時(じ)

じ
counter, suffix
o'clock (counter); at the time of (suffix)
time-general
1. o'clock; hour (counter)
Counter for hours of the day (clock time).
今(いま)、何(なん)時(じ)？
What time is it now?
8時(じ)に起(お)きた。
I woke up at 8 o'clock.
会議(かいぎ)は午後(ごご)2時(じ)から始(はじ)まります。
The meeting starts at 2 PM.
2. at the time of; during (suffix)
Attached directly to a noun, usually a Sino-Japanese one, to mean 'at the time of' or 'while ... is happening': 離陸(りりく)時(じ) (at takeoff), 睡眠(すいみん)時(じ) (during sleep), 緊急(きんきゅう)時(じ) (in an emergency). It is the compact, written-style equivalent of 〜の時(とき), common in announcements, manuals, and notices.
緊急(きんきゅう)時(じ)はこのボタンを押(お)してください。
In an emergency, press this button.
離陸(りりく)時(じ)と着陸(ちゃくりく)時(じ)は、シートベルトをお締(し)めください。
Please fasten your seat belt during takeoff and landing.
睡眠(すいみん)時(じ)に呼吸(こきゅう)が止(と)まる病気(びょうき)があることを、医者(いしゃ)に言(い)われて初(はじ)めて知(し)った。
I only learned that there is an illness in which breathing stops during sleep when my doctor told me.

時(じ) is the counter for hours when telling time (sense 1), and a suffix meaning 'at the time of' (sense 2).

COUNTING PATTERNS (o'clock):
1: 一時(いちじ) 6: 六時(ろくじ)
2: 二時(にじ) 7: 七時(しちじ)
3: 三時(さんじ) 8: 八時(はちじ)
4: 四時(よじ) 9: 九時(くじ)
5: 五時(ごじ) 10: 十時(じゅうじ)

Counting patterns

  • 4: よじ (not よんじ)
  • 7: しちじ or ななじ (ななじ is common in speech, to avoid confusion with いちじ)
  • 9: くじ (not きゅうじ)

Common patterns

Related words

Usage

In sense 2, 〜時(じ) attaches directly to the noun with no の, and belongs to written and official language: signs, manuals, announcements. In conversation, 〜の時(とき) is more natural (離陸(りりく)の時(とき)).

Related Words

Related: 分(ふん) (minute counter)
Related: 時間(じかん) (hour duration)
Related: 何時(なんじ) (what time)
Related: 秒(びょう) (second counter)
Compare: 一時間(いちじかん) (one hour)
general
Added 2026.2.4 12:55 · Revised 2026.10.5 21:30
09500/09869_ji