When to Use Gatsu (がつ）vs Getsu （げつ）

So, through the past week while going through WaniKani, I’ve been totally screwing up the difference between these two pronunciation and when to use them. So I decided to go the extra mile and really figure out why my brain is totally not capturing these two in the ways they are being used (at my current level in WaniKani lvl 6).

So here it is the best way that I can explain it after doing my research and learning why I keep getting them mixed up. Maybe this will help you as well?

The best way that I found to remember when to use GATSU vs GETSU is by looking at the word GATSU as a way of counting through the months of the year.

Example:

The months of the year in Japanese are pronounced by the numbers 1 through 12, so juugatsu is October, nigatsu is February etc. But if you want to go through a time frame/duration through months then it changes a bit and goes with GETSU. The counter is literally -ka getsu when using it for duration, you’ll add a -kka getsu for duration of 1, 6, 8 and 10 months.

Example:

1 month – ikkagetsu

2 months – nikagetsu -kka

—

5 months – gokagetsu

8 months – hakkagetsu -kka

—

3 months – sankagetsu

10 months – jukkagetsu -kka

This is expressing a duration of time remember that, so to further show that consider that you’ll also use GETSU in the follow time lines:

Last Month, This Month and Next Month

Sengetsu, Kongetsu, Raigetsu

But when using it for Every (MAI) it turns back to GATSU. (Maigatsu.)

So if it has anything to do with duration then you want to use GETSU. If you’re just speaking about a month, then from what I know now it’s GATSU.

I hope this helps you as it has helped me learn a bit more about which ones which.

–Nihonscope

Hitorei – Cry Baby