How to Say ‘What time is it?’ in Japanese
今、何時ですか。
ima nan ji desu ka
[ee-mah nah-nee jee dess kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [何時] means "what time," and [今] at the front makes it "now, what time is it?" In fast speech, [今] and [何時] often run together smoothly.
Phrase Breakdown
今
ima
[ee-mah]
now
Means 'now' or 'at the moment.'
今出ます。
I am leaving now.
何
nan
[nah-nee]
what
Question word meaning 'what'; here it combines with 時 to ask the time.
何が好きですか。
What do you like?
時
ji
[jee]
o'clock / time
Used for clock time, as in one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.
三時に会いましょう。
Let's meet at three o'clock.
です
desu
[dess]
is / am / are
A polite copula used to make statements polite.
今日は晴れです。
It is sunny today.
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Sentence-ending particle that turns a statement into a question.
大丈夫ですか。
Are you okay?
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