The core idea: one line with today at zero
Put today in the middle of a line. One step left is yesterday, two steps the day before; one step right is tomorrow, two steps the day after. Japanese has a word for each slot, and the same five slots for weeks, months and years.
Read across a row to move through time, and down a column to see the same distance at a larger scale. Weeks and months follow one prefix pattern perfectly. The day row and three year cells use older or different words, exactly where learners hesitate, so they are outlined. A new colleague asks about you over lunch, and your answers land on different rows.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| おととい出張から戻ったばかりです。 | Ototoi shutchō kara modotta bakari desu. | I only got back from a business trip the day before yesterday. |
| 先々週から、この部署にいます。 | Sensenshū kara, kono busho ni imasu. | I've been in this department since the week before last. |
| 再来月、家族が遊びに来ます。 | Saraigetsu, kazoku ga asobi ni kimasu. | My family is coming to visit the month after next. |
| おととしの夏に初めて日本に来ました。 | Ototoshi no natsu ni hajimete Nihon ni kimashita. | I first came to Japan in the summer two years ago. |
Days: from ototoi to asatte, and one step further
The day row is native Japanese written with borrowed kanji, which is why readings and characters look unrelated. Ototoi is written 一昨日, literally 'one before yesterday'. Asatte is 明後日, literally 'after-tomorrow day'.
One more step exists each way. Sakiototoi, three days ago, puts saki, earlier, in front of ototoi. Shiasatte, three days ahead, is 明々後日: one more 'tomorrow' stacked on asatte. Here usage splits. Most speakers then use yanoasatte, if at all, for four days ahead, but in parts of eastern Japan, including areas near Tokyo, some swap shiasatte and yanoasatte. So beyond two days people switch to a date, or a number with go, later, or mae, ago; even the Japan Meteorological Agency's style guide stops at ototoi and asatte. Two friends fitting in a dinner speak the first two lines; a doctor and a patient, the last two.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 明日はバイトだけど、あさっては空いてるよ。 | Ashita wa baito dakedo, asatte wa aiteru yo. | I've got work tomorrow, but I'm free the day after. |
| しあさってって、金曜日のこと？ | Shiasatte tte, kin'yōbi no koto? | When you say shiasatte, do you mean Friday? |
| 三日後に結果が出ます。 | Mikka go ni kekka ga demasu. | The results come out in three days. |
| 三日前から熱があります。 | Mikka mae kara netsu ga arimasu. | I've had a fever for three days. |
Weeks and months: one prefix for every step
Five prefixes fill the five slots: sensen, sen, kon, rai and sarai. Sen (先) means before, kon (今) now and rai (来) coming. Sensen doubles the before. Sarai is written 再来, literally 'coming again': the coming one after the coming one. Add shū, week, or getsu, month.
Two warnings. Month words take getsu, never tsuki: raigetsu, not raitsuki. And the pattern stops at two steps; beyond that use a number with mae or go, as in sanshūkan mae, three weeks ago. Whether to add kan is covered in the site's post on durations and points in time. A clinic receptionist booking your follow-up uses this system.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 再来週の火曜日はいかがですか。 | Saraishū no kayōbi wa ikaga desu ka. | How about Tuesday the week after next? |
| 先月の検査の結果が出ています。 | Sengetsu no kensa no kekka ga dete imasu. | The results of last month's test are in. |
| Prefix | Reading | With shū, week | With getsu, month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 先々 | sensen | sensenshū, the week before last | sensengetsu, the month before last |
| 先 | sen | senshū, last week | sengetsu, last month |
| 今 | kon | konshū, this week | kongetsu, this month |
| 来 | rai | raishū, next week | raigetsu, next month |
| 再来 | sarai | saraishū, the week after next | saraigetsu, the month after next |
Weekends attach the same way: konshūmatsu, this weekend, and raishūmatsu, next weekend.
Years: where the pattern breaks
Only the forward half of the year row obeys the pattern: rainen, next year, and sarainen, the year after next. Last year is kyonen, written 去年, literally 'the gone year'. The year before last is ototoshi, built like ototoi, and this year is kotoshi. In formal speech and writing, last year becomes sakunen (昨年).
Why do the busiest cells break the rule? Words said every day resist regularising in any language; English keeps went and better for the same reason. Memorise the outlined cells as a small core and let the prefixes do the rest. At a summer festival, two neighbours compare years.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 去年より人が多いですね。 | Kyonen yori hito ga ōi desu ne. | There are more people than last year, aren't there? |
| おととしは雨で中止でした。 | Ototoshi wa ame de chūshi deshita. | The year before last it was cancelled because of rain. |
| 今年は晴れてよかったですね。 | Kotoshi wa harete yokatta desu ne. | Lucky it's sunny this year. |
| 再来年は、うちが町内会の当番なんです。 | Sarainen wa, uchi ga chōnaikai no tōban na n desu. | The year after next, it's our turn to help run the neighbourhood association. |
Beyond the basics: saki points back and ahead
Saki (先) has no fixed direction. It means the front, and in time it can mean earlier or later depending on the picture in the speaker's head. Picture a queue: whoever is at the front got there first, so saki is earlier. That is the saki in senshū, senjitsu, the other day, and saki ni, first. Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu, said when you leave work before colleagues, is literally 'I am being rude by going ahead'. Sensei, teacher, is 先生, literally 'born before'.
Now picture a road you are walking along: what lies in front has not happened yet, so saki is later. That is the saki in kono saki, from here on, and mada saki no hanashi, still a long way off. A working rule: in time words read sen, such as senshū and senjitsu, it points back; standing alone as saki, check the words around it. One working day can bring all five lines below, from a colleague leaving early to a busy restaurant on the phone.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お先に失礼します。 | Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu. | Excuse me for leaving before you. |
| 先日はありがとうございました。 | Senjitsu wa arigatō gozaimashita. | Thank you for the other day. |
| この先どうなるか、まだ分かりません。 | Kono saki dō naru ka, mada wakarimasen. | We don't know yet how things will go from here. |
| 一週間先まで予約でいっぱいです。 | Isshūkan saki made yoyaku de ippai desu. | We're fully booked for the next week. |
| 引っ越しはまだ先の話です。 | Hikkoshi wa mada saki no hanashi desu. | Moving is still a long way off. |
Kondo: the latest one, this time or next time
Kondo (今度) is literally 'this occasion', and it slides along the line. After an event, kondo no jishin is the recent earthquake and kondo kita kachō the section chief who has just arrived. Mid-sequence, kondo wa means this time, in contrast with last time. Looking ahead, it means next time or some time soon: kondo no nichiyōbi is this coming Sunday.
Listeners decide from the verb and situation: a past verb points back, a plan points ahead. For appointments, staff use words that cannot slide: konkai, this time; jikai, next time; zenkai, last time.
Kondo nomi ni ikimashō, let's go for a drink sometime, is often friendly noise rather than a plan; if you want it to happen, reply with a date. Below: friends splitting a bill, colleagues on a new boss, then a clinic.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今度は私が払います。 | Kondo wa watashi ga haraimasu. | This time I'll pay. |
| 今度の日曜日、空いてる？ | Kondo no nichiyōbi, aiteru? | Are you free this Sunday? |
| 今度来た課長、優しい人だね。 | Kondo kita kachō, yasashii hito da ne. | The new section chief seems kind, doesn't he? |
| 次回のご予約はいかがなさいますか。 | Jikai no goyoyaku wa ikaga nasaimasu ka. | When would you like your next appointment? |
| 前回と同じお薬を出しておきますね。 | Zenkai to onaji okusuri o dashite okimasu ne. | I'll prescribe the same medicine as last time. |
Vague distances: sakki, sakihodo, konaida and senjitsu
Some words name only a rough distance, in casual and polite pairs that cover the same span. Sakki and sakihodo both mean earlier today, minutes to hours ago. Sakki grew out of saki, so it points back. The shop assistant says sakihodo; the customer says sakki.
Konaida squashes kono aida, literally 'this interval'. Like kono mae, it means the other day, days to weeks back, sometimes longer; to a client, both become senjitsu. Ato de, later, pairs with the polite nochihodo. Below, a caller rings a company back, then tells a friend.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先ほどお電話をいただいたスミスですが。 | Sakihodo odenwa o itadaita Sumisu desu ga. | This is Smith; you called me a little while ago. |
| 後ほど担当者からご連絡いたします。 | Nochihodo tantōsha kara gorenraku itashimasu. | The person in charge will contact you later. |
| さっき会社から電話があったんだ。 | Sakki kaisha kara denwa ga atta n da. | I got a call from the company a moment ago. |
| この間の話、どうなった？ | Konaida no hanashi, dō natta? | What happened with that thing you told me about the other day? |
| Word | Reading | Roughly how far | Who says it |
|---|---|---|---|
| さっき | sakki | Minutes to hours ago, today | Everyone, casually |
| 先ほど | sakihodo | Minutes to hours ago, today | Staff and business calls |
| この間 | kono aida, konaida | Days to weeks ago | Casual conversation |
| この前 | kono mae | Days to weeks ago, or last time | Casual conversation |
| 先日 | senjitsu | Days to weeks ago | Emails and clients |
| 後で | ato de | Later today | Everyone, casually |
| 後ほど | nochihodo | Later today | Staff and business calls |
Common mistakes with relative time words
Saying raishū no getsuyōbi on a Sunday. Most wall calendars in Japan start on Sunday, but many people feel the week starts on Monday, so next Monday can mean tomorrow or eight days away. Add the date: raishū no getsuyōbi, nanoka desu ne. Dates like nanoka are covered in the site's guide to days, months and dates.
Hearing kondo as next time only, as textbooks gloss it. With a past tense or a recent event, it means the latest one.
Reading every saki as ahead. Learners who know kono saki take saki no senkyo in the news as the next election, but in formal writing saki no means the previous one.
Using sakki for yesterday. Sakki stays within today; for a few days ago, say konaida.
Carrying chat words into business writing. Kyonen and konaida sound like conversation in an email to a client; write sakunen and senjitsu. The fixes sound like this on the phone and in an email.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 来週の月曜日、七日ですね。 | Raishū no getsuyōbi, nanoka desu ne. | Next Monday, the seventh, right? |
| 先日はお忙しいところありがとうございました。 | Senjitsu wa oisogashii tokoro arigatō gozaimashita. | Thank you for making time for us the other day. |