If you cannot count numbers in Japanese smoothely, it is out of the question
to enjoy shopping. The best way to come into contact with the local people
is through vendors. These numbers come first, put above grammar, idioms
and anything else.
Zero is called "rei" or " zero ". These numbers sometimes have two ways of pronunciation, and in
most cases, either will do. Ten is not "ju", but "ju-u"(another "u" must be added)
When you want to say some number, just put together these sounds. Zeros
in-between are not usually pronounced.
EX. 79***nana-jyu-ku / nana-jyu-kyu 134***hyaku-san-jyu-yon 2 004***ni-sen-yon 30 012***san-man-jyu-ni
But be careful when you try to pronuonce hyaku (100), because there are three ways of pronounciation; hyaku, byaku, ppyaku.
So look at these 9 examples.
- hyaku (100) or rarely, i-ppyaku
- ni-hyaku (200)
- san-byaku (300)
- yon-hyaku (400)
- go-hyaku (500)
- ro-ppyaku (600)
- nana-hyaku (700)
- ha-ppyaku (800)
- kyu-hyaku (900)
Also be careful when you pronunce sen (1000). There is an only one exception: san-zen (3000)
Basic Numbers
1 一 ichi |
2 二ni |
3 三 san |
4 四 yon / yo /shi (1) |
5 五 go |
6 六 roku |
7 七 shichi/nana (2) |
8 八 hachi |
9 九 kyu/ku (3) |
10 十 jyu |
11 十一 jyu-ichi |
12 十二 jyu-ni |
13 十三 jyu-san |
14 十四 jyu-yon/jyu-shi |
15 十五 jyu-go |
16 十六 jyu-roku |
17 十七 jyu-shichi/jyu-nana |
18 十八 jyu-hachi |
19 十九 jyu-ku |
20 二十 ni-jyu |
21ni-jyu-ichi 22 ni-jyu-ni 23 ni-jyu-san 24 ni-jyu-yon 25 ni-jyu-go 26
ni-jyu-roku 27 ni-jyu-shichi 28 ni-jyu-hachi 29 ni-jyu-ku |
30 三十 san-jyu |
40 四十 yon-jyu |
31 san-jyu-ichi 32 san-jyu-ni 33 san-jyu-sab 34 san-jyu-yon 35 san-jyu-go
36 san-jyu-roku 37 san-jyu-nana 38 san-jyu-hachi 39 san-jyu-ku |
41 yon-jyu-ichi 42 yon-jyu-ni 43 yon-jyu-sab 44 yon-jyu-yon 45 yon-jyu-go
46 yon-jyu-roku 47 yon-jyu-nana 48 yon-jyu-hachi 49 yon-jyu-ku |
50 五十 go-jyu |
60 六十 roku-jyu |
51go-jyu-ichi |
61 roku-jyu-ichi |
70 七十 nana-jyu |
80 八十 hachi-jyu |
71 nana-jyu-ichi |
81 hachi-jyu-ichi |
90 きゅうじゅう kyu-jyu |
100 百 hyaku |
90 kyu-ju-ichi |
101 hyaku-ichi |
1 000 千 sen |
10 000 一万 ichi-man |
1 001 sen-ichi |
10 001ichi-man-ichi |
100 000 十万 jyu-man |
1 000 000 百万 hyaku-man |
110 000 jyu-ichi-man |
1 500 000 hyaku-go-jyu-man |
10 000 000 一千万 issen-man |
100 000 000 一億 ichi-oku |
13 000 000 issen-san-byaku-man |
120 000 000 ichi-oku-ni-sen-man |
Notes; The number 4, 7, and 9 have diffrent ways of reading according to a word
to which they are attached. These below are examples.
Notes (1) (2) (3)
|
number 4 |
number 7 |
number 9 |
回 ( times ) |
四回 よんかい yon-kai |
七回 ななかい nana-kai |
九回 きゅうかい kyuu-kai |
階 ( storied ) |
四階 よんかい yon-kai |
七階 ななかい nana-kai |
九階 きゅうかい kyuu-kai |
個 (the number of piieces ) |
四個 よんこ yon-ko |
七個 ななこ nana-ko |
九個 きゅうこ kyu-ko |
字 ( the number of characters ) |
四字 よじ yo-ji |
七字 ななじ nana-ji |
九字 きゅうじ kyu-ji |
時 ( o'clock ) |
四時 よじ yo-ji |
七時 しちじ shichi-ji |
九時 くじ ku-ji |
月 ( month ) |
四月 しがつ shi-gatsu |
七月 しちがつshichi-gatsu |
九月 くがつ ku-gatu |
These special numbers below are used only when you count less than 10 (somthing
like apples, eggs, stones, peas etc), or when you count slowly in talking
to small children. All those numbers from one to nine are pronunced with
"-tsu" in the end.
Special Numbers
1 ひとつhitotsu |
2 ふたつhutatsu |
3 みっつmittsu |
4 よっつyottsu |
5 いつつitsutsu |
6 むっつmuttsu |
7 ななつnanatsu |
8 やっつyattsu |
9 ここのつkokonotsu |
10 とうtoo |
By using a table for numbers, you can count numbers at your own command.
Howeverhar you may try to remember these numbers, you cannot use them in
the practical situation if you memorize them in the upward order. In order
to be able to recall any numbers you have to call up the numbers randomly
with the help of the talbe for numbers. You can also make small slips of papers when you try to memorize from 1 to 20.
_
the day of the week
the day |
Japanese |
pronunciation |
Monday |
月曜日 げつようび |
getsuyoo-bi |
Tuesday |
火曜日 かようび |
kayoo-bi |
Wednesday |
水曜日 すいようび |
suiyoo-bi |
Thursday |
木曜日 もくようび |
mokuyoo-bi |
Friday |
金曜日 きんようび |
kinnyoo-bi |
Saturday |
土曜日 どようび |
doyoo-bi |
Sunday |
日曜日 にちようび |
nichiyoo-bi |
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the day of the month
the day |
Japanese |
pronunciation |
1st |
一日 ついたち |
tsuitachi |
2nd |
二日 ふつか |
hutsuka |
3rd |
三日 みっか |
mikka |
4th |
四日 よっか |
yokka |
5th |
五日 いつか |
itsuka |
6th |
六日 むいか |
muika |
7th |
七日 なのか |
nanoka |
8th |
八日 ようか |
yooka |
9th |
九日 ここのか |
kokonoka |
10th |
十日 とうか |
tooka |
20th |
二十日 はつか |
hatsuka |
24th |
二十四日 にじゅうよっか |
nijyu-yokka |
Note; The rest of the days of the month is simply called " basic number
plus nichi". For example, 15th..." jyu-go nichi ", 28th..." ni-jyu-hachi
nicihi ".
Note; Do you know what " 二日酔い hutsuka-yoi " means ? " yoi "
means being drunk. Yes, this means hangover !!
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