Telling the day and date

In the previous post, we learn that when 日 is read as にち (nichi) can be the suffix ‘-th’.  When you read 月 as がつ (gatsu), it is the suffix for the months of the year.  In this post, we will learn more in detail about that.

The most day we have in a month is thirty-one day.  Therefore, to tell the date, we would need to know all thirty-one day.  For the 1^st to the 10^th and the 20^th, they are different from the rest of the days.  For the rest it is easy.  If today is the 16^th,  just add 日 or にち (nichi) to 十六 or じゅうろく (juuroku), resulting in 十六日 or じゅうろくにち (juurokunichi).  The same for the other days except for the 1^st to the 10^th and the 20^th.

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
一日	ついたち	Tsuitachi	1st
二日	ふつか	Futsuka	2nd
三日	みっか	Mikka	3rd
四日	よっか	Yokka	4th
五日	いつか	Itsuka	5th
六日	むいか	Muika	6th
七日	なのか	Nanoka	7th
八日	ようか	Youka	8th
九日	ここのか	Kokonoka	9th
十日	とおか	Dooka	10th
二十日	はつか	Hatsuka	20th

In a year there are twelve months.  To tell what month it is, just add the number of the month to 月 or がつ (gatsu).  It is August now, adding 八 or はち (hachi) to 月 or がつ (gatsu) will result in 八月 or はちがつ (hachigatsu).  

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
一月	いちがつ	Ichigatsu	January
二月	にがつ	Nigatsu	February
三月	さんがつ	Sangatsu	March
四月	しがつ	Shigatsu	April
五月	ごがつ	Gogatsu	May
六月	ろくがつ	Rokugatsu	June
七月	しちがつ	Shichigatsu	July
八日	はちがつ	Hachigatsu	August
九月	くがつ	Kugatsu	September
十月	じゅうがつ	Juugatsu	October
十一月	じゅういちがつ	Juuichigatsu	November
十二月	じゅうにがつ	Juunigatsu	December

From the previous post, we learned about the days of the week.  Now we can tell the day and date.  Today is Tuesday, August 16.  In Japanese language, today is 火曜日 or かようび (Kayoubi), the date is 八月or はちがつ (hachigatsu) 十六日 or じゅうろくにち (juurokunichi).

Today is 今日 or きょう (kyou), so you can say 今日は火曜日です (kyou wa kayoubi desu), which means ‘Today is Tuesday’.  Yesterday is 昨日 or きのう (kinou), so to tell yesterday’s date say 昨日は月曜日です (kinou wa getsuyoubi desu).  

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
一昨日	おととい	Ototoi	The day before yesterday
昨日	きのう	Kinou	Yesterday
今日	きょう	Kyou	Today
明日	あした	Ashita	Tomorrow
明後日	あさって	Asatte	The day after tomorrow

So, when people ask you ‘what day is today?’ 今日は何曜日ですか (kyou wa nan youbi desu ka) or ‘what date is today’ 今日は何日ですか (kyou wa nan niche desu ka), try to answer them as we had learned.

Kana Nishino's album Just Love

Try listening to Kana Nishino’s Have a Nice Day from her album Just Love.  It’s a fun song and the lyrics contain many useful vocabularies.

Planets and Days of the Week

People who watched the Sailor Moon, セーラームーン (se-ra-mu-n) will know that the characters can transform into Sailor Soldiers that fights against evil.  Each Sailor Soldiers are named after a planet of the Solar System and are able to use powers of the planets' element.  

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English (Literal Meaning)
水星	すいせい	Suisei	Mercury (Water Star)
金星	きんせい	Kinsei	Venus (Gold Star)
地球	ちきゅう	Chikyuu	Earth (Earth Ball)
火星	かせい	Kasei	Mars (Fire Star)
木星	もくせい	Mokusei	Jupiter (Wooden Star)
土星	どせい	Dosei	Saturn (Earth/Soil Star)
天王星	てんのうせい	Tennoosei	Uranus (Heaven/Sky King Star)
海王星	かいおうせい	Kaioosei	Neptune (Sea King Star)
冥王星	めいおうせい	Meioosei	Pluto (Underworld King Star)

In the Japanese and Chinese language, the first five planets of the Solar System are named after the five elements of Water, Gold/Metal, Fire, Wood, and Earth, while the other three have names of kings, though the ninth, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but a dwarf planet. In addition to that, 王 or おう (ou) means King.  

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
水	すい / みず	Sui / Mizu	Water, Liquid, Fluid
金	きん /  かね	Kin / Kane	Gold, Metal
火	か / ひ	Ka / Hi	Fire, Light, Heat
木	もく /  き	Moku /  Ki	Tree, Wood
土	ど / つち	Do / Tsuchi	Earth, Soil, Ground
天王	てんのう	Tennou	Heaven + King
海王	かいおう	Kaiou	Sea + King
冥王	めいおう	Meiou	Underworld King

In the Solar System, there are also the Sun and Moon.  The Sun is 太陽 or たいよう (taiyou) and the Moon is 月 or つき (tsuki).  日 is another word that can mean the Sun when it's read asひ (hi), and when 日 is read as にち (nichi) it is a short form for Japan and also the suffix (-th).  月 can also be read as がつ (gatsu) which is a suffix for months of the year.

日in Sunday is also read as にち (nichi); Sunday, 日曜日 or にちようび (nichiyoubi).  月 can also be read as げつ (getsu) as in Monday, 月曜日 or げつようび (getsuyoubi).  The other days of the week are elements of planets.  The Korean days of the week have similar meanings as well.

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
日曜日	にちようび	Nichiyoubi	Sunday
月曜日	げつようび	Getsuyoubi	Monday
火曜日	かようび	Kayoubi	Tuesday
水曜日	すいようび	Suiyoubi	Wednesday
木曜日	もくようび	Mokuyoubi	Thursday
金曜日	きんようび	Kinyoubi	Friday
土曜日	どようび	Doyoubi	Saturday

Let’s learn how to say the month of the year and days in the month in the next post, and we will be able to tell what day is today, the date, and month in Japanese.