some counters

I guess I'll make this thread in use for Counters, since there are hundreds of them. My first question is the hour counter. I'm learning Japanese here, obviously, and playing a game called "my japanese coach" which also teaches Japanese. I recently went over the one talking about time. It says to use "ji" as the hour counter, but here on RJ i learned that it was jikan. I looked online and saw some sites and both are used as the counter...so If I said 3:35 would it be "sanji sanjuugofun" or "sanjikan sanjuugofun" Let me know if one is right or if both are :p

Konnichiwa! :P Ah, yes, counters are essential in Japanese - so great idea to start up a thread K73SK-san! Okay, let's begin. :arrow: __HOUR counter "O'clock" - 時 じ (~ji)__ The hours of the day are indicated with a number, such as *ichi*, *ni*, or *san*, plus the suffix *~ji*. So _"One o'clock"_ is *Ichi-ji* - _"Two o'clock_" is *Ni-ji* - and _"Three o'clock"_ is *San-ji.* :arrow: __MINUTES__ of the hour are indicated with the suffix *~fun* or *~pun* (*or *~ppun* like *ippun* - _"one minute"_) :arrow: __SECONDS__ get the suffix *~byō* such as *Ichi-byō* _"One second"_ and *Go-byō* _"Five seconds"_ :idea: Now, onto the suffix *~kan*... *~kan* indicates _"period/time span"_ and is used to express duration of __~years__ *(~nenkan)* - for example: *Roku nenkan* _"(a period of) 6 years"_ __~months__ *(~ka getsukan)* - for example: *Ni ka getsukan* _"(a period of) 2 months"_ __~weeks__ *(~shūkan)* - for example: *San shūkan* _"(a period of) 3 weeks"_ __~days__ *(~nichikan)* - for example: *Go nichikan* _"(a period of) 5 days"_ AS WELL AS shorter periods: __~hours__ *(~jikan)* - for example: *Jū jikan* _"(a period of) 10 hours"_ __~minutes__ *(~funkan/~punkan)* - for example: *Jūgo funkan* _"(a period of) 15 minutes"_ __~seconds__ *(~byōkan)* - for example: *Nijū byōkan* _"(a period of) 20 seconds"_ So, just remember, when there's a *~KAN* attached to a time suffix, it means _"period"_ or _"time span"_. This *~kan* is always required when talking about "hours" but it can be dropped when expressing durations of minutes and seconds. For example, you ran the marathon in _*11:49:32*_ _(11 hours and 49 minutes and 32 seconds)_ and in Japanese... *Jūichi-jikan yonjūkyū-fun(kan) sanjūni-byō(kan)* :shock:

So to clarify ji on its own will represent _ O'clock and ji with or without kan can mean "a period/the duration of" _ hours. More precisely I'm asking if the （*間*） *kan* of ji*kan*　（時*間*） is mandatory for (a period of) 11 hours （十一時間） so could (the period of) 11hours be said "juuichiji" （十一時）? Hopefully I conveyed my question right... xD しゃかさん、一もどうも！ デレック

Derek-san My apologies for the confusion. Let me rephrase... ~JI = "o'clock" ~JIKAN = "(period of) hours" When you want to talk about a period of hours. Like... _"I slept for six hours"_ you would say *Roku jikan neta*. You can't say *Roku ji neta* because that would mean more like _"I slept at six"._ :idea: So the ~KAN 間 is ALWAYS required when talking about "(period of )HOURS" However, when it comes to expressing durations of MINUTES and SECONDS, the ~KAN can be omitted. *Nifunkan neru.* "I sleep for (a period of) 2 minutes" can also be said *Nifun neru* and be equally understood as _"I slept for 2 minutes."_

[quo]*Quote from * DemonicDerek しゃかさん、一もどうも！ [/quo] さやかさん、失礼します！ I misspelled your name on accident... [quo]*Quote from * Sayaka Derek-san My apologies for the confusion. Let me rephrase... ~JI = "o'clock" ~JIKAN = "(period of) hours" When you want to talk about a period of hours. Like... _"I slept for six hours"_ you would say *Roku jikan neta*. You can't say *Roku ji neta* because that would mean more like _"I slept at six"._ :idea: So the ~KAN 間 is ALWAYS required when talking about "(period of )HOURS" However, when it comes to expressing durations of MINUTES and SECONDS, the ~KAN can be omitted. *Nifunkan neru.* "I sleep for (a period of) 2 minutes" can also be said *Nifun neru* and be equally understood as _"I slept for 2 minutes."_[/quo] Thanks for the clarification! It was more curiosity than confusion but you cleared it up either way.　お疲れ様でした！