In this Topic, we're going to learn about the two words which allow us to talk about relative value or position. くらい can be used as an adverbial particle or noun to express something is roughly 'about' a certain value. 前(まえ) is a noun which can be used adverbially to mean 'before'.

Both of these words are commonly used with expressions related to numbers and time, so in the details section we will take a closer look at how numbers and time works in Japanese.

So far, we have seen numbers and references to time come up here and there, but let's take a bigger picture view of how it actually works in Japanese.

Japanese Numbers and Chinese Numbers

One interesting feature of Japanese is that it has two counting systems. One is based on native Japanese words (kun-yomi), and the other is based on borrowed old Chinese words (on-yomi). This means that Japanese generally has two ways to pronounce numbers.

Number	Kanji	Native (Kun-yomi)	Sino-Japanese (On-yomi)
1	一	ひと	いち
2	二	ふた	に
3	三	み	さん
4	四	よ / よん	し
5	五	いつ	ご
6	六	む	ろく
7	七	なな	しち
8	八	や	はち
9	九	ここの	く / きゅう
10	十	とお	じゅう

The tricky part is knowing which pronunciation to use when. Which pronunciation is used will come down to the context and convention, so the rules need to be learned for the most common cases.

A Useful Theory

There is a linguistic theory behind the native Japanese counting system which may make it easier to remember.

The pronunciation of native Japanese numbers seems to follow a system of vowel alternation. The numbers 2, 6, and 8 seem to be derived from changing the vowel sounds of 1, 3, and 4.

Pair	Base (Small)	Derived (Large)	Sound Shift
1 & 2	ひと	ふた	い → う
3 & 6	み	む	い → う
4 & 8	よ	や	お → あ
5 & 10	いつ	とお	(More complex/debated)

Hours, Days, Months

Let's see how the two counting systems work with hours, days, and months.

For hours, the on-yomi version of the number is used except for 4, which uses the kun-yomi (よ). It is often said this is because the on-yomi (し) has the same pronunciation as 死(し), meaning ‘death’, so is unlucky. Also, let’s watch out for 9, which uses the on-yomi く, not the more common きゅう. For 7, sometimes you may hear the kun-yomi used (なな), especially for clarity, as しち can sound like いち or はち when muffled (like on the phone!).

Hour	Kanji	Reading
1	一時	いちじ
2	二時	にじ
3	三時	さんじ
4	四時	よじ
5	五時	ごじ
6	六時	ろくじ
7	七時	しちじ
8	八時	はちじ
9	九時	くじ
10	十時	じゅうじ
11	十一時	じゅういちじ
12	十二時	じゅうにじ

For days, things are a lot more complicated. The first ten days of the month are based on the native Japanese pronunciations, while the rest of the month largely uses on-yomi. There are a handful of traps to watch out for. Note that these words are used for days of the month and for counting days in general.

Day	Kanji	Reading	Notes
1	一日	ついたち / いちにち	Irregular: ついたち for first day of the month. いちにち for counting '1 day'.
2	二日	ふつか	Kun-yomi
3	三日	みっか	Kun-yomi
4	四日	よっか	Kun-yomi: Not よか or よんか!
5	五日	いつか	Kun-yomi
6	六日	むいか	Kun-yomi
7	七日	なのか	Kun-yomi
8	八日	ようか	Kun-yomi: Not やか! Do not confuse with 四日
9	九日	ここのか	Kun-yomi
10	十日	とおか	Kun-yomi
11	十一日	じゅういちにち	On-yomi
12	十二日	じゅうににち	On-yomi
13	十三日	じゅうさんにち	On-yomi
14	十四日	じゅうよっか	Irregular: Kun-yomi よっか
15	十五日	じゅうごにち	On-yomi
16	十六日	じゅうろくにち	On-yomi
17	十七日	じゅうしちにち	On-yomi
18	十八日	じゅうはちにち	On-yomi
19	十九日	じゅうくにち	On-yomi: く, not きゅう
20	二十日	はつか	Irregular: Kun-yomi root
21	二十一日	にじゅういちにち	On-yomi
22	二十二日	にじゅうににち	On-yomi
23	二十三日	にじゅうさんにち	On-yomi
24	二十四日	にじゅうよっか	Irregular: Kun-yomi よっか
25	二十五日	にじゅうごにち	On-yomi
26	二十六日	にじゅうろくにち	On-yomi
27	二十七日	にじゅうしちにち	On-yomi
28	二十八日	にじゅうはちにち	On-yomi
29	二十九日	にじゅうくにち	On-yomi: く, not きゅう
30	三十日	さんじゅうにち	On-yomi
31	三十一日	さんじゅういちにち	On-yomi

For months, on-yomi is used (including for 4). Again, we need to watch out for 9, as it is く and not きゅう. For 7, again, sometimes なな may be used for clarity.

Month	Kanji	Reading
1	一月	いちがつ
2	二月	にがつ
3	三月	さんがつ
4	四月	しがつ
5	五月	ごがつ
6	六月	ろくがつ
7	七月	しちがつ
8	八月	はちがつ
9	九月	くがつ
10	十月	じゅうがつ
11	十一月	じゅういちがつ
12	十二月	じゅうにがつ

It's All Relative

All of the words we have just seen point to a specific point in time which does not change. The first of February is always the first of February. But there are also time words which change meaning based on when they are being used. These are words like 'today' or 'last year'.

In Japanese, these words can be used like adverbs or like nouns. When they are used like adverbs, they can be used like any other adverb and simply placed at the beginning of a verb or adjective phrase to describe it. Note that in contrast to these words which point to a relative time, words which denote a specific time will need to use に to say 'when' something is done.

When used as a noun, relative time words will follow the regular rules and be used with case-marking particles or in any other way that nouns are normally used.