Study and Pronounce the Months of the 12 months in Japanese

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Take into consideration how typically you seek advice from the months of the yr in your each day life. Birthdays, appointments, holidays, billing cycles, and journey plans are all dictated by days and months—together with journey plans to Japan! The months of the yr in Japanese are important vocabulary for any Japanese learner, however you’ll be happy to search out how easy they are often. 

How do months work in Japan?

Fashionable Japan follows the Gregorian calendar utilized by nearly all of the world. Nevertheless, the names of the months in Japanese didn’t copy the Roman-based names of the months we use in English. As an alternative, the months are merely numbered. January is “Month 1,” February is “Month 2,” and so forth. How handy!

What are the months of the yr in Japanese?

The months in Japanese comply with a easy formulation: the variety of the month adopted by “gatsu” (月, month), with only a few exceptions. As soon as you understand numbers in Japanese, the names of the months will come naturally.

The one irregular pronunciations are for April, July, and September. 

• April: Use shi as an alternative of yon for “4”
• July: Use shichi as an alternative of nana for “seven” (though “nanagatsu” can also be acceptable) 
• September: Use ku as an alternative of kyū for “9”

There are two selections when deciding the way to write the months of the yr in Japanese. You’ll be able to both write the Japanese kanji numbers in entrance of gatsu (月) or use Arabic numerals as an alternative, as in:

• ichigatsu: 一月 or １月
• nigatsu: 二月 or ２月

Tips on how to depend months in Japanese

Planning just a few months forward takes just a bit extra effort. Counting months in Japanese is much like the names of the months themselves with just one extra kanji character between the quantity and the character for “month.” The primary distinction is that as an alternative of gatsu, the character is learn as getsu.

The Japanese counter for months requires just a few totally different pronunciations than these used for the names of the months: 

• one month: ichi (いち) turns into i adopted by a small tsu (いっ)
• six months: roku (ろく) turns into ro adopted by a small tsu (ろっ) 
• eight months: hachi (はち) turns into ha adopted by a small tsu (はっ)
• ten months: jū (じゅう) turns into ju adopted by a small tsu (じゅっ)

The usual spelling makes use of the hiragana character ka (か), as written within the chart above (～か月). Nevertheless, the counter for months will also be written the next methods, all studying as kagetsu, with the ～ mark signifying the variety of the month:

• ～箇月
• ～個月
• ～カ月
• ～ヵ月
• ～ケ月
• ～ヶ月

This number of methods to say “ka” comes from the unique counter used to depend gadgets: 箇. In trendy Japanese, this character is utilized in authorized or official paperwork, whereas its trendy variant 個 is predominantly used elsewhere when a kanji character is used in any respect. The katakana character for ke (ケ) appears counterintuitive, because it’s nonetheless pronounced “ka” on this scenario, however its use is predicated on its visible similarity to the abbreviation for the kanji 箇: 个.

Whereas all variants are technically right, a easy ka in hiragana is used most often to keep away from confusion, and it has change into the usual in Japanese language reporting.

Is it gatsu or getsu for “month” in Japanese?

Each! The pronunciation of the phrase “month” and its character change based mostly on how the phrase is getting used, which is a frequent incidence with kanji. When speaking a couple of month of the yr, it’s pronounced gatsu. When counting months, it’s getsu. The identical character is utilized in different phrases—similar to Monday within the days of the week—however these are the 2 most vital conditions to recollect for the phrase “month.”

The 月 character itself means “moon.” The readings gatsu and getsu are the on’yomi readings, which means they’re based mostly on the unique Chinese language phrases. When the character is used as the whole phrase, it makes use of the kun’yomi studying based mostly on the native Japanese phrase: tsuki (moon). 

What are the seasons in Japanese?

Seasons are a central component of Japanese holidays, so the phrase of the present season is discovered in every single place in Japan. Whether or not the subject is summer time trip (natsuyasumi, 夏休み) or cherry blossom viewing (hanami, 花見), the seasons are value realizing. 

Essentially the most notable Japanese holidays and cultural occasions surrounding the time of yr embrace the next:

• Spring: Hinamatsuri (雛祭り, Lady’s Day or Doll’s Day), Shunbun no Hello (春分の日, Vernal Equinox Day)
• Summer season: Umi no Hello (海の日, Ocean Day), Tanabata (七夕, Star Pageant)
• Fall: Appreciating kōyō (紅葉, autumnal foliage), Shūbun no Hello (Autumnal Equinox Day)
• Winter: Oshōgatsu (お正月, New 12 months), Seijin no Hello (成人の日, Coming of Age Day)

What are the previous names of the months in Japanese?

Earlier than Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar within the nineteenth century, there have been totally different names for the months referred to as wafū getsumei (和風月名, Japanese month names) that had been based mostly on a luni-solar calendar. Initially, the calendar was borrowed from China, however Japan finally created its personal. These months had been based mostly across the seasons and occasions of the yr (e.g., rice planting was finished in late spring).

Over time, the moon’s cycles inevitably change into unsynced from the photo voltaic yr. Like different luni-solar calendars all over the world, a thirteenth month was added each few years to keep up constant seasons on the calendar. 

The standard Japanese calendar additionally features a additional division of six “photo voltaic phrases” inside every of the 4 seasons to create a complete of 24. These are generally known as the nijūyon sekki (二十四節気, 24 photo voltaic phrases). Most are now not acknowledged in trendy Japan, however just a few are, such because the equinoxes and solstices.

Tips on how to write the Japanese months of the yr in sentences

Utilizing Japanese months in sentences revolves closely round what Japanese particle follows it. Check out these instance sentences to see how their use adjustments.

Examples sentences with gatsu

If the month goes earlier than the “to be” verb, then you definitely don’t want a particle in any respect!

• Ima wa jūnigatsu desu.（今は十二月です。）= It’s December now.

When the month or date is the subject or topic of the sentence, then placing it in the beginning of the sentence with particle wa (は) is acceptable.

• Ichigatsu wa samui desu.（一月は寒いです。） = January is chilly.

Once you’re utilizing the month as a date, particle ni (に) is used for particular time.

• Shigatsu ni sakura ga miemasu.（四月に桜が見えます。） = You’ll be able to see cherry blossoms in April.

Examples sentences with getsu

Utilizing months as a counter with getsu is completed to explain lengths of time or frequency. To say one thing has been “for [number of] months,” then the suffix -kan (間) is added—no particle required!

• Hakkagetsukan nihon ni ryūgaku shita.（八か月間日本に留学した。）= I studied overseas in Japan for eight months.

In any other case, if you happen to’re saying one thing was finished a sure variety of occasions per 30 days (or a number of months), particle ni is used once more.

• Ikkagetsu ni nannichi nihongo o benkyō shimasu ka?（一か月に何日日本語を勉強しますか？）= What number of days per 30 days do you research Japanese?

Mastering the way to use the Japanese months of the yr appropriately is so useful in almost any scenario from work to journey. And if you happen to’re working with a Japanese tutor who checks in your progress, you’ll be capable to proudly use the months of the yr in Japanese now!