How about this weather? Don't you find that many casual conversations turn to the weather? What if you want to say in Japanese, "It's warm for autumn, isn't it?" Can you name the months in Japanese? Knowing how to talk about seasons and months is an important part of a lot of conversations. Knowing the seasons and weather in Japanese will help you ask and answer important questions and even keep you from running out of things to say! This Newbie Japanese article gets you started on the right foot by teaching you about the seasons and months. Learn to talk about natsu ("summer") and the other seasons. Master go-gatsu ("May") along with the other months of the year. In addition, you'll learn to ask questions including, "From what month to what month is summer in Japan?" As you can see, this Japanese article is not to be missed!

Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

Nihon - "Japan"

natsu - "summer"

nan-gatsu - "what month"

tabun - "perhaps, probably"

shichi-gatsu - "July"

hachi-gatsu - "August"

ku-gatsu - "September"

aki - "autumn, fall"

Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

Useful Vocabulary and Phrases

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natsu

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Natsu means "summer." Look below to see the names of the four seasons in Japan.

"English" / Rooma-ji

"Spring" / haru

"Summer" / natsu

"Autumn" / aki

"Winter" / fuyu

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nan-gatsu

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-gatsu is a counter suffix indicating "month of the year."

"English" / Rooma-ji

"January" / ichi-gatsu

"February" / ni-gatsu

"March" / san-gatsu

"April" / shi-gatsu

"May" / go-gatsu

"June" / roku-gatsu

"July" / shichi-gatu

"August" / hachi-gatsu

"September" / ku-gatsu

"October" / juu-gatsu

"November" / juuichi-gatsu

"December" / juuni-gatsu

"What month?" / nan-gatsu?

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Natsu wa roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made desu.

"Summer is from June to August."

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Please review the following vocabulary words and usage:

natsu - "summer"

wa - topic-marking particle

roku-gatsu "June"

kara - "from" (See Newbie Series12, "Lori's Story")

hachi-gatsu - "August"

made - "until"

desu - "copula (linking verb)"

Please note that particles follow words; they do not precede them.

For Example:

roku-gatsu kara means "from June"

hachi-gatsu made means "to (until) August"

You cannot say:

kara roku-gatsu

made hachi-gatsu

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Examples:

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Fuyu wa juuni-gatsu kara ni-gatsu made desu.
"Winter is from December to February."

Haruwa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu made desu ka?
"When is spring?" (Literal meaning: "Spring is from what month to what month?")

Eiga wa nan-ji kara desu ka?
"What time does the movie start?"

Shigoto wa nan-ji made desu ka?
"What time do you work until?"

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Practice 1

Please make sentences using the given words. Follow the example below.

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Example:

natsu ("summer") - June-Aug. [Natsu] wa [roku-gatsu] kara [hachi-gatsu] made desu.

shigoto ("work") - 9:00-6:00 -->___________________________________________________________________
aki ("autumn") - Sep.-Nov. -->___________________________________________________________________
orienteeshon ("orientation") - 11:00-12:00 -->___________________________________________________________________
natsu yasumi ("summer vacation") - July-Aug. -->___________________________________________________________________
eiga ("movie") - 4:00-6:00 -->___________________________________________________________________

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Practice 2:

Please answer the following question.

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In your country...

Natsu wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu desu ka?
-->___________________________________________________________________

Gakkou wa nan-ji kara nan-ji desu ka?
-->___________________________________________________________________

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