TOPIC: Japanese numbers

TOPIC OVERVIEW

Be able to master numbers one through ten, from these you will be able to understand the
form which is the basis for all other numbers, and understand the patterns, you can make any
number that you’d like to formulate.

DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this learning task, the students must be able to:

1. Recognize numbers in Japanese

2. Determine the basic rules in counting numbers
3. Exercise counting using different particle

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT 3

I, Japanese Numbers

Japanese numbers are fairly simple. It advances on a base-ten system, so you’ll be able to use the
numbers by learning 1 to 10 and then learning expressions for the digits such as 10, 100 and
1,000. In writing, number names used in Japanese use the same Chinese numerals — and even
follow its grouping system by 10,000.

The Japanese number system has two sets of numbers: the Sino-Japanese numbers and the
Native Japanese numbers.

A, The most common Japanese numbers are the Sino-Japanese numbers. But you will often
come across 1 – 10 in Native Japanese numbers.

Sino-japanese numbers native Japanese numbers- kunyomi

Sino-Japanese Numbers Kanji Native Japanese Numbers Kanji

1 いち (ichi) 一 ひとつ (hitotsu) 一つ
2 に (ni) 二 ふたつ (futatsu) 二つ
3 さん (san) 三 みっつ (mittsu) 三つ
 Sino-Japanese Numbers Kanji Native Japanese Numbers Kanji
4 し、よん (shi, yon) 四 よっつ (yottsu) 四つ
5 ご (go) 五 いつつ (itsutsu) 五つ
6 ろく (roku) 六 むっつ (muttsu) 六つ
7 しち、なな (shichi, nana) 七 ななつ (nanatsu) 七つ
8 はち (hachi) 八 やっつ (yattsu) 八つ
9 く、きゅう (ku, kyuu) 九 ここのつ (kokonotsu) 九つ
10 じゅう (juu) 十 とう (tou) 十

0 れい、ゼロ、マル (rei, zero, maru) 零

Native Japanese numbers

This set of numbers is considered the universal counter. You can use it to count everything
except money, time, and people. So, if you forget the right counter, use these numbers!
The tip to remembering these numbers is that they all end in つ (tsu) except for 10, which is と
う (tou).
This also makes it easier when reading the kanji for these numbers. You can always tell which
counting system is being used by whether the kanji is followed by つ or not (except 10).

But take note: three numbers have two different readings: 4, 7, and 9.

The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese because し (shi) and く (ku) sound the
same as the words for death (死, shi) and agony (苦, ku). So, Japanese people avoid using those
readings whenever possible.

Even though 7 is a lucky number, it’s reading しち (shichi) also has し so it's more common to
say なな (nana).

As for zero, the Japanese word is 零 (rei), but it's more common to say it like in English. ゼロ
(zero) is most often used, or まる (maru) which means “circle” and is like saying “oh” in
English instead of zero.

B. How to Count to 100 in Japanese

Counting to 100 in Japanese is super easy once you learn the first 10, and it only uses one
system! In Japanese, once you get past 10, you count as if you’re adding. Here’s how that looks:

11 is 十一 (juuichi): 10 + 1 12 is 十二 (juuni): 10 + 2 and so on up to 19.

Once you get to twenty, it’s the same concept, but you start by counting the 10s:
20 is 二十 (nijuu): 2 10’s 21 is 二十一 (nijuuichi): 2 10's + 1 and so on, up to 99.

100 gets a new word: 百 (hyaku).

C. counting hundreds to thousands.

1 一 いち (ichi)
2 二 に (ni)
3 三 さん (san)
4 四 よん (yon)
5 五 ご (go)
6 六 ろく (roku)
7 七 なな (nana)
8 八 はち (hachi)
9 九 きゅう (kyuu)
10 十 じゅう (juu)
100 百 ひゃく (hyaku)
1,000 千 せん (sen)
10,000 万 まん (man)
100,000 十万 じゅうまん (juuman)
1,000,000 百万 ひゃくまん (hyakuman)
10,000,000 千万 せんまん (senman)
100,000,000 一億 いちおく (ichioku)
1,000,000,000 十億 じゅうおく (juuoku)
1,000,000,000,000 一兆 いっちょう (icchou)
Kanji
 Kanji

The numbers continue to stack themselves all the way up past a trillion.

The biggest difference is that the big numbers are divided by units of 4 (or 10,000) rather than 3
(1,000). So once you get past 10,000, it can be a bit confusing to think of one million as “one
hundred ten-thousands” at first.

One note, though: Romanized numbers (1, 2, 3) are often used instead of kanji nowadays.

When those large numbers come up, they are written the same as in English. But, it's still
important to learn the kanji because they *do still pop up, especially when paired with other
kanji.

D. Additional Japanese Counters

Japanese differs from English when you begin to count things. In Japanese, you cannot simply
say “I see three people.” Instead, Japanese has a number (no pun intended!) of counters, or words
that follow the number that help to describe exactly what that number is counting.

Take the example of people. The counter for people, conveniently, is nin 人, which also means
“person.” So instead of simply saying three, you say three [person].

There are counters for a wide variety of things. Here are some of the most common that you can
expect to use:

Counter Use Exception Examples

s

本 hon/pon/ For long objects. Think of 1 = ippon Enpitsu ha ippon arimasu. えんぴ
bon chopsticks or bottles. 3 =sanbon つは一本あります。(I have one
6 =roppon pencil.)
10=juppon

枚 mai For thin objects. Most often Shatsu ha sanmai aru yo. シャツは
for paper, but also for shirts 三枚あるよ。(I have three shirts.)
and other things like cutting
 boards.

匹 hiki/biki/ For counting small animals 1 = ippiki

piki like dogs and cats. 3 =sanbiki
6 =roppiki
8 =happiki
10=juppiki

歳 sai For counting someone’s age. 1 = issai

8 = hassai
10 =jussai

個 ko For counting small objects. 1 = ikko

They are usually round, like 6 = rokko
marbles. 8 =hakko
10=jukko

回 kai For counting how often 1 = ikkai Kyonen nihon ni gokai

something happens. 6 =rokkai ikimashita. 去年日本に五回行き
10=jukkai ました。(I went to Japan 5 times
last year.)

POST-ASSESSMENT no3.

I. Instruction

1. Download and answer 03asessment1 task print your answer and submit next face to face
meeting
2. 03task performance1 (Individual Recitation)face to face meeting