Lesson 37 - Months and dates

You may remember from past lessons that the word PAATII means "party". The word tanjoubi means "birthday". Therefore, to say "birthday party" you would say tanjoubi no PAATII. Birthdays are very important; therefore, when asking about another's birthday, always put the honorific o in front and say otanjoubi. To ask "When is your birthday?" you would say Otanjoubi wa itsu desu ka. Of course, since this question was asked, you must learn how to say when your birthday is. At first, we will start with months, which is a very easy concept, since most of them are just based on the normal number system.

Here is a list.
一月 Ichigastu- January
二月 Nigatsu- February
三月 Sangatsu- March
四月 Shigatsu- April (notice how they use shi instead of yon)
五月 Gogatsu- May
六月 Rokugatsu- June
七月 Shichigatsu- July (remember you use shichi with dates and times instead of nana)
八月 Hachigatsu- August
九月 Kugatsu- September (you use ku instead of kyuu)
十月 Juugatsu- October
十一月 Juuichigatsu- November
十二月 Juunigatsu- December

Simple, no? The word "what month" is nangatsu, so to ask "What month is your birthday?" you would ask Otanjoubi wa nangatsu desu ka. Unfortunately, the days of the month aren't so easy. Days 1 - 10 are completely different from the normal numver system, so you must memorize them separately. Just for reference, I will write down numbers 1 - 31, since those are all the ones you need to know for dates.

一日 Tsuitachi- 1st
二日 Futsuka- 2nd
三日 Mikka- 3rd
四日 Yokka- 4th
五日 Itsuka- 5th
六日 Muika- 6th
七日 Nanoka- 7th
八日 Youka- 8th
九日 Kokonoka- 9th
十日 Tooka- 10th
十一日 Juuichinichi- 11th
十二日 Juuninichi- 12th
十三日 Juusannichi- 13th
十四日 Juuyokka- 14th
十五日 Juugonichi- 15th
十六日 Juurokunichi- 16th
十七日 Juushichinichi- 17th
十八日 Juuhachinichi- 18th
十九日 Juukunichi- 19th
二十日 Hatsuka- 20th
二十一日 Nijuuichinichi- 21st
二十二日 Nijuuninichi- 22nd
二十三日 Nijuusannichi- 23rd
二十四日 Nijuuyokka- 24th
二十五日 Nijuugonichi- 25th
二十六日 Nijuurokunichi- 26th
二十七日 Nijuushichinichi- 27th
二十八日 Nijuuhachinichi- 28th
二十九日 Nijuukunichi- 29th
三十日 Sanjuunichi- 30th
三十一日 Sanjuuichinichi- 31st

If you didn't notice, Japanese is very repetitive! After tooka it almost goes back to the normal counting system. Nichi is the obvious counter for dates. Please note that juuyokka (14th), nijuuyokka (24th), and hatsuka (20th) are different. To ask "what day" say nannichi. On someone's birthday, don't forget to say Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu. Omedetou gozaimasu is "Congratulations" so that is like saying "Congratulations on your birthday". It is equal to our "Happy Birthday".

Vocabulary Review
the months- see above
the days of a month- see above
誕生日 Tanjoubi- birthday
何月 Nangatsu- what month
何日 Nannichi- what day
お誕生日おめでとうございます Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu- Happy Birthday