Busy right now
Ways to say whether you're free right now: whether there's time, whether you're in the middle of something, or whether you're about to act.
jikan
time
時間 じかん
Time as something you have or lack (jikan aru? = got a minute?, jikan nai = no time). It also counts hours (ni-jikan).
ima jikan aru?
Got a minute?
今時間ある？
ima ojikan ii desu ka?
Do you have a moment?
今お時間いいですか？
Asking about someone else's time, say ojikan (ojikan ii desu ka?). Your own time is always jikan.
-chuu
in the middle of, during
〜中 〜ちゅう
Attaches to an activity noun to say you're busy with it right now (shigoto-chuu, kaigi-chuu, denwa-chuu).
gomen, ima denwa-chuu.
Sorry, I'm on the phone.
ごめん、今電話中。
sumimasen, ima denwa-chuu desu.
Sorry, I'm on the phone.
すみません、今電話中です。
Read -juu, the same kanji means 'throughout': ichinichi-juu = all day.
Learn alongside: -tokoro
-tokoro
polite -tokoro desuabout to / in the middle of / just did
〜ところ 〜ところです
Pins down the exact stage of an action, depending on the verb form before it: taberu tokoro (about to eat), tabeteru tokoro (eating right now), tabeta tokoro (just ate).
ima denwa suru tokoro datta.
I was just about to call you.
今電話するところだった。
ima denwa suru tokoro deshita.
I was just about to call you.
今電話するところでした。
Casual speech often clips it to toko (ima deru toko). For 'on the way', say tochuu (ima mukatteru tochuu), not itteru tokoro. tabeta tokoro = just finished eating; tabeta bakari = only recently ate (could be hours or weeks).