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N5 · Lesson 4

Time and verbs

Tell the time, name the days of the week, and use your first verbs in present and past, affirmative and negative.

Grammar

です — telling the time

です

The time is expressed with numerals followed by (hours) and (minutes). To ask you use (what time?). means "half past".

Examples

  • What time is it? …It's 7:10.

  • It's half past nine.

Vます/Vません/Vました/Vませんでした

V ます / V ません / V ました / V ませんでした

The ます form is the polite form of the verb. Its four combinations cover present/future and past, affirmative and negative: きます (I work/will work), きません (I don't work), きました (I worked), きませんでした (I didn't work).

Examples

  • I study every day.

  • I didn't work yesterday.

S (time) に V — "at…"

time に V

The particle に marks the point in time when the action happens, when that moment is expressed with numbers (times, dates): 6 きます. It is not used with words like きょう or .

Examples

  • I get up at six every morning.

S1 から S2 まで — "from… to…"

N1 から N2 まで

から marks the starting point (in time or space) and まで the end point. They can be used together or on their own.

Examples

  • The bank is open from nine to three.

  • The lunch break starts at twelve.

N1 と N2 — "and"

N1 と N2

と links two nouns in a complete list: みです.

Examples

  • The days off are Saturday and Sunday.

〜ね — seeking agreement

S ね

The sentence-final particle ね softens the sentence and invites the listener's agreement or sympathy, like English "isn't it?" or "right?".

Examples

  • I study every day until ten. …That's tough, isn't it?

Vocabulary

WordReadingMeaning
to get up
to go to bed, to sleep
to work
to rest, to be on holiday
to study
to finish
department store
bank
post office
library
art museum
now
~ o'clock
~ minutes
half past ~
what time
what minute
in the morning (a.m.)
in the afternoon (p.m.)
the morning
day, midday
night
the day before yesterday
yesterday
today
tomorrow, morning
the day after tomorrow
this morning
tonight
rest, day off, holiday
midday break
exam
meeting, conference
film
every morning
every night
every day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
what day of the week
from ~
until ~
and (joins nouns)
that's tough! (sympathy)
number
what number

See this lesson's vocabulary →

See also