Time and daily actions

Exact time + に / relative time without に

Time expressions: when to use に

Use に to pin an action to an exact clock time or calendar point. Relative expressions such as 来週らいしゅう and 毎日まいにち normally stand without it.

A weekday can take に when you present it as a scheduled day: 金曜日きんようびに働きます. With a time range, attach から and まで directly to the clock times instead.

Date: N日にち / duration: N日間にちかん / sequence: N日目にちめ

Calendar dates, durations, and day order

Use the calendar-date reading for a day of the month. Add 間かん to say how long something lasts, and add 目め to say which day in a sequence it is.

Context can make a form such as ２日ふつか mean either the 2nd day of the month or two days. Among these day-number readings, day 1 is the only base-reading exception: １日ついたち is the 1st of the month, while １日いちにち means one day. From day 2 onward, the base reading is generally the same for the date and the number of days; add 間かん to make a duration explicit, as in ２日間ふつかかん or １日間いちにちかん. For the third day in a sequence, use ３日目みっかめ.

Number + がつ / calendar compound + げつ

Month names: がつ or げつ?

Use がつ after a number to name a month. Use げつ in calendar compounds such as 月曜日げつようび, 今月こんげつ, and 来月らいげつ.

The same character 月 changes reading according to the word. Numbered months use がつ: 五月ごがつ. Compound words for a month or weekday commonly use げつ: 今月こんげつ and 月曜日げつようび.

場所ばしょ に 行きますいきます / 場所ばしょ に あります / 場所ばしょ で Verb

Place: choose に or で by role

For a place, に marks a destination or where something exists. で marks where an action happens.

Choose the particle from the place's role, not from the English word “at.” Movement goes toward a destination, existence stays at a location, and an action unfolds in a setting.

Thing が 始まりますはじまります / person が thing を 始めますはじめます

始まるはじまる vs 始めるはじめる: what starts and who starts it

Use 始まるはじまる when something starts by itself or the sentence focuses on the event. Use 始めるはじめる when someone actively starts something.

The thing that starts is marked with が: 授業じゅぎょうが始まりますはじまります. The thing being started is marked with を: 私わたしは勉強べんきょうを始めますはじめます. The first verb is intransitive; the second is transitive.

Time に Verb ます

Pin an action to a time

Use に with exact points such as clock times and calendar dates.

Time から Time まで

Draw a time span

から marks the starting boundary and まで marks the ending boundary. Either can stand alone.

Verb ましたか

Ask and answer about the past

Use ました for an affirmative past action and ませんでした for a negative past action.