other N4 common casualpolitewritten

〜間 — for a period of ~ (duration suffix)

〜間・かん

Meaning

for ~ / a span of ~ — read かん, suffixed to a length of time to mean 'over that whole duration'

Attached to a time amount, 〜間かん marks duration: 三時間さんじかん ('three hours'), 一週間いっしゅうかん ('one week'), 二年間にねんかん ('for two years'). It answers 'for how long', not 'when'. Note the reading splits from the あいだ connective: as a counter-style duration suffix it's かん; as the 'while/during' connective it's あいだ.

Key sentence

二年間にねんかん、日本にほんに住すんでいました。

I lived in Japan for two years.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
A duration amount (counter + 間)	〜時間じかん / 〜週間しゅうかん / 〜年間ねんかん / 〜日間にちかん	五分間ごふんかん / 一週間いっしゅうかん / 三日間みっかかん

Examples

一時間いちじかん、待またされた。

I was kept waiting for an hour.

夏休なつやすみは一ヶ月間いっかげつかんある。

Summer break is a month long.

三日間みっかかん、雨あめが降ふり続つづいた。

It rained continuously for three days.

Easily confused with

〜間に Same kanji, different job and reading: 〜間かん (counter) measures *how long* (三時間さんじかん); 〜間あいだに (connective) marks *during which* something else happens (留守るすの間あいだに). までに〜間かん states a length of time something lasted; までに sets a deadline by which something must be done. Duration vs cutoff.

Notes

間かん attaches only to a quantity of time; with a single calendar unit you sometimes drop it (三日みっか vs 三日間みっかかん) — 間かん stresses the elapsed span.

See 〜間 in real sentences

Jengo shows 〜間 the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

← Back to the grammar tree