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Learn how to count in Japanese
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Welcome to Fun and Easy Japanese by JapanesePod101.com! |
Do you know how to count to 1 trillion in Japanese? You will in just a few minutes. |
こんにちは、りさです。 |
Hi everyone! I’m Risa. |
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to count in Japanese. |
You will go from 0 all the way up to millions, billions and trillions. And you’ll see how easy Japanese numbers are… because they all follow simple patterns. |
So, in this video you'll learn... |
Japanese Numbers 0 to 10 |
10 to 99 |
100 to 1000 |
10,000 to 1 Trillion |
Decimals &Fractions |
Useful Phrases with Numbers |
First, let’s do 1) Japanese Numbers from 0 to 10 |
0 is ゼロ Zero or Rei |
1 is Ichi |
2 is Ni |
3 is San |
4 is Shi/Yon |
5 is Go |
6 is Roku |
7 is Shichi/Nana |
8 is Hachi |
9 is Ku/Kyū |
And 10 is Jū |
0 can be ぜろ(Zero) or れい (Rei) but nowadays, “Zero” is more common. 4 can either be し(Shi) or よん (Yon). 7 can either be しち(Shichi) or なな (Nana). 9 can be either く(Ku) or きゅう (Kyū). |
In most circumstances, both are acceptable, but generally speaking, よん (Yon), なな (Nana), and きゅう(Kyū) sound more casual and are used most. |
Now, remember: You will need the numbers 0 to 10 to build bigger numbers in the next part. |
Now, let’s go from 10 to 99. |
You can count from 1 to 99 just by knowing the numbers 0-10. Here’s how. |
Risa: Let’s look at 11 to 19. |
11 is jū-ichi |
12 is jū-ni |
13 is jū-san |
14 is jū-shi/yon |
15 is jū-go |
16 is jū-roku |
17 is jū-shichi/nana |
18 is jū-hachi |
19 is jū kyū/ku |
So, for numbers 11-19, in Japanese, you’re literally saying “10” or “jū” and then the numbers “1” to “9.” |
For example. 11 is Juu (the word for 10) and ichi (the word for 1). Same for 12. Juu ni. And all the way up to 19 which is juukyuu. |
Now, let’s move on to the 20s, 30s, 40s and so on. |
20 is ni-jū The literal reading is 2 10. Ni and ju. |
30 is san-jū. Same pattern. |
40 is yon-jū |
50 is go-jū |
60 is roku-jū |
70 is nana-jū |
80 is hachi-jū |
90 is kyū-jū |
For all of these, in Japanese you’re literally saying “any of the numbers from 2 to 9” plus “ten.” |
So, for example, 30 is san and jū, or san-jū, and 90 is kyū-jū. |
And what about the in-between numbers? What’s 21 in Japanese? 20 is ni-jū and 1 is ichi so 21 is ni-jū ichi. How about 99? It would be kyū-jū-kyū. |
English: The literal Japanese reading is 9 10 9. See? To count from 11 to 99, you just know to know numbers from 1 to 10. |
Now, let’s do 100 to 1000. |
Risa: 100 is hyaku |
200 is ni-hyaku |
300 is san-byaku |
400 is yon-hyaku |
500 is go-hyaku |
600 is roppyaku |
700 is nana-hyaku |
800 is happyaku |
900 is kyū-hyaku |
1000 is sen |
1100 is sen hyaku |
And 110 is hyaku jū |
And 111 is hyaku jū-ichi |
As you can see, you simply take the numbers 2 to 9 and add 100 to express 200 to 900 in Japanese. But there are 3 exceptions. |
300 is san (3) Byaku (100), NOT sanhyakyu, |
600 is roppyaku, NOT “roku hyaku |
800 is happyaku ,NOT hachi hyaku. |
The same goes for thousands. Just use the numbers 2 to 9 and add 1000 to express 1000 to 9000 in Japanese. |
Here, there are only 2 exceptions: |
3000 is san (3) zen (100), not sansen. |
8000 is hassen instead of hachi sen |
Now, let’s go from 10,000 to 1 trillion |
Risa: 10,000 is ichiman |
100,000 is jū-man |
1,000,000 is hyaku-man |
10,000,000 is sen-man |
10^8 is oku |
10^12 is chō |
Note that you don’t need to put a 1 for (hyaku), meaning 100, or 千 (sen), meaning 1000. But, for units past 1000, you need to put a 1 in front. For example: |
万 ichi-man, or ten thousand |
億 ichi-oku or 100 million |
兆 ichhō or 1 trillion |
English: Now, let’s do Decimals &Fractions in Japanese |
First, for decimals, the 0 before the decimal point is called rei. The 0 after the decimal point can be either rei or zero. The decimal point itself is called ten, which literally means “point.” |
So, for example: |
0.1 is rei ten ichi |
0.03 rei ten rei san |
For fractions, the number after the “slash” is read first. And the “slash” is expressed as 分の (bun no). |
So yes, you’re pretty much reading it backwards. Instead of saying “one over two,” you’re literally saying “of 2, 1.” |
Here are some examples: |
½ is ni bun no ichi |
4/7 is nana bun no yon |
3/10 is jū bun no san |
And finally, let’s cover some useful Japanese phrases with numbers. |
Let’s do prices first. |
The Japanese currency is Yen and it’s read en. So, for prices, just use the number and “en.” For example... |
1 Yen is ichi-en |
5 Yen is go-en |
10 Yen is jū-en |
100 Yen is hyaku-en |
1000 Yen is sen-en |
5000 Yen is go-sen-en |
10000 Yen is ichi-man-en |
Risa: You should also know the phrase いくら (ikura) which means “How much” and the word “Price”, which is 値段 ねだん (nedan) in Japanese. So, for example: |
A: これはいくらですか。 |
A: How much is this? |
B: それは259円です。 |
B: It is 259 en. |
Now, let’s say you want to give out your phone number. |
In Japanese, “telephone” is denwa and “number” is bangō. |
The only thing you should keep in mind is that the “ dash“ between numbers is read as “no.” Or, you can simply pause before giving the following numbers. |
Saying telephone numbers is simple, you can just say the words one by one, like in English. So for example: |
A: あなたの携帯電話番号は何ですか。 |
A: What is your mobile telephone number? |
B:私の番号は090-1234-5678です。 |
B: My number is 090-1234-5678. |
In this lesson you learned how to count in Japanese as well as how to say fractions and decimals! |
But, if you want to speak even more Japanese and learn in the fastest, easiest and funnest way, go to JapanesePod101 dot com and sign up for your FREE lifetime account right now. Get our complete learning program with real lessons by real teachers. |
That’s it for today! |
See you next time! |
またね! |
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