Activities: How to say the date in Japanese: Days, weeks, months, and years

By: Mayumi Ito

Associated Articles

These activities are part of our Japanese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Exercise 1: Translate the dates

Let’s review what we covered in the article! Can you fill the blanks below either in hiragana or romaji? This is not a test, but try on your own first before having a peek at the article or the tables!

Monday:
Correct answer: げつようび[getsuyōbi]
Thursday:
Correct answer: どようび[doyōbi]
Saturday:
Correct answer: どようび[doyōbi]
April:
Correct answer: しがつ[shi gatsu]
July:
Correct answer: しちがつ[shichi gatsu]
September:
Correct answer: くがつ[ku gatsu]
Year 1984:
Correct answer: せんきゅうひゃくはちじゅうよねん[sen kyūhyaku hachijū yo nen]
The 21st Century:
Correct answer: にじゅういっせいき[nijūisseiki]
Tuesday, May 5th, 2023:
Correct answer: にせんにじゅうさんねんごがついつかかようび[nisen nijū san nen gogatsu itsuka kayōbi]
Four weeks:
Correct answer: よんしゅうかん[yonshūkan]
One month:
Correct answer: いっかげつ[ikkagetsu]
Three times a year:
Correct answer: いちねんにさんかい[ichi nen ni san kai]

Exercise 2: Telling the date

Let’s practice telling the date! Here’s what Yoko’s January looks like. Use the information to work on Part 1 & 2. For practice, let’s spell out the time either in hiragana or romaji!

January

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 New Year's Day 🎍	2 Nick’s birthday 🎁	3 High school reunion	4 Going to a ski trip 🚍	5 Ski 🎿	6 Ski 🎿	7 Return home🏠
8 Going to Grandma's 👵🏻	9 Coming-of- the-age day 🎌	10	11	12	13 I'm not going anywhere!	14
15 My sister’s wedding👰	16 Study group 📚	17	18 Study group 📚	19	20 Study group 📚	21
22	23 Exam 📝	24 Exam 📝	25 Exam 📝	26 Exam 📝	27 Exam 📝	28 Going to sleep all day…😴
29	30	31

Part 1: Finish Yoko's sentences

Complete Yoko’s sentences using the calendar as your clues.

はとても忙しいです。
... wa totemo isogashii desu.
I’m going to be very busy in January.
Correct answer: いちがつ[Ichigatsu]
は元日です。家族とおせち料理*を食べます。
... wa ganjitsu desu. Kazoku to osechi ryōri o tabemasu.
The 1st (of the month) is New Year’s Day. I’m going to eat special New’s Year’s Day dishes with my family.
Correct answer: ついたち[Tsuitachi]
Cultural note:
おせち料理[osechi ryōri] consists of various traditional dishes prepared to celebrate the New Year. It takes several days to prepare all the intricate dishes. Nowadays, many people buy the entire set, or part of them, at supermarkets or department stores to save time and labor.
はニックの誕生日です。プレゼントをあげます。
... wa Nikku no tanjōbi desu. Purezento o agemasu.
The 2nd is Nick’s birthday. I’m going to give him a present.
Correct answer: ふつか[Futsuka]
は高校の同窓会があります。
... wa kōkō no dōsōkai ga arimasu.
We’ll have a high school reunion on the 3rd.
Correct answer: みっか[Mikka]
から　までスキー旅行に行きます。楽しみです！ ... kara ... made sukii ryokō ni ikimasu. Tanoshimi desu! I’m going on a ski trip from the 4th to the 7th. I’m looking forward to it!
Correct answers: よっか[Yokka], なのか[Nanoka]

Part 2: Complete the dialogues

Let’s pretend you are talking to Yoko about her January schedule. Create short dialogues below by filling blanks.

- You: おばあさんの家へ遊びに行きますか。
  ... obāsan no uchi e asobi ni ikimasu ka.　
  ... are you going to go to your grandmother’s house for a visit?
  Correct answer: いつ[itsu](when)
- Yoko: に行きます。
  ... ni ikimasu
  I'm going on ... .
  Correct answer: ようか[TRANSCRIPTION](the 8th)
- You: 成人の日はですか。
  Seijin no hi wa ... desu ka.
  What day of the month is the Coming-of-Age Day?
  Correct answer: なんにち[nan nichi](what day of the month)
- Yoko: 今年はです。
  Kotoshi wa ... desu.
  It’s ... this year.
  Correct answer: ここのか[kokonoka](the 9th)
- You: お姉さんの結婚式は１５日でしたね。ですか。
  Onēsan no kekkonshiki wa jūgo nichi deshita ne. ... desu ka.
  Your elder sister’s wedding is on the 15th, right? ... is it?
  Correct answer: なんようび[nanyōbi](what day of the week)
  Note: Since this question is specifically asking the day of the week, it’s better to use なんようび, not いつ[itsu](when).
- Yoko: です。
  ... desu.
  It’s on ... .
  Correct answer: にちようび[nichiyōbi](Sunday)
- You: 大学の試験はありますか。
  Daigaku no shiken wa ... arimasu ka.
  For ... do you have exams for your college classes?
  Possible answers: なんにち[nan nichi](how long), なんにちかん[nan nichi kan](how many days)
  Note: In this case, it’s better to say いつかかん to distinguish it from the day of the month いつか[itsuka](the 5th of the month).
- Yoko: です。
  ... desu.
  I have [exams] for ... .
  Correct answer: いつかかん[itsuka kan](five days)
- You: 勉強会はに何回ありますか。
  Benkyōkai wa ... ni nan kai arimasu ka.
  How many times ... are you going to meet for your study group?
  Correct answer: いっしゅうかん[isshūkan](per week)
- Yoko: ３回です。ととにあります。
  Sankai desu. ... to ... to ... ni arimasu.
  Three times. We’ll meet on ... , ... , and ... .
  Correct answers: げつようび[getsuyōbi](Monday), すいようび[suiyōbi](Wednesday), きんようび[kin’yōbi].

Exercise 3:

Now let’s talk about yourself! Use the following template to write a short self-introduction, filling the blanks with your own information. For practice, let’s spell out the numbers either in hiragana or romaji! You can add any other information as you like!

私の名前はです。
Watashi no namae wa __ desu.
My name is __.
e.g. 私の名前はケリー・クラークです。[Watashi no namae wa Kerii Kurāku desu.](My name is Kerry Clark.)
にで生まれました。
__ ni __ de umaremashita.
I was born in __ in __ .
e.g. せんきゅうひゃくきゅうじゅうはちねんにシアトルで生まれました。[Sen kyūhyaku kyūjū hachi nen ni shiatoru de umaremashita.](I was born in Seattle in 1998.)
誕生日はです。
Tanjōbi wa __ desu.
My birthday is on __.
e.g. 誕生日はじゅうがつとおかです。[Tanjōbi wa jūgatu tōka desu.](My birthday is on October 10th.)
で日本語を勉強しました。どうぞよろしく！
__ de __ Nihongo o benkyō shimashita. Dōzo yoroshiku!
I’ve studied Japanese for __ at __. Nice to meet you!
アメリカのだいがくでさんねんかん日本語を勉強しました。どうぞよろしく！[Amerika no daigaku de san nen kan Nihongo o benkyō shimashita. Dōzo yoroshiku!](I’ve studied Japanese for three years at an American college. Nice to meet you!)

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