 夕方 | 3:00 PM ~ 6 PM | 3 PM ~ Sunset |
| Night Hours | 夜 | 6:00 PM ~ 12 AM | 6 PM ~ 6 AM |
| Late Night Hours | 深夜 | 12 AM ~ 2 AM | 12 AM ~ 3 AM |
Notes:
1. The “strict” interpretations reflect largely standardized meanings of the words that are utilized in official reporting.
2. The “loose” interpretations reflect how these words are defined in dictionaries as well as how the average person understands them to mean.
3. 昼 is a tricky word in that it may be interpreted as both the antonym of 夜 “night” and as the native word for “noon.” In technical writing, it is not paired with times due to its inherent ambiguity. In speaking, however, you may easily hear 昼１時 and so forth. Incidentally, the technical word for noon is 正午, though this word is not ever used in tandem with ０時 or １２時.
4. The particle の is frequently seen inserted between the time phrase and the time itself. Meaning, both 朝５時 and 朝の５時 are both grammatical. However, the particle の is not seen after 午前・午後.
5. These phrases may still be used with the 24-hour time system. In fact, as redundant as this might sound, speakers do this when wanting to be abundantly clear what time of day something is planned for.
44. 今日、朝7時に起きました。
I woke up today at seven in the morning.
45. グラウンドに昼の12時に集合してください。
Please gather at the sports ground at twelve noon.
46. 夕方20時に帰宅しました。 (Written language)
I returned home at eight in the evening.
47. 僕は午前8時に出社しました。
I went/came to work at 8 AM.
48. 夜9時の放送です！
This is the 9 p.m. broadcast!
49. 私は深夜3時に寝て、朝8時に起きる生活を続けています。
I continue my life of going to sleep at 3 a.m. and waking up at 8 a.m.
Minutes ～分
Minutes are expressed with the counter ～分（ふん）, which follows standard counter sound changes with the numbers 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10. It must be noted, however, that when speaking over the phone or an intercom, some speakers choose to not follow the standard sound changes and unilaterally use “# + ふん,” so as not to be misheard.
| 1 | いっぷん | 2 | にふん | 3 | さんぷん | 4 | よんぷん |
| 5 | ごふん | 6 | ろっぷん | 7 | ななふん | 8 | はっぷん はちふん |
| 9 | きゅうふん | 10 | じゅっぷん じっぷん | 100 | ひゃっぷん | ? | なんぷん |
Note:
1. はちふん is commonly heard over intercoms for ease of audible perception, but it has also become more common in everyday speech.
50. 到着は、明日の朝6時45分です。
My/our arrival will be tomorrow morning at 6:45 a.m.
51. 予定通り、15:14に品川駅に到着しました。
As planned, I/we arrived at Shinagawa Station at 15:14.
Quarter & Half
The concept of “half past” is expressed with ～半. As for “quarter to” and “quarter past,” these are best translated as １５分 and ４５分 respectively. However, the phrases ～前 and ～過ぎ do exist to indicate that something approximately happened a little bit before/after respectively. The only issue with them is that, unlike English, it truly is at the discretion at the person as to how far back or late is intended.
| Half Past | ～半 |
| A little past | ～過ぎ |
| A little before | ～前 |
52. 今、午前7時｛30分・半｝です。
It is 7:30 a.m. now.
53. 午後3時過ぎに撮影しました。
I photographed/filmed it a little past 3 p.m.
54. 子供の寝る時間、夜10時前に帰ってこないで。
Don’t come home right before ten at night when the kids go to sleep.
Seconds ～秒
To express seconds as in time (ex. 5:35:35), the counter ～秒 is used.
| 1 | いちびょう | 2 | にびょう | 3 | さんびょう | 4 | よんびょう |
| 5 | ごびょう | 6 | ろくびょう | 7 | ななびょう | 8 | はちびょう |
| 9 | きゅうびょう | 10 | じゅうびょう | 20 | にじゅうびょう | ? | なんびょう |
55. 地震は午前６時３０分３４秒に起きた。
The earthquake occurred at 6:30:34 AM.
- As we saw in Lesson 64, some expressions like “yesterday night” correspond easily to either a deictic or non-deictic expression – 昨夜 vs. きのうの夜（に）. To create a clearer comparison in English, the non-deictic version of “yesterday night” would be “at night yesterday.” ↩︎
- Though deictic and non-deictic time expressions are not entirely synonymous when they do overlap, a situation in which going from deictic to non-deictic would be unnatural without considerable rephrasing would involve phrases like 今週 (this week), which are unequivocally used with one’s mindset on “now.” Adding the particle に is not the solution to turn this into a non-deictic phrase, as is the case for other phrases with exhibit stronger duality. この週に (in this week), which would be the non-deictic equivalent, hardly ever coincides with the present week. ↩︎
- In Hiroshima Dialect (広島弁), Day 1-10 of the month are as follows: いちんち、ににち、さんにち、よんにち、ごんち、ろくんち、ひちんち、はちんち、くんち、じゅうにち. ↩︎