数First sentences
Counting
Japanese has two sets of numbers, and small counting words that change with what you're counting.
Two sets
Numbers from one to ten
Use the native set by itself to count ordinary things, up to ten. Use the Chinese-origin set for everything else.
| Chinese-origin | Native | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | いち | ひとつ |
| 2 | に | ふたつ |
| 3 | さん | みっつ |
| 4 | よん / し | よっつ |
| 5 | ご | いつつ |
| 6 | ろく | むっつ |
| 7 | なな / しち | ななつ |
| 8 | はち | やっつ |
| 9 | きゅう / く | ここのつ |
| 10 | じゅう | とお |
Bigger numbers
Numbers build up in tens of thousands
Just say the digits in order: 二十三 is に・じゅう・さん, “two ten three”. After 百 (100) and 千 (1,000), the next unit is 万 (10,000), so a million is 百万, “a hundred ten-thousands.”
Phone numbers are read digit by digit, usually with よん and なな for 4 and 7.
Counters
What you count changes the word
Sounds shift with some numbers: いっぽん, さんぼん, ろっぽん. One and two people are irregular: ひとり and ふたり.
| Counter | For | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 枚 | flat things: paper, shirts | 三枚 | さんまい |
| 本 | long things: pens, bottles | 三本 | さんぼん |
| 冊 | books | 三冊 | さんさつ |
| 匹 | small animals | 三匹 | さんびき |
| 人 | people | 三人 | さんにん |
| 個 | small objects | 三個 | さんこ |
| 回 | times something happens | 三回 | さんかい |
| 時間 | hours | 三時間 | さんじかん |
Word order
The count usually follows the particle
I bought three apples.
Five students came.
Two bottles of beer, please.
There's one cat.
Sharing it out
ずつ: each, or at a time
ずつ follows a number or amount and shares it out evenly.
I gave the children one apple each.
I learn three kanji a day, every day.
I've started to understand, little by little.
Your turn
Which counter fits?
I bought three stamps.
Say it yourself
At the bakery
You'd like three pieces of bread at a bakery. If you're not sure about a counter, the native numbers work for most things.
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