The japanese word of the week

Japanalytic’s Word of the Week  and Phrase of the Week are designed to help you learn useful Japanese words and phrases. Whether you’re learning for fun or preparing to travel in Japan, WOW and POW are great ways to learn. A new word or phrase is posted weekly, along with a pronunciation guide. So check back often and keep adding to your Japanese vocabulary!

stack-of-books

Check out the latest Japanalytic WOW: Word of the Week and POW: Phrase of the Week posts:

Japanese Phrase of the Week: Nice to Meet You

Japanese Word of the Week: Hello

Japanese Word of the Week: Coffee

Japanese Word of the Week: Happy

Japanese Word of the Week: Hotel

Japanese Word of the Week: Cat

Japanese Word of the Week: Yes

Images: Top , 1

Yo, B!

Looking to learn days in Japanese?

And wondering why I called you “B?”  Don’t worry. Just keep “yo b” in mind as you read this guide. In this guide, you’ll learn days in Japanese — of the week, of the month, and other relevant words. 

Here’s a quick preview and I’ll explain it all below.

  • Monday – 月曜日
  • Tuesday – 火曜日
  • Wednesday – 水曜日
  • Thursday – 木曜日
  • Friday – 金曜日
  • Saturday- 土曜日
  • Sunday – 日曜日

Let’s go.

days of the week in japanese

The good news? All days of the week in Japanese follow a simple pattern.

They all contain “youbi” or “曜日” in Japanese.

Which sounds like “yo B.” Get it? So, if you’re a beginner and if you hear a “youbi,” that’s how you know you heard some day of the week in Japanese.

So, here’s the list of the days of the week in Japanese.

  • Monday – 月曜日 – Getsuyoubi
  • Tuesday – 火曜日 – Kayoubi
  • Wednesday – 水曜日 – Suiyoubi
  • Thursday – 木曜日 – Mokuyoubi
  • Friday – 金曜日 – Kinyoubi
  • Saturday– 土曜日 – Doyoubi
  • Sunday – 日曜日 – Nichiyoubi

Now you know days from Monday to Sunday.

As a bonus, here are two more words you need to know. Because the weekend is part of the week too.

  • Saturday & Sunday (or the weekend) – 土日 – Donichi –
    • If you’re clever, you’ll notice that “donichi” is just a combination of the first kanji from Saturday (土 – do) and Sunday (日 – nichi).
  • Weekend – 週末 – Shuumatsu

Okay, now you know the days of the week. What’s next? These bonus words.

Bonus Words for Days in Japanese 

Now, aside from Monday and Tuesday, there are other Japanese words you should know.

Like, “today,” “tomorrow” and “the day after tomorrow.”

Here they are.

  • today – 今日 – kyou
  • tomorrow – 明日 – ashita
  • yesterday – 昨日 – kinou
  • the day before yesterday – おととい – ototoi
  • the day after tomorrow – あさって – asatte
  • the other day – 先日 – senjitsu
  • weekday – 平日 – heijitsu
  • holiday (day off) – 休日 – kyuujitsu
    • Yasumi is also acceptable
  • day off – 休み – yasumi
  • every day – 毎日 – mainichi
  • someday – いつか – itsuka
    • As in, “someday, I will learn Japanese.”
  • one day – ある日 – aru hi
    • As in, “One day, I woke up and decided to learn Japanese.”
  • all day – 一日中 – ichnichijuu

So now you know the days in Japanese plus some relevant vocabulary.

Now, let’s move onto the days of the month in Japanese.

Days of the Month in Japanese

Now, onto days of the month in Japanese. Is it as easy as the first, the second or 15th of the month?

Well…

If you already know Japanese numbers…

…you’re sort of almost there.

You’re very close to mastering the days of the month.

There are variations that you need to memorize.

For example, the 1st of a month isn’t called “the first” or “ichi” but rather “tsuitachi.” And the 10th of the month doesn’t use “juu” which means “10.” It’s “tooka.”

But when you get to the 10s and 20s, most of them follow an easy formula, which I reveal below.

So, take a look below at the Japanese days of the month.

Day Japanese Romaji Day Japanese Romaji Day  Japanese Romaji
1 ついたち Tsuitachi 11 じゅういちにち Juuichi nichi 21 にじゅういちにち nijuuichi nichi
2 ふつか Futsuka 12 じゅうににち juuni nichi 22 にじゅうににち nijuuni nichi
3 みっか Mikka 13 じゅうさんにち juusan nichi 23 にじゅうさんにち nijuusan nichi
4 よっか Yokka 14 じゅうよっか juuyokka 24 にじゅうよっか nijuuyokka
5 いつか Itsuka 15 じゅうごにち juugo nichi 25 にじゅうごにち nijuugo nichi
6 むいか Muika 16 じゅうろくにち juuroku nichi 26 にじゅうろくにち nijuuroku nichi
7 なのか Nanoka 17 じゅうしちにち juushichi nichi 27 にじゅうしちにち nijuushichi nichi
8 ようか Youka 18 じゅうはちにち juuhachi nichi 28 にじゅうはちにち nijuuhachi nichi
9 ここのか Kokonoka 19 じゅうくにち juuku nichi 29 にじゅうくにち nijuuku nichi
10 とおか Tooka 20 はつか hatsuka 30 さんじゅうにち sanjuu nichi
31 さんじゅういちにち sanjuuichi nichi

You will need to memorize the blue ones. Mostly from 1 to 10. But 11 and up are fairly easy.

From 11 and up, most follow this formula:

  • [number in japanese] + [nichi]
  • 11 is juuichi + nichi = juuichi ichi
  • 12 is juuni + nichi = juuni nichi
  • 25 is nijuugo + nichi = nijuugo nichi

The only ones that don’t follow the formula and need memorization are:

  • 14 – juuyokka
  • 20 – hatsuka
  • 24 – nijuuyokka

So, learning the days of the month in Japanese is just a matter of memorization. Or reviewing a lot. It’s not hard. But with enough reviews and glances you’ll get it.

So, print this lesson or save that image I have below.

days of month in japanese

So, print this lesson or save that image I have above.

Good Example Sentences to Know

Here are some common phrases to know and use.

  • What day is it today?
    • 今日は何の日ですか。
    • Kyou wa nan no hi desu ka?
  • It’s Saturday.
    •  土曜日です。
    • Doyoubi desu.
  • Christmas is December 25th.
    • クリスマスは12月25日です。
    • Kurisumasu wa juunigatsu nijuugonichi desu.
  • My birthday is August 21st.
    • 私の誕生日は、8月21日です。
    • Watashi no tanjoubi wa, hachigatsu no nijuuichinichi desu.
    • Get my lesson on Japanese birthdays here.
  • It’s April first.
    • 4月です。
    • Shigatsu tsuitachi desu.

Conclusion

Done!

Now you know all the days in Japanese. Plus, you know the complicated days of the month too.

If you want to master all of these fun words and phrases, print this page out. Or, copy out the words into a notebook and write them again and again.

That fun stuff really works.

By the way, since you’re learning Japanese…

…you NEED to LISTEN to the lanugage.

So, here’s a fun audio lesson where you’ll learn some basic words and greetings. Press play and listen below right now.

  • Lesson #1 – Say Hello No Matter the Time of Day
  • This fun lesson is by JapanesePod101. Click here to get MORE fun lessons.

– Written by the Main Junkie

«mata», which is often used as «again». So you might hear someone say «mata taberu?» (Eating again?) if you suggest dessert after a really heavy meal. Or a common way of saying goodbye «ja mata» as in, «[See you] again». Or even «mata desu ka» for «More?».

But I think the most fitting one for the following picture is «mata ka yo~?» meaning «Not again?!», «ka» because it’s a question and «yo» being a sound added for emphasis like you’d find in Cantonese.


Yes…… do it at home, indeed……

Just in time for the holiday season. Although the Japanese don’t celebrate Christmas or even the New Year with any type of extravagant party, a really popular function is the «bonenkai», which is a year-end party, be it for work or a club or anything. Both dojo’s I’m training at are having separate bonenkai’s as is the school (probably). As expected, imbibing is rampant….

This image was actually posted on an English site for Japanese news and sparked comments about the choice of English as the alternate language, the sign assuming that English-speaking foreigners contribute heavily to the drunken behaviour. I find that a little over-reactionary since leaving out any foreign language doesn’t account for the percentage of non-Japanese «not doing it at home» but printing it in every single language leaves no space for a picture of THE SAME OLD MAN awash in the displeasure of being around a social deviant…..

A better comment than that, however, was someone commenting on the fact that it says «Please». as if this was some option statement to be heeded, not some kind of directive to be followed (indeed, it’s written in a much more forceful manner in Japanese).

The best, however, was a comment saying how the poster seems to expect everyone to celebrate all their year-end festivities at home…… by themselves……

At any rate, I just thought you might get as good a laugh as I did…….

Firstly, I apologize if I’m going to sound like a Jackass or/and a goddamn «knowitall». But please allow me to give me some of my opinions.

Hentai

Yeah, yeah I know but it’s just one of those words but let me start by letting every one know that we got it backwards Hentai just means perverse not animated porn the word for that is Echii which is the sound for the letter h which animated porn is sometimes refered to as Big H this is where I think most People get confused becuase most People believe that Echii is actually just perverted Anime but it’s actually the porn. Funny how we get that backwards? biggrin.gif

Hentai is plain pervert. And no, Hentai does not mean porn. However, it is now generally accepted that Hentai is a class of japanese animation, Game or Comics. This is where they coined that term «H» or Ecchi to classify Hentai Anime or Hentai manga. In a way, you can called them perverse Animation and perverse comic. Porn is called «Waihon» (わいほん)

Incidentally, Hentai (変態) also means metamorphosis or transformation.

Anta Baka

Meaning «What are you Stupid»

Although this is correct, this is not a word, but rather a shorthand phrase from «Anata wa baka desu ka» (貴方はバカですか) and is spoken in a specific manner. Much like an equivalent to the enlgish «ya stupid?».

I think you’re right on thay BBD. I just looked through my Japanese-English dictionary near my computer and it says the actual way to cal someone a foreigner is Gaikokujin.

Gaikokujin (外国人) is literally translated as person from another country. Gaijin (外人) simply refers to outsider.

Funnily enough a lot of mecha end with Oh which many translate as God (DaiRenOh — Great Thunder God — Thunder Megazord), this is false as Oh actually translates to King, God is translated as Kami-sama.

This is not necessarily false. Ou (王) is generally a ruler or a king. But since People see God as a ruler, they tend to use «Ou» as God. It’s just that «Great Thunder God» sounds much more intimidating than «Great Thunder Ruler». And if they are going to use the word «Kami» (神) in a name, they would say it as «Jin», which the early example, «Kyoryujin» can also be translated as Giant Dragon God. Depending on the kanji used. (巨龍人) = Giant Dragon Man (巨龍神) = Giant Dragon God.

We’ll be teaching everything you need to know about days of the week in Japanese.

You’ll definitely find it useful to learn the Japanese words for the days of the week, especially if you’re living in Japan or are interested in Japanese culture.

Days of the Week in Japanese

Contents

  • 1 Japanese Days of the Week
  • 2 Days of the Week in Japanese
  • 3 Days in Japanese
  • 4 How to Remember the Days of the Week in Japanese
    • 4.1 Monday in Japanese
    • 4.2 Tuesday in Japanese
    • 4.3 Wednesday in Japanese
    • 4.4 Thursday in Japanese
    • 4.5 Friday in Japanese
    • 4.6 Saturday in Japanese
    • 4.7 Sunday in Japanese
  • 5 Days of the week in Kanji
  • 6 Days of the week in Hiragana
  • 7 How to remember the Japanese Days of the Week
  • 8 Useful Words Related to the Days of the Week
  • 9 How do I write the day of the week in Japanese?
  • 10 Are Saturdays counted as workdays in Japan?
  • 11 How often are there national holidays in Japan?
  • 12 What to Learn Next?

Japanese Days of the Week

You’d be surprised how often it pops up in conversation! Maybe you want to set up plans to hang with friends in Japan or make a reservation at a restaurant. Or perhaps you want to book a room in a hotel or double-check when the next meeting is at work. Knowing the days of the week in Japanese is essential for these situations!

Once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll soon be able to progress to more advanced topics and be able to talk about past, current, or upcoming events in your life.

Let’s dive in!

Days of the Week in Japanese

Don’t worry if you can’t read Hiragana or Kanji yet. Head over to our handy guide, which will walk you through the basic essentials of the Japanese writing systems (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji).

It really isn’t as hard as it looks! Check out our mnemonics below to help you remember the days of the week in no time.

Click the Japanese word to hear the correct pronunciation.

Did you notice a pattern? Just like in English, the word for each day of the week ends with dayようび(youbi). If you’re a beginner and you hear “youbi,” then you know that whoever is talking said something about a day of the week in Japanese.

Days in Japanese

The English word “day” is expressed with the Japanese wordようび (youbi/ yōbi). It comes from the Chinese character 曜日. The word ようび (youbi/ yōbi) is always attached to the words indicating the days of the week.

How to Remember the Days of the Week in Japanese

Even the most talented language learner would have a hard time learning new vocabulary from just looking at a list of words. But we’ve broken it down for you with a short explanation behind the meaning of each day to help you remember the days of the week.

Each day of the week is named after a combination of Chinese philosophies of yin-yang and the 5 Taoist elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water).

Monday in Japanese

Monday in Japanese is げつようび (getsuyoubi). It is written as 月曜日 in Kanji, which translates to “Moon Day” in English. This day’s name is pretty similar in English and Japanese, don’t you think?

The Chinese character (げつ/ getsu) means “moon,” as it represents the picture of a crescent moon. This is also the same character you’ll see with months in Japanese.

The character 曜日 (ようび/ youbi) means “day.” Putting both characters 月 and 曜日 gives you “moon day.”

You can also remember this word by thinking of Monday as the day that “gets” you up and ready for the week!

Japanese Getsu

Source: https://cosmosjapaneselanguageschool.files.wordpress.com

Tuesday in Japanese

Tuesday in Japanese is かようび (kayoubi). It is written as 火曜日, which means “Fire Day” in English. To remember this day, think of Monday as your “warm-up day.” Once you’re all warmed up, you’re ready and fired up to go by Tuesday!

The Chinese character (か / ka) represents a picture of the flames of a burning fire with sparks. This philosophy gives the meaning “Fire Day” to 火曜日 (かようび / kayoubi).

Japanese Ka

Source: https://cosmosjapaneselanguageschool.com/

Wednesday in Japanese

Wednesday in Japanese is すいようび  (suiyoubi). It is written as 水曜日, which means “Water Day”. You can remember this day by imagining you’re putting out Tuesday’s fire with water on Wednesday.

The Chinese character (すい / sui) looks like a picture of flowing water. This gives 水曜日 (すいようび / suiyoubi) the meaning “water day.”

Source: https://hire39.com/

Thursday in Japanese

Thursday is もくようび (mokuyoubi). It is written as 木曜日, which means “Wood Day.” You can remember this day as it “mocks” you with the weekend being so close!

The Chinese character (もく / moku) in 木曜日 (もくようび / mokuyoubi) is like a picture of a tree and they give us wood.

Japanese Moku

Source: https://cosmosjapaneselanguageschool.com/

Friday in Japanese

Friday is きんようび (kinyoubi). It is written as 金曜日, which means “Gold Day.” This day is easy to remember since Friday is the golden day we all wait for every week!

The philosophy behind the Chinese character (きん / kin) in 金曜日 (きんようび / kinyoubi) is that there’s a metal hidden in the earth that shines upon discovery. This means gold or metal.

Japanese Kin

Source: https://hire39.com/

Saturday in Japanese

Saturday in Japanese is どようび  (doyoubi). It is written as 土曜日 in Kanji, which means “Ground Day.” Don’t go too crazy on Saturday, or your parents might “ground” you!

For the Japanese word for Saturday, the Chinese character (ど / do) in 土曜日 (どようび / doyoubi) signifies a picture of a mound of earth which was worshipped as the source of life in ancient times.

Japanese Do

Source: https://cosmosjapaneselanguageschool.com/

Sunday in Japanese

Last but not least is Sunday! Sunday in Japanese is にちようび (nichiyoubi). It’s written as 日曜日 in Kanji, which translates to “Sun Day.” You’ll have no trouble memorizing this day since it’s identical to Sunday in English.

The Chinese character (にち / nichi) in 日曜日 (にちようび / nichiyoubi) means sun. Combine 日 (にち / nichi) with 曜日 (ようび/ youbi), which means “day” gives you “sun day.”

Japanese Nichi

Source: https://hire39.com/

Days of the week in Kanji

In Japanese, there are three writing systems used. In this section, you’ll learn about what are the days of the week in Kanji.

English Kanji Romaji
Monday 月曜日 getsuyoubi
Tuesday 火曜日 kayoubi
Wednesday 水曜日 suiyoubi
Thursday 木曜日 mokuyoubi
Friday 金曜日 kinyoubi
Saturday 土曜日 doyoubi
Sunday 日曜日 nichiyoubi

Days of the week in Hiragana

The days of the week in Japanese are mostly and usually written in Kanji. But as you start learning the language, you can learn the days of the week in Hiragana.

Below is the list of the days of the week in Hiragana.

English Hiragana Romaji
Monday げつようび getsuyoubi
Tuesday かようび kayoubi
Wednesday すいようび suiyoubi
Thursday もくようび mokuyoubi
Friday きんようび kinyoubi
Saturday どようび doyoubi
Sunday にちようび nichiyoubi

How to remember the Japanese Days of the Week

Follow these simple steps to learn and remember the days of the week in Japanese:

  1. Get familiar with the pattern: element + day
  2. Try to remember the Kanji. You’ll often see the days of the week written in Kanji
  3. Once you’re familiar with each day of the week, change it up and say them in the reverse order
  4. When you’re confident with the reversal method, try saying the days randomly (of course, understand which day you’re saying!)
  5. Challenge yourself and learn to write them down in Hiragana or in Kanji

Of course, knowing the days of the week is essential for everyday Japanese, but you’ll often come across these words in daily conversation, too!

How do I write the day of the week in Japanese?

In everyday Japanese, it’s more common to just write the first kanji to refer to the day of the week. So for Monday, instead of writing down as 月曜日(getsuyoubi), you can just write the Kanji character 月.

Are Saturdays counted as workdays in Japan?

Saturdays are considered to be workdays in Japan, so if a national holiday falls on a Saturday, unfortunately, it DOES NOT get moved to a Monday.

How often are there national holidays in Japan?

The Japanese are notoriously hard workers and will often willingly work overtime – Crazy much? To combat this, the Japanese government created extra-national holidays alongside traditional holidays (such as Obon and Japanese New Year’s) and spaced them out so that there’s at least one per month. Hooray!

What to Learn Next?

So you’ve got the days of the week down? Great! Now, what’s next? We suggest moving forward and learning the Months of the year and Days in a Month (which are different from the Days of the Week). Keep going! You’ve got this!

Просмотров: 18 084

HyperShadow

HyperShadow

1 год назад

だいじょうぶ?


Noel Paech

Noel Paech

2 года назад

Good lesson.


TabLuck

TabLuck

2 года назад

What does daijobu desu ka mean?


Marko

Marko

2 года назад

Love it. So I believe «A daijoubu» Means oh ok right?


pikachu

pikachu

2 года назад

Very good (to te moishii desu) 😉🙏😊


Puta Pets

Puta Pets

2 года назад

Dejavu


おににほんぎ

おににほんぎ

3 года назад

だいじょうぶ


Lady Aoi

Lady Aoi

3 года назад

What to use then if someone apologizes to you when he/she did i wrong and u say «it’s okay» ?


BalgaBear

BalgaBear

3 года назад

Why did I read «It’s okay» but I heard the actor say «Daibou»


Danny Vs The World

Danny Vs The World

4 года назад

Yosha!


Samuel Oak

Samuel Oak

4 года назад

Mo daijoubou! Naze tte? Watashi ga kita!


Greenybeeny

Greenybeeny

4 года назад

I learned this from Boku No Pico


उज्वल भण्डारी

उज्वल भण्डारी

4 года назад

Thank you soo much for videos….🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹


Khalil Z

Khalil Z

5 лет назад

you are amazing, explaining to make it easy. :)


Noel Paech

Noel Paech

6 лет назад

clearly spoken and explained.


Isa kawaii

Isa kawaii

6 лет назад

Gracias.


Mark Creamer

Mark Creamer

7 лет назад

Your lessons are excellent. I hope you start making more.


Andrés Arocha

Andrés Arocha

7 лет назад

😎cool


Curtisr Ramsaroop

Curtisr Ramsaroop

7 лет назад

you were so goood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow!!


Today we will go over the days of the week in Japanese and learn each one. I wanted to include a lot of information on them such as how they are spelled in kanji, the way to pronounce them, and some other miscellaneous information.

After we get through the basic names and a couple of ways that you can easily remember them, I’ll talk about counting them in Japanese (like one week, two weeks, etc) since you have to use a specific counter for them, and the way you say each one can change.

I also thought that some additional vocabulary would be handy in this article, things like “week days” and “weekends” and a few others that you might find yourself needing to know when talking about this subject.

All Seven Days Of The Week

Alright, so that first thing that I want to do is provide a list of all the days of the week that you can see and save as a reference in case you ever need to double check one or more of them.

After that, I’ll talk a little bit about each one of them in greater detail.

[su_table]

English Kanji Hiragana Rōmaji
Monday 月曜日 げつようび getsuyōbi
Tuesday​ 火曜日 かようび kayōbi
Wednesday 水曜日 すいようび suiyōbi
Thursday 木曜日 もくようび mokuyōbi
Friday 金曜日 きんようび kin’yōbi
Saturday 土曜日 どようび doyōbi
Sunday 日曜日 にちようび nichiyōbi

[/su_table]

So the first thing that you will notice is that all of these words are composed of three kanji, and it is only ever the first one that changes.

The second two kanji, 曜日 (yōbi), mean “day of the week” in Japanese and they work the same way that “day” does in English for our names (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)

This means that all you have to do is memorize this one word, and then combine it with any of the other seven.

The first one is 月 which means “moon” in Japanese. This kanji can have several different readings depending on how it’s used, but within the context of the weekdays, it is always pronounced as げつ (getsu).

So 月曜日 literally means “moon day” which is actually the same word as our English “Monday” when you think about it.

The second one is 火 which means “fire” in Japanese, and even though this word is usually said as ひ (hi) when it’s by itself, it gets changed into か (ka) for the word Tuesday.

Now you may be wondering why the Japanese word for Tuesday is “fire day” but the reading of the kanji actually hints to its origins. The fact that Monday is about the moon should also point you in the right direction.

You see, the word Tuesday comes from “Tīw’s Day” and Tiw was a Norse god of single combat. But here’s the kicker, Tiw was equated with the Greek god of war: Mars.

And if you look at the Japanese word for the planet Mars, you can see that it is 火星 (kasei) which uses that exact same fire kanji as Tuesday.

Knowing this, you can actually see how all the days of the week have a name that comes from a heavenly body in our night sky.

Wednesday is 水曜日 which has the kanji 水 from the word 水星 (suisei) for the planet Mercury.

Thursday uses 木 from the planet Jupiter 木星 (mokusei).

Friday has 金 which is a part of 金星 (kinsei) for Venus.

Now that I think about it, that saying “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” is starting to make more sense. Boys like to play with fire 火, and girls like cars and money 金 ♪♫ !

I’m just playing (don’t kill me!), let’s move on!

The Japanese word for Saturday is 土曜日 which uses 土. Now the kanji 土 can have several meanings, one of which is “Earth” but it really refers to dirt or soil and not the planet Earth.

Actually, the vocabulary for Earth is 地球 (chikyū)… go figure.

So 土 is really coming from 土星 (dosei) for Saturn, which was always my favorite planet when I was growing up because I thought those rings were so cool.

And finally, the word for Sunday is 日曜日 which is actually really cool since it uses the 日 kanji twice, and each time it not only used a different reading, but also a different meaning.

At first, it is read as にち (nichi) and then of course it ends on び (bi) like all the other days did. Seeing as how 日 can mean both “sun” and “day” in Japanese, it’s nice to see it used as both in this single word.

So now you know all the days of the week and where they get their names from!

Abbreviation For The Names

One thing that I thought would be useful to know is that even though all of these days have the above standard forms, there are actually shortened versions as well.

The most common way that you will see these words altered in spoken Japanese is with the final 日 dropped off completely.

[su_table]

English Kanji Hiragana Rōmaji
Monday 月曜 げつよう getsuyō
Tuesday​ 火曜 かよう kayō
Wednesday 水曜 すいよう suiyō
Thursday 木曜 もくよう mokuyō
Friday 金曜 きんよう kin’yō
Saturday 土曜 どよう doyō
Sunday 日曜 にちよう nichiyō

[/su_table]

This makes sense because there is pretty much no chance for confusion when a person is talking about a day of the week and they only say 土曜 instead of the full 土曜日.

Actually, a basic rule of thumb is that spoken Japanese is shorter and more casual than the written form, and also from what most beginners learn through books and courses.

The reason is simply because it’s easier to say the short form.

So that’s what a lot of people do when talking to friends or family members.

However, in a written letter (or email), or when a person is giving some sort of formal speech, they will use the longer version since it sounds better and more professional.

The flip side of the coin is that days of the week are shorted all the way down to just the first kanji when they are written on something like a calendar.

Again, it all comes down to context. When you open up your calendar app on your phone, you KNOW that it’s talking about the days of the week, so there is no need to add on the long 曜日 to each and every day.

I mean, we do the same thing in English, but we use the beginning letter of the day instead.

So there you go, when speaking you can drop the final び in the word, and when writing you only need to use the initial character.

Counting Weeks In Japanese

One thing that makes Japanese stand out from other languages is the use of counters.

If you’re not sure what that is, then the basic explanation is that it is a word that gets added into the mix when you are counting nouns. An example in English would be like “two sheets of paper.”

The word “sheets” in this sentence are kind of a descriptor for the noun “paper.”

Anyway, I will leave it up to you to check it out in depth if you’re new to it, but assuming that you are familiar with the concept, I’d like to move on to the counter for weeks.

The Japanese word 週 (shū) means “week” but when you want to talk about a number of weeks, like the phrase “I’m moving in two weeks” then you need to use the counter 週間 (shūkan) to let people know that you’re talking about a number of weeks.

How long have you been studying Japanese?

  • 三週間前から始めました。(san shūkan mae kara hajimemashita.)
    I started three weeks ago.

The thing to keep in mind about the word 週間 is that the reading of it will change depending on which number comes before it. Again, this is simply to make it easier to say when speaking Japanese.

For example, one week would be pronounced いっしゅうかん (issūkan) rather than いちしゅうかん (ichi sūkan) which is incorrect, and awkward to say when speaking at a moderate to fast pace.

The only numbers with irregular pronunciations are the numbers one, eight, and ten. Here’s a chart with weeks one through ten that you can use as a helpful reference.

[su_table]

English Kanji Hiragana Rōmaji
1 Week 一週間 いっしゅうかん issūkan
2 Weeks​ 二週間 にしゅうかん nisūkan
3 Weeks 三週間 さんしゅうかん sansūkan
4 Weeks 四週間 よんしゅうかん yonsūkan
5 Weeks 五週間 ごしゅうかん gosūkan
6 Weeks 六週間 ろくしゅうかん rokusūkan
7 Weeks 七週間 ななしゅうかん nanasūkan
8 Weeks 八週間 はっしゅうかん) hassūkan
9 Weeks 九週間 きゅうしゅうかん kyūsūkan
10 weeks 十週間 じゅっしゅうかん jussūkan

[/su_table]

Alright, let’s get to some related words and phrases when talking about weeks and weekdays.

Related Words And Phrases

This section won’t be too long. I just thought that you mind find some of these examples useful.

平日 (heijitsu) weekday

週末 (shūmatsu) weekend

  • 週末に何をしていますか? (shūmatsu ni nani o shite imasu ka?)
    What do you do on weekends?
  • 土曜日は仕事ですか? (doyōbi wa shigoto desu ka?)
    Do you have work on Saturday?
  • 今日は月曜日か。 (kyō wa getsuyōbi ka?)
    Is today Monday? (asking oneself)

今週 (konshū) this week

  • 今週の火曜日は何日? (konshū no kayōbi wa nan nichi?)
    What day (of the month) is this Tuesday?

If you know of any additional words or phrases that you think would be helpful here, let me know with a comment and I will add them to the list!

My Advice On Learning These Words

When you’re a beginner, there is a tendency to want to learn blocks of information at a time.

So for example, one day you might want to learn all the days of the week in Japanese (this article, lol).

On another day, you might try to learn numbers or family members and such.

But what I’ve found in my own experience is that when you take in a lot of similar information like this at one time, there is a natural tendency to get them mixed up.

So what I would recommend is that you go over them in order to get familiar with them, but then don’t worry too much about remembering them.

If you forget, you can always refer back to this post via bookmark or something, and get a refresher. After enough exposure to the language through reading or listening, you will eventually remember them all without trouble.

That’s actually one of the reasons why I love using LingQ to learn Japanese, you get to spend your time reading and listening to interesting Japanese content, and you actually end up learning the language inadvertently.

Before you know it, you’ve mastered all seven days in Japanese without even trying that hard. Give it a shot if you’re struggling with it.

I’d love to hear from you now! How are your studies going? What are you having troubles with?

Let me know with a comment below!

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