Need to know how to pronounce the contact numbers in Japanese? You may have to add up to Twelve in Japanese. We have provided both written pronunciations of ways to say the figures in Japanese language. We can easily in fact provide you with how you can tell you great figures in Japanese comfortably. Learn More
We now have pretty much all the Japanese numbers from 1 – One thousand | a thousand, listed here that you’ll want to study. More …
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Down for the count | |
When counting objects, Japanese uses special counter words. For example, "two bottles of beer" is ビール2本 biiru nihon, where ni is "two" and -hon means "bottles". Unlike in English, where counter words are often optional or non-existent, in Japanese they're mandatory whenever you count something (e.g. 車2台 kuruma ni-dai, two cars; 台 dai counts machines). Alas, the list of possible counters is vast, but some useful ones include: | |
Note how many counters change form depending on the previous number: one, two, three glasses are ippai, nihai, sanbai respectively. There are also a few exceptions: one person and two people are hitori and futari. 20 years old is usually pronounced hatachi. You'll still be understood if you get these wrong though. | |
For numbers from one to nine, an old counting system is often used which applies to virtually any object you may want to count, without the need to attach a specific counter: | |
1 | 一つ hitotsu |
2 | 二つ futatsu |
3 | 三つ mittsu |
4 | 四つ yottsu |
5 | 五つ itsutsu |
6 | 六つ muttsu |
7 | 七つ nanatsu |
8 | 八つ yattsu |
9 | 九つ kokonotsu |
While Arabic (Western) numerals are employed for most uses in Japan, you will occasionally still spot Japanese numerals at eg. markets and the menus of fancy restaurants. The characters used are nearly identical to Chinese numerals, and like Chinese, Japanese uses groups of 4 digits, not 3. "One million" is thus 百万 (hyaku-man), literally "hundred ten-thousands". | |
There are both Japanese and Chinese readings for most numbers, but presented below are the more commonly used Chinese readings. Note that, due to superstition (shi also means "death"), 4 and 7 typically use the Japanese readings yon and nana instead. | |
0 | 〇 (zero or maru) / 零 (rei) in finance |
1 | 一 (ichi) |
2 | 二 (ni) |
3 | 三 (san) |
4 | 四 (yon or shi) |
5 | 五 (go) |
6 | 六 (roku) |
7 | 七 (nana or shichi) |
8 | 八 (hachi) |
9 | 九 (kyū) |
10 | 十 (jū) |
11 | 十一 (jū-ichi) |
12 | 十二 (jū-ni) |
13 | 十三 (jū-san) |
14 | 十四 (jū-yon) |
15 | 十五 (jū-go) |
16 | 十六 (jū-roku) |
17 | 十七 (jū-nana) |
18 | 十八 (jū-hachi) |
19 | 十九 (jū-kyū/jū-ku) |
20 | 二十 (ni-jū) |
21 | 二十一 (ni-jū-ichi) |
22 | 二十二 (ni-jū-ni) |
23 | 二十三 (ni-jū-san) |
30 | 三十 (san-jū) |
40 | 四十(yon-jū) |
50 | 五十 (go-jū) |
60 | 六十 (roku-jū) |
70 | 七十(nana-jū) |
80 | 八十 (hachi-jū) |
90 | 九十 (kyū-jū) |
100 | 百 (hyaku) |
200 | 二百 (nihyaku) |
300 | 三百 (sambyaku) |
600 | 六百 (roppyaku) |
800 | 八百 (happyaku) |
1000 | 千 (sen) |
2000 | 二千 (ni-sen) |
3000 | 三千 (san-zen) |
10,000 | 一万 (ichi-man) |
1,000,000 | 百万 (hyaku-man) |
100,000,000 | 一億 (ichi-oku) |
1,000,000,000,000 | 一兆 (itchō) |
0.5 | 〇・五 (rei ten go) |
0.56 | 〇・五六 (rei ten go-roku) |
number _____ (train, bus, etc.) | _____番 (____ ban) |
half | 半分 (hambun) |
less (few) | 少ない (sukunai) |
more (many) | 多い (ōi) |
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