N5 · Unit 2
Lesson 5Starting and ending times
Describe daily schedules, exact action times, and starting or ending points.
What you learn
Describe daily schedules, exact action times, and starting or ending points.
Learning points
- Polite verb sentences
- Exact times
- Time ranges and frequency
Why this lesson comes now
This lesson connects what you can already say to a new way of expressing it. Hear the key sentences, understand the structure, then use it in a real situation.
Your next step
Listen to the key sentences, understand the pattern, finish the examples and vocabulary, then continue to the next lesson.
Open the interactive lessonCore pattern
動詞ます / ません / ました / ませんでした ・ 時間 に ・ から / までBeginner explanation
Use ます for polite present or habitual actions, ません for the negative, ました for the past, and ませんでした for the past negative. A specific action time normally takes に. から and まで mark the starting and ending points.
Understand these sentences first
- 毎朝 7時に 起きます。maiasa shichi-ji ni okimasu
I get up at seven every morning.
- 仕事は 9時から 5時までです。shigoto wa ku-ji kara go-ji made desu
Work is from nine to five.
- 昨日 11時に 寝ました。kinō jūichi-ji ni nemashita
I went to bed at eleven yesterday.
- 日曜日は 働きません。nichiyobi wa hatarakimasen
I do not work on Sundays.
Core vocabulary
- 起きますおきますget up
- 寝ますねますgo to bed
- 働きますはたらきますwork
- 休みますやすみますrest
- 始まりますはじまりますbegin
- 終わりますおわりますfinish
- 毎朝まいあさevery morning
- 何時なんじwhat time
Grammar, one point at a time
Tell the current time with 今, 時, and 分
今 N時 N分ですAsk the current time with 今 何時ですか. The shared word 今 can be omitted in the answer. Add 午前 or 午後 before the time, and 半 commonly replaces 30分.
Examples
- 今 4時です。It is four o'clock now.
- 午前 8時半です。It is 8:30 a.m.
ます, ません, ました, and ませんでした form the polite tense set
Vます／Vません／Vました／Vませんでしたます covers present habits and future actions; ません is its negative. ました marks past affirmative and ませんでした past negative. A clearly past event still requires a past verb ending.
Examples
- 毎日 働きます。I work every day.
- 昨日 働きませんでした。I did not work yesterday.
Specific action times commonly take に
time に VClock times, dates, and some weekday expressions commonly take に. Relative times such as 今日, 明日, 昨日, and 毎日 normally do not. に after a weekday can sometimes be omitted.
Examples
- 7時に 起きます。I get up at seven.
- 明日 休みます。I will rest tomorrow.
から and まで mark a time range
time から time まで Vから marks the starting time and まで the ending point. They can appear together or separately.
Examples
- 9時から 5時まで 働きます。I work from nine to five.
- 2時まで 勉強します。I study until two.
いつ asks an unspecified time
いつ VますかUse いつ to ask when an action or event occurs. For a more specific answer, ask 何時に or 何曜日に. Ask a range with いつから or いつまで.
Examples
- 試験は いつ 始まりますか。When does the exam begin?
- 休みは いつまでですか。Until when is the break?
は can also mark contrast
contrast は ...A later or stressed は can contrast one time or entity with another situation. Do not attach は to every phrase.
Examples
- 今日は 休みます。I am off today, in contrast with other days.
- いつもは 7時ごろです。Usually, it is around seven.
Expressions and situations
Workplace forms of address depend on group relationship
Inside a company, a title such as 課長 or surname + title is common. When addressing a manager from another company, surname + title + さん may be used. Company conventions differ.
When context is clear, answer with time + です
To 何時に起きますか, 7時です is possible because the action is understood. A short answer still requires recoverable context.
Time compounds with 毎 normally omit の
In 毎日 7時 and 毎朝 6時, the time nouns connect directly. Without 毎, の in 来週の日曜日 can be present or omitted.
ごろ marks an approximate time and normally drops に
7時ごろ means around seven. ごろ can follow clock times, weekdays, months, or years and normally connects directly to the verb.
- 12時半ごろ 寝ました。I went to bed around 12:30.
What you should be able to do
- Hear a time and write the correct 時 and 分 reading.
- Convert verbs among ます, ません, ました, and ませんでした.
- Decide whether a time expression takes に.
- Use から and まで for work, study, and holiday ranges.
- Ask at different levels of precision with いつ, 何時, and 何曜日.
- Complete an original dialogue about lateness and schedule confirmation.
Culture and real use
A flex-time system lets workers choose start and finish times within an agreed framework
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explains that flex time sets total working hours for a settlement period while allowing workers to choose daily start and finish times within the system. A company may set core hours or omit them; the actual arrangement depends on the workplace.
- コアタイムは 何時から 何時までですか。What are the core hours?
- 今日は 10時ごろ 出勤します。I will start work around ten today.