How to Say ‘Five minutes’ in Japanese
5分
5 pun
[go poon]
💬 Usage Tip: [分] means 'minutes.' Be careful: the pronunciation changes with numbers in Japanese, so it is worth practicing time expressions as set chunks. In directions, catching the number is the big win.
🇯🇵 In Japan: You will often hear just the time, like [5分], as a quick answer when asking how far the metro is. Short answers are normal and not unfriendly.
Phrase Breakdown
5
5
[go]
five
The number 5; with 分 it forms the time expression 5 minutes.
駅まで5分です。
It is 5 minutes to the station.
分
pun
[poon]
minutes
Counter for minutes; 5分 is read ごふん.
ここから駅まで5分です。
It is 5 minutes from here to the station.
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