Japanese numbers

Two readings for 4, 7 and 9

The readings いち, に, さん arrived from Chinese along with the kanji. For 4 and 7, Japanese also uses よん and なな, taken from its own words for four and seven (よっつ, ななつ), and 9 came with two Chinese readings, きゅう and く. Today よん, なな and きゅう are the usual ones: to count, in prices, in phone numbers and in most numbers past ten.

The others live on in set words: the months, some hours, and counting out loud in a rhythm, as in exercise (いち, に, さん, し). Zero is ゼロ in speech, 零 (れい) in more formal use, and often まる when a room or phone number is read digit by digit.

11 to 99: tens and ones

Past ten, numbers are built like sums: 十一 (じゅういち) is ten and one. Put a digit before 十 to multiply it: 二十 (にじゅう) is two tens, and 二十五 (にじゅうご) is twenty five. That's all you need up to 99, with よん, なな and きゅう in the tens.

Hundreds and thousands: the sound changes

百 (ひゃく) is a hundred and 千 (せん) a thousand. On their own they need no one: 100 is just ひゃく and 1,000 just せん. Put a digit before them to multiply, as with 十.

A few blend with the digit before them, and these are the ones to learn by heart: 300, 600 and 800, then 3,000 and 8,000. They're in vermilion in the tables.

万 and 億: counting in groups of four

English groups digits by three: thousand, million, billion. Japanese groups them by four. 万 (まん) is 10,000 and 億 (おく) is 100,000,000, so 10,000 is 一万, one man, and a million is 百万, a hundred man.

To read a big number, regroup its digits by four from the right: 12,345,678 is 1234 5678, so 千二百三十四万 and then 五千六百七十八. Big prices and figures in Japan are often written that way, digits with 万 between them: 1234万5678.

Unlike 100 and 1,000, 10,000 takes its one: 一万 (いちまん). And 千 takes one before 万 or 億 when it stands alone: 一千万 (いっせんまん) is ten million.

Native Japanese numbers: ひとつ to とお

Japanese also has its own words for one to ten. You use them to count things when you don't know the right counter (りんごを三つください, three apples please), to order at a café or a shop, and for the age of a small child. They stop at ten; from 11 on, the numbers above take over.

They live on in the days of the month: 二日 (ふつか) is the 2nd, 三日 (みっか) the 3rd and 十日 (とおか) the 10th, while the 1st is 一日 (ついたち). Twenty years old has its own word too: 二十歳 (はたち).

Counters

To count things, Japanese adds a counter for the kind of thing: 三人 (さんにん) is three people, 三本 (さんぼん) three bottles or pens, 三枚 (さんまい) three sheets or plates. Number and counter can change their sounds when they meet, the way 百 does after 三. Counters, explained.

Prices and phone numbers

A price is the number and 円 (えん), yen: 500円 (ごひゃくえん) is five hundred yen. Coins come in 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen, notes in 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000, and a rare 2,000.

The 5 yen coin, 五円 (ごえん), sounds like ご縁, a bond between people, which is why it's the coin many people drop in the offering box at a shrine.

Read it: what number is this?

Kanji numbers are what you meet in vertical text and in set words. Read one and type it in digits.