Clock times and a simple time range
You can already use numbers and polite questions. Look at a clock, ask いま何時ですか once, then answer with only the hour. Minutes come step by step.
1. Ask and answer with 時
何時 is read なんじ and asks for a clock time. いま何時ですか means ‘What time is it now?’. いま is a time word; do not add が after it in this pattern. The answer is number + 時 + です.
Hours 4, 7, and 9 need extra attention: 四時 is よじ, 七時 is しちじ, and 九時 is くじ. Do not say よんじ or きゅうじ. Learn these as clock-time blocks; the same numerals can sound different in another context.
いま何時ですか。
四時です。
九時です。
2. Minutes alternate between ふん and ぷん
Put minutes after the hour: 三時五分 is 3:05. The counter 分 changes pronunciation. Minutes 2, 5, 7, and 9 use ふん; 3 and 4 use ぷん. With 1, 6, 8, and 10, you hear a small っ before ぷん: いっぷん, ろっぷん, はっぷん, and じゅっぷん.
For ten minutes, じっぷん is also correct. 何分 becomes なんぷん. Build a time in two steps: choose the correct hour reading first, then add the complete minute block. Thus 4:08 is よじはっぷん, not よんじはちふん.
二分
四分
七分
九分
三時五分です。
四時八分です。
九時十分です。
3. Half past with 半
半 after an hour means half an hour after that hour. 七時半 is 7:30. Dutch calls this ‘half eight’, but the Japanese number remains seven; in English it is ‘half past seven’. Translate the clock meaning and do not change the hour.
七時三十分 and 七時半 point to the same clock time. 半 is shorter and common. Do not add 分 after 半: 七時半分 is incorrect with this meaning.
七時半です。
七時三十分です。
4. Start and end with から and まで
から marks the starting point and まで the endpoint. A full time range is activity + は + start time + から + end time + まで + です. In 授業は九時から十二時までです, class starts at nine and ends at twelve.
You can also ask only about the start with 何時からですか or only about the end with 何時までですか. Do not put に after から or まで in this pattern. These are boundaries of one time period, not two separate times.
授業は九時から十二時二十分までです。
テストは何時からですか。
5. Choose the right kind of time question
いま何時ですか asks for the current clock time. テストは何時ですか asks for the test's clock time. 何時から and 何時まで ask more specifically about start and end. Later lessons add weekdays and dates; do not use those as answers to 何時 yet.
First practise recognition in the existing listening selection, then make one new schedule yourself. When producing a sentence, separately check the hour, the minute block, and the position of から/まで.