Jikan is the Japanese word for ‘time’ – here’s the detail

Japanese people often use a word, “jikan”, in daily conversation, meaning ‘time’. In this blog post, I will explain its meaning from its components and also how it’s different from a similar word, ‘tori’. In addition, useful related expressions will be introduced through some examples. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Jikan meaning from its components
• Difference to Toki
  • Example of toki
• Useful expressions
  • Jikan ga aru
  • Jikan ga arimasu ka
  • Jikan ga nai
  • Jikan wa aru
• Summary

Jikan meaning from its components

There is a kanji expression for “jikan”. “時間” is it. When we meet new kanji expressions, checking their breakdowns will help us to understand them in detail. Let me check its breakdown as follows.

• 時 : a kanji character used to express time-related things. When it is put after a numeral, it means ‘hour’.
• 間 : a kanji character used to express a certain range or space between two things.

From these kanji characters, we can guess that “jikan” is a word to express a certain period between two points in time. And actually, it is.

• jikan – 時間 (じかん) : a noun meaning ‘time’. Depending on context and other words used together, it can also mean ‘a point in time’ or ‘a period of time’.

Again, from its components, the noun, “jikan”, exactly means ‘a certain period of time’. However, in daily conversation, Japanese people often use it to mean a point in time as well. Its meaning can vary depending on context and other words used together.

I want to explain how native speakers use “jikan” through examples. Yet, before that, let me explain another noun, “toki”, which also means ‘time’ in Japanese.

Difference to Toki

The noun, “toki”, can be written in kanji as “時”. As you can see here, it is a part of the kanji expression of “jikan”. Below are its definition, meaning and explanations.

• toki – 時 (とき) : a noun meaning ‘time’. When it is used together with a verb, i-adjective or na-adjective, it works as a pronoun which corresponds well to the English one, “when”.

Compared to “jikan”, “toki” gives us a bit ambiguous impression. In fact, when it is used alone, in other words, when it is not used together with a verb, i-adjective or na-adjective, it means ‘time’ in a very broad sense. So, Japanese people consider it not appropriate for a certain period of time or a certain point in time. Actually, in daily conversation, its usage is limited to that as a pronoun. Below is an example.

Example of toki

Below are new words.

• ie – 家 (いえ) : a noun meaning ‘a house’, ‘houses’ or ‘home’. Learn more about Japanese singular and plural.
• wo – を : a case particle put after a noun to make its objective case. In the example, however, it is put after the noun, “ie”, to indicate a start of the act which is described by the verb, “deru”. This usage is also very common. It’s written as “wo”, but its actual pronunciation is “o”.
• deru – 出る (でる) : a plain form of this verb itself. It means ‘to go out’, ‘to leave’ or ‘to get out’.
• terebi – テレビ (てれび) : a noun meaning ‘television’. This is an imported word. It originally comes from a pronunciation of television.
• wo – を : the second one is used to make the objective case. Due to its help, the noun, “terebi”, becomes the object in the sentence and now it is a target of the act described by the verb, “keshite”.
• keshite – 消して (けして) : a te form of a verb, “kesu”, meaning ‘to turn off’, ‘to delete’, ‘to erase’ or some such.
• kudasai – 下さい (ください) : a command form of a verb, “kudasaru”, which corresponds well to “please”.

This is a typical use of “toki” as a pronoun. As the example shows, it corresponds well to the English pronoun, “when”. Unlike “when”, “toki” is usually put at the end of clause or phrase.

Basically, Japanese people use “toki” as a pronoun. So, it cannot be replaced with the other one, “jikan”. Japanese learners need to be careful with its use.

In the following examples, I will focus on how Japanese people use “jikan” in daily conversation.

Useful expressions

Jikan ga aru

Below are new words.

• kyo – 今日 (きょう) : a noun meaning ‘today’.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it works as a topic maker to stress the noun, “kyo”.
• ga – が : a case particle working as a case maker. In the example, it helps the noun, “jikan”, to become the subject in the sentence.
• aru – ある : a plain form of this verb itself. It corresponds well to ‘to exist’, ‘to be’ or ‘to have’. Its translation varies depending on context and other words used together.

This is one of the most widely used expressions of “jikan”.

The Japanese phrase, “jikan ga aru”, itself could be “there is time” in English. So, the translation in the example does not really match with the original Japanese sentence. Sometimes, this kind of mismatch could happen. We need to be aware of the fact that simple and short sentences cannot be translated to other languages with keeping their original nuances.

The next one is an interrogative form of this expression.

Jikan ga arimasu ka

Below are three new words.

• ari – あり : a conjugation of the verb, “aru”, meaning ‘to exist’, ‘to be’ or ‘to have’.
• masu – ます : an auxiliary verb put after a verb to make its polite expression. Probably, it is well known for a part of masu form.
• ka – か : a sentence ending particle used to make simple interrogative expressions, namely, questions.

This is an interrogative sentence to ask “do you have time” in Japanese. This phrase is also widely used in daily conversation, so would be very helpful for Japanese learners.

Jikan ga nai

The next one is a negative expression.

Here is one new word.

• nai – ない : an i-adjective used to deny existence of an object expressed by prior words. It is an adjective in Japanese, but often translated to ‘not to exist’. In the example, it corresponds to “not to have”. Learn more about “nai”.

When Japanese people don’t have time, they usually say “jikan ga nai”. This is also a very common expression.

Jikan wa aru

The last one is a bit difficult. It looks the same as the first useful expression, but their particles are not the same.

In this example, the binding particle, “wa”, is used instead of “ga”.

From the grammatical point of view, “wa” can work as a topic maker. So, it can be used to stress topics. In the example, it is put after the noun, “jikan”, to emphasize the part, “jikan wa aru”, meaning ‘to have time’.

Normally, Japanese native speakers try to be careful with this kind of emphasis by “wa” since it can be used to imply other things than what is mentioned explicitly. In the example, actually, the stressed part, “jikan wa aru”, meaning ‘to have time’ can imply “not to have other things than time”. This is why I added “(but…)” to the translated sentence above.

This fact would be very surprising to Japanese learners, but this is exactly how Japanese people use “wa”. It can be used to imply other things than what is actually mentioned. For this reason, even Japanese native speakers use it very carefully.

So, this expression is totally different from the first one. Particles can have a significant impact on meanings and nuances.

Summary

So far, I’ve explained “jikan” meaning from its components, the similar word, “toki”, and useful expressions related to “jikan”. Here, let me summarize “jikan” and “toki” as follows.

• jikan – 時間 (じかん) : a noun meaning ‘time’. It literally means ‘a period between two points in time’. Depending on context and other words used together, it can also mean ‘a point in time’.
• toki – 時 (とき) : a noun meaning ‘time’. When it is used together with a verb, i-adjective or na-adjective, it works as a pronoun which corresponds well to the English one, “when”. When it is used alone, it means ‘time’ in a very broad sense.

For the related expressions, please refer to my explanations above. Hope they help Japanese learners to improve their skills.