You have already learned to tell time with the counters 時 and 分. Using the suffix 間, you can change a time into a duration of time. Check out the two sentences below to see how 間 modifies the meaning of the second sentence.
| English | Japanese |
|---|---|
| I ate at one o'clock. | 一時 に 食べました。ichiji ni tabemashita. |
| I ate for one hour. | 一時間 食べました。ichijikan tabemashita. |
Below are more examples of sentences using the suffix 間.
| English | Japanese |
|---|---|
| How many hours did you play tennis? | 何時間 テニス を しました か？nanjikan tenisu o shimashita ka? |
| It takes 30 minutes. | 三十分間 かかります。sanjuppunkan kakarimasu. |
| We watched TV for two hours and ten minutes. | 私たち は 二時間 十分 テレビ を 見ました。watashitachi wa nijikan juppun terebi o mimashita. |
