A1
Time expressions
When a Japanese time expression needs the particle に and when it must not have one, and how time words are ordered.
Japanese divides time words in two, and the division decides the particle.
Absolute times take に
Anything you could point to on a clock or calendar.
七時に起きます。
Shichi-ji ni okimasu.
I get up at seven.
月曜日に会いましょう。
Getsuyōbi ni aimashō.
Let’s meet on Monday.
Relative times take no particle
Words that depend on when you are speaking — 今日, 明日, 昨日, 今週, 来年, 毎日 — attach directly to the sentence.
明日行きます。
Ashita ikimasu.
I’ll go tomorrow.
毎日勉強します。
Mainichi benkyō shimasu.
I study every day.
明日に行きます。
明日行きます。
明日 is relative to now, so it needs no に. The same goes for 今日, 昨日, 今朝, 毎日 and 来週.
The test that works: if the word means the same thing regardless of when it is said, it takes に. If its meaning shifts with the day, it does not.
Some words go either way. 朝 and 夜 take に when the time is the point (朝に起きます) and drop it when they are simply the setting (朝、新聞を読みます).
Largest unit first
Japanese orders time from the widest to the narrowest — the opposite of English.
2026年9月6日
Nisen-nijūroku-nen ku-gatsu muika
6 September 2026
来週の月曜日の朝
Raishū no getsuyōbi no asa
Monday morning next week
The same nesting runs through addresses, where the prefecture comes before the city and the street number last. Wide to narrow is a habit of the language, not a fact about dates.
Duration takes no particle
How long something lasts is unmarked, which separates it neatly from when it happened.
二時間待ちました。
Ni-jikan machimashita.
I waited for two hours.
二時に待ちました would mean I waited at two o’clock. The particle is the only difference.