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Common to all languages and cultures out there, number systems is an important lesson that you need to learn. Without learning the Japanese number system, it would be difficult for learners to continue further.
In this article, you will be able to learn how to count numbers in Japanese.
The Japanese Number System
|
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
|
One |
Ichi (一) |
|
Two |
Ni (二) |
|
Three |
San (三) |
|
Four |
Shi / Yon (四) |
|
Five |
Go (五) |
|
Six |
Roku (六) |
|
Seven |
Shichi / Nana (七) |
|
Eight |
Hachi (八) |
|
Nine |
Kyuu (九) |
|
Ten |
Juu (十) |
Note that the Japanese characters for these numbers are the same with the numbers in Chinese. Since the Japanese borrowed some Kanji from the Chinese language.
四 can be read shi or yon, 七 shichi or nana, and 九 kyū or ku. These are established readings, not newly invented casual substitutes. The choice depends on the expression: four o’clock is 四時 (yoji), April 四月 (shigatsu), and July 七月 (shichigatsu). Learn the reading together with the counter or calendar word.
Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Ten Thousands
Japanese builds many numbers by combining units such as 十 (jū, ten), 百 (hyaku, hundred), 千 (sen, thousand), and 万 (man, ten thousand). Written Arabic numerals are also widely used; the spoken units do not depend on inserting written zeros.
|
Tens |
Juu (十) |
|
Hundreds |
Hyaku (百) |
|
Thousands |
Sen (千) |
Now, here comes the hard part. For the English number system, we stop after three zeroes, and then we add a comma.
1 – one10 – ten100 – one hundred1,000 – one thousand10,000 – ten thousand
For the Japanese language they have another word for ten thousands:
|
Ten thousand |
man (万) |
This is how the number systems look when they are being used altogether:
|
25 |
nijūgo (二十五) – this states that there are two “tens” and 5 “ones |
|
38 |
sanjūhachi (三十八) – three “tens” and 8 “ones” |
|
483 |
yon hyaku hachijūsan (四百八十三) – 4 “hundreds”, 8 “tens” and 3 “ones” |
|
722 |
nana hyaku nijūni (七百二十二) |
|
1,294 |
sen ni hyaku kyuu juu yon (千二百九十四) |
|
4,560 |
yon sen go hyaku roku juu (四千五百六十) |
|
14,882 |
ichi man yon sen hachi hyaku hachi juu ni (一万四千八百八十二) |
|
26,712 |
ni man roku sen nana hyaku juu ni (二万六千七百十二) |
|
103,484 |
juu man san zen yon hyaku hachi juu yon (十万三千四百八十四) |
Some notable rules though for special numbers:
|
300 |
sanbyaku （さんびゃく） |
|
600 |
roppyaku (ろっぴゃく) |
|
800 |
happyaku (はっぴゃく) |
|
1000 |
sen or issen (せん、いっせん) |
|
3000 |
sanzen (さんぜん) |
|
8000 |
hassen (はっせん) |
These special pronunciations were made to make it easier and smoother to speak. Since they flow easily from the tongue.
Conclusion
That’s all for now, keep practicing in order to get familiar with the basic Japanese number system.
Challenge yourself: what is 253,756 in Japanese? Answer: 二十五万三千七百五十六 (nijūgoman sanzen nanahyaku gojūroku).
