Here we are at our second course on Japanese numbers and today we’re going to take it to the next level by learning to count up to 9,999. You will discover how the Japanese created numbers with Sino-Japanese pronunciation by combining the kanji that we saw together in the previous course.
Do not worry, the principle is extremely simple to understand. Apart from a few small exceptions, learning numbers will only be a long, leisurely river provided you continue your efforts diligently, of course.
Let’s start right away by reviewing the base.
一 .
イチ . one
二 .
ニ . two
三 .
サン . three
四 .
シ / よん . four
五 .
ゴ . five
六 .
ロク . six
七 .
シチ . seven
八 .
ハチ / なな . eight
九 .
ク / キュウ . nine
十 .
ジュウ . ten
Okay, so far, no problem. If you have learned your lesson well, you should be able to count from one to ten. Now if we mean eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen... up to nineteen. Let’s go from eleven to fifteen first and see what’s going on.
十一 .
ジュウイチ . eleven
十二 .
ジュウニ . twelve
十三 .
ジュウサン . thirteen
十四 .
ジュウシ / ジュウよん . fourteen
十五 .
ジュウゴ . fifteen
We find that we add up the Sino-Japanese pronunciations of the kanji, exactly as we have learned to do so far. Nothing unusual then. Note that the number fourteen can also be pronounced ジュウよん.
Let’s continue from sixteen to nineteen.
十六 .
ジュウロク . sixteen
十七 .
ジュウシチ / ジュウなな . seventeen
十八 .
ジュウハチ . eighteen
十九 .
ジュウク / ジュウキュウ . nineteen
Again, we follow the same pattern. Note that the number seventeen can also be pronounced ジュウなな and the number nineteen can also be pronounced ジュウキュウ.
Now if we want to say the number twenty :
二十 .
ニジュウ . twenty
Actually, twenty, it’s two times ten, so we write it : ニジュウ.
Let’s continue from twenty-one to twenty-nine.
二十一 .
ニジュウイチ . twenty one
二十二 .
ニジュウニ . twenty two
二十三 .
ニジュウサン . twenty three
二十四 .
ニジュウシ / ニジュウよん. twenty four
二十五 .
ニジュウゴ . twenty five
二十六 .
ニジュウロク . twenty six
二十七 .
ニジュウシチ / ニジュウよん . twenty seven
二十八 .
ニジュウハチ . twenty eight
二十九 .
ニジュウク / ニジュウキュウ . twenty nine
We always follow the same pattern. How about we go from thirty to thirty-nine. If we look at how we write the number twenty, how do you think the number « thirty » would be written ? Thirty, it’s three times ten, so let’s go.
三十一 .
サンジュウイチ . thirty one
三十二 .
サンジュウニ . thirty two
三十三 .
サンジュウサン . thirty three
三十四 .
サンジュウシ / サンジュウよん . thirty four
三十五 .
サンジュウゴ . thirty five
三十六 .
サンジュウロク . thirty six
三十七 .
サンジュウシチ / サンジュウよん . thirty seven
三十八 .
サンジュウハチ . thirty eight
三十九 .
サンジュウク / サンジュウキュウ . thirty nine
Okay, from there, you understood the logic to follow and I guess it is not necessary that we go from forty-one to forty-nine and then from fifty-one to fifty-nine...
Now let’s see the numbers ten by ten from forty to one hundred.
四十 .
よんジュウ . forty
五十 .
ゴジュウ . fifty
六十 .
ロクジュウ . sixty
七十 .
ななジュウ . seventy
八十 .
ハチジュウ . eighty
九十 .
キュウジュウ . ninety
百 .
ヒャク . one hundred
Now that we have reached one hundred, you are now able to count to one hundred in Japanese. Until then, there is no particular irregularity. Just remember that there is only one pronunciation for the numbers forty, seventy, and ninety.
Before continuing beyond the number one hundred, I give you below a list of random number between eleven and ninety-nine. Learning the numbers in order is good ; learning them out of order is better. You must be able to recognize numbers immediately.
六十一 .
ロクジュウイチ . sixty one
四十二 .
よんジュウニ . forty-two
六十六 .
ロクジュウロク . sixty six
七十四 .
ななジュウニよん . seventy four
五十二 .
ゴジュウニ . fifty-two
五十五 .
ゴジュウゴ . fifty-five
二十四 .
ニジュウよん . twenty four
八十二 .
ハチジュウニ . eighty-two
十八 .
ジュウハチ . eighteen
三十九 .
サンジュウキュウ . thirty nine
Phew ! That’s done. We will now go to the hundreds. We know that « one hundred » is said 百 . ヒャク. We will learn to count from one hundred and one to one hundred and ten.
百一 .
ヒャクイチ . one hundred and one
百二 .
ヒャクニ . one hundred and two
百三 .
ヒャクサン . one hundred and three
百四 .
ヒャクよん . one hundred and four
百五 .
ヒャクゴ . one hundred and five
百六 .
ヒャクロク . one hundred and six
百七 .
ヒャクなな . one hundred and seven
百八 .
ヒャクハチ . one hundred and eight
百九 .
ヒャクキュウ . one hundred and nine
Everything is only logical until then. Let’s continue counting from one hundred and ten to one hundred and forty-nine.
From one hundred to one hundred and nineteen
百十 .
ヒャクジュウ . one hundred and ten
百十一 .
ヒャクジュウイチ . one hundred and eleven
百十二 .
ヒャクジュウニ . one hundred and twelve
百十三 .
ヒャクジュウサン . one hundred and thirteen
百十四 .
ヒャクジュウよん . one hundred and fourteen
百十五 .
ヒャクジュウゴ . one hundred fifteen
百十六 .
ヒャクジュウロク . one hundred sixteen
百十七 .
ヒャクジュウなな . one hundred and seventeen
百十八 .
ヒャクジュウハチ . one hundred eighteen
百十九 .
ヒャクジュウキュウ . one hundred and nineteen
From one hundred and twenty to one hundred and twenty-nine
百二十 .
ヒャクニジュウ . one hundred and twenty
百二十一 .
ヒャクニジュウイチ . one hundred and twenty one
百二十二 .
ヒャクニジュウニ . one hundred and twenty-two
百二十三 .
ヒャクニジュウサン . one hundred and twenty-three
百二十四 .
ヒャクニジュウよん . one hundred and twenty four
百二十五 .
ヒャクニジュウゴ . one hundred and twenty five
百二十六 .
ヒャクニジュウロク . one hundred and twenty-six
百二十七 .
ヒャクニジュウなな . one hundred and twenty seven
百二十八 .
ヒャクニジュウハチ . one hundred and twenty eight
百二十九 .
ヒャクニジュウキュウ . one hundred and twenty-nine
From one hundred thirty to one hundred and thirty-nine
百三十 .
ヒャクサンジュウ . one hundred and thirty
百三十一 .
ヒャクサンジュウイチ . one hundred and thirty one
百三十二 .
ヒャクサンジュウニ . one hundred and thirty-two
百三十三 .
ヒャクサンジュウサン . one hundred and thirty-three
百三十四 .
ヒャクサンジュウよん . one hundred and thirty-four
百三十五 .
ヒャクサンジュウゴ . one hundred and thirty-five
百三十六 .
ヒャクサンジュウロク . one hundred and thirty-six
百三十七 .
ヒャクサンジュウなな . one hundred and thirty-seven
百三十八 .
ヒャクサンジュウハチ . one hundred and thirty-eight
百三十九 .
ヒャクサンジュウキュウ . one hundred and thirty-nine
From one hundred and forty to one hundred and forty-nine
百四十 .
ヒャクよんジュウ . one hundred and forty
百四十一 .
ヒャクよんジュウイチ . one hundred and forty one
百四十二 .
ヒャクよんジュウニ . one hundred and forty-two
百四十三 .
ヒャクよんジュウサン . one hundred and forty-three
百四十四 .
ヒャクよんジュウよん . one hundred and forty-four
百四十五 .
ヒャクサンジュウゴ . one hundred and forty-five
百四十六 .
ヒャクよんジュウロク . one hundred and forty-six
百四十七 . one hundred and forty-seven
百四十八 .
ヒャクよんジュウハチ . one hundred and forty-eight
百四十九 .
ヒャクよんジュウキュウ . one hundred and forty-nine
And one hundred and fifty ? How do you say one hundred and fifty in Japanese? Follow the same pattern and you have 百五十 . ヒャクゴジュウ → one hundred and fifty.
Well, from there, you understand the logic to follow and I suppose that it is not necessary that we go from one hundred and fifty to one thousand otherwise the list would be endless. The important thing is that you understand the logic.
Now let’s see the numbers one hundred by one hundred from two hundred to one thousand.
二百 .
ニヒャク . two hundred
三百 .
サンビャク . three hundred
四百 .
よんヒャク . four hundred
五百 .
ゴヒャク . five hundred
六百 .
ロッピャク . six hundred
七百 .
ななヒャク . seven hundred
八百 .
ハッピャク . eight hundred
九百 .
キュウヒャク . nine hundred
千 .
セン . one thousand
Pay attention to the variations for the numbers three hundred, six hundred and eight hundred. These variations exist for reasons of phonetics. The Japanese created these variations so that these numbers are easier to pronounce. To learn by heart
Now that we have reached one thousand, you are now able to count to one thousand in Japanese.
A new step has been taken. We will now go to the thousands. We know that « one thousand » is said 千 . セン. We are going to learn to count from one thousand to one thousand ten.
千一 .
センイチ . one thousand
千二 .
センニ . one thousand two
千三 .
センサン . one thousand three
千四 .
センよん . one thousand four
千五 .
センゴ . one thousand five
千六 .
センロク . one thousand six
千七 .
センなな . one thousand seven
千八 .
センハチ . one thousand eight
千九 .
センキュウ . one thousand nine
千十 .
センジュウ . one thousand ten
Everything is only logical until then. Let’s continue counting from one thousand ten to one thousand fifty.
From one thousand ten to one thousand nineteen
千十 .
センジュウ . one thousand ten
千十一 .
センジュウイチ . one thousand eleven
千十二 .
センジュウニ . one thousand and twelve
千十三 .
センジュウサン . one thousand thirteen
千十四 .
センジュウよん . one thousand fourteen
千十五 .
センジュウゴ . one thousand fifteen
千十六 .
センジュウロク . one thousand sixteen
千十七 .
センジュウなな . one thousand and seventeen
千十八 .
センジュウハチ . one thousand eighteen
千十九 .
センジュウキュウ . one thousand nineteen
From one thousand twenty to one thousand twenty-nine
千二十 .
センニジュウ . one thousand twenty
千二十一 .
センニジュウイチ . one thousand and twenty one
千二十二 .
センニジュウニ . one thousand and twenty-two
千二十三 .
センニジュウサン. one thousand and twenty-three
千二十四 .
センニジュウよん . one thousand and twenty-four
千二十五 .
センニジュウゴ . one thousand and twenty-five
千二十六 .
センニジュウロク . one thousand and twenty six
千二十七 .
センニジュウなな . one thousand and twenty-seven
千二十八 .
センニジュウハチ . one thousand and twenty-eight
千二十九 .
センニジュウキュウ . one thousand and twenty-nine
From one thousand thirty to one thousand thirty-nine
千三十 .
センサンジュウ . one thousand thirty
千三十一 .
センサンジュウイチ . one thousand and thirty one
千三十二 .
センサンジュウニ . one thousand and thirty-two
千三十三 .
センサンジュウサン . one thousand and thirty-three
千三十四 .
センサンジュウよん . one thousand and thirty-four
千三十五 .
センサンジュウゴ . one thousand and thirty-five
千三十六 .
センサンジュウロク . one thousand and thirty-six
千三十七 .
センサンジュウなな . one thousand and thirty-seven
千三十八 .
センサンジュウハチ . one thousand and thirty-eight
千三十九 .
センサンジュウキュウ . one thousand and thirty-nine
From one thousand forty to one thousand and fifty
千四十 .
センよんジュウ . one thousand forty
千四十一 .
センよんジュウイチ . one thousand and forty-one
千四十二 .
センよんジュウニ . one thousand and forty-two
千四十三 .
センよんジュウサン . one thousand and forty-three
千四十四 .
センよんジュウよん . one thousand and forty-four
千四十五 .
センよんジュウゴ . one thousand and forty-five
千四十六 .
センよんジュウロク . one thousand and forty-six
千四十七 .
センよんジュウなな . one thousand and forty-seven
千四十八 .
センよんジュウハチ . one thousand and forty-eight
千四十九 .
センよんジュウキュウ . one thousand and forty-nine
千五十 .
センゴジュウ . one thousand and fifty
Well, the logic to follow is always the same as at the beginning. We’ll stop there and go to the numbers thousand by thousand from two thousand to… nine thousand ! We are almost at the end of this course. Hold on tight !
二千 .
ニセン . two thousand
三千 .
センゼン . three thousand
四千 .
よんセン . four thousand
五千 .
ゴセン . five thousand
六千 .
ロクセン . six thousand
七千 .
ななセン . seven thousand
八千 .
ハッセン . eight thousand
九千 .
キュウセン . nine thousand
With that done, you are now able to count to 9,999. You saw that this time, we are really starting to get to the heart of the matter. Again, this may seem like a lot to remember, but the Japanese numbers, I repeat, are extremely easy. Apart from a few small exceptions to pronunciation, Japanese numbers operate on an ultra-simple logic. The only way to retain them permanently is to train again and again, whether from Japanese to English or from English to Japanese. Train regularly and it will all end up in your memory forever.
I give you your exercises, they are very simple. In the first, I give you numbers in Arabic numerals and you write them in kansūji indicating their readings in kana. In the second, I give you Japanese numbers in kansūji and you write them in Arabic numbers. Finally, I ask you to write your year of birth in Arabic numerals, kansūji and kana.
That’s it, that will be all for this course. Thank you for reading it. Continue your efforts, keep going, don’t give up.
I wish you to revise your course well and see you next time.
Introduction