How to Say "What Time" in Japanese

何時

nanji[nã̠ɲ̟d͡ʑi]

To say "what time" in Japanese, use 何時 (nanji).

何時 asks about the hour or time of day. Add other words to form full questions about the current time or when something happens.

What does it mean word for word?

何時 is made of 何, meaning what and 時, meaning time or hour.

The standard polite way to ask the time is 何時ですか. In casual conversation the question can be shortened to just 何時？ with rising intonation.

Adding the particle に gives 何時に, meaning at what time. Adding 頃 (goro) gives 何時頃, which asks about an approximate time.

It is pronounced nanji.

In informal situations people often ask 今（いま）何時（なんじ）？, meaning what time is it now.

While 何時 (nanji) is used for asking the clock time, if you use the reading itsu for the same kanji, it can mean 'when' in a much broader, more poetic sense.
When asking 何時ですか to a stranger, it is common to first say すみません (sumimasen) to apologize for the interruption. Asking the time without this social 'buffer' can be perceived as overly abrupt or rude.
In Japanese, the word for 'time' 時 is used in the phrase 何時, but there is a different word 時間 (jikan) used to measure the duration of time. Using 何時 to ask how many hours a task takes would be grammatically incorrect.

何時ですか。
What time do you have?
何時ですか。 is the polite way to ask what time it is.
Tatoeba #5059 by bunbuku, translation #24596 by blay_paul
何時に出る？
What time are you leaving?
Here 何時に asks at what time someone is leaving.
Tatoeba #5762757 by daifons, translation #24574 by CK
何時ですか？
What time is it?
This is the same polite question written with a question mark.
Tatoeba #5804556 by fafs, translation #428402 by laofmoonster
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