How to Say ‘How many minutes?’ in Japanese
何分ですか。
nan pun desu ka
[nahn poon dehss kah]
💬 Usage Tip: Adding [ですか] makes the question polite. Use it when asking about travel time or waiting time.
🇯🇵 In Japan: Polite question forms like [ですか] are appreciated in customer service situations in Japan, even for short questions.
Phrase Breakdown
何分
nan pun
how many minutes
An interrogative asking about minutes or duration.
あと何分ですか。
How many minutes are left?
Words in this phrase
何
nan
[nahn]
what / how many
A question word used here to ask how many minutes.
何分ですか。
How many minutes is it?
分
pun
[poon]
minute
A counter for minutes, often used in transportation and travel timing.
何分ですか。
How many minutes is it?
ですか
desu ka
is it? / are they?
Polite question ending for asking for information.
今は何時ですか。
What time is it now?
Words in this phrase
です
desu
[dehss]
is / am / are
A polite copula used to make statements and questions more formal.
何分ですか。
How many minutes is it?
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
A particle placed at the end of a sentence to show it is a question.
何分ですか。
How many minutes is it?
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