Numerals and Counting
Rudiments of Japanese counting : Native Japanese counting system
Hitotsu – one muttsu – six
Futatsu – two nanatsu – seven
Mittsu – Three yattsu – eight
Yottsu – four kokonotsu – nine
Itsutsu – five too – ten
Chinese Counting system
rei – zero
ichi – one
ni – two
san – three
shi / yon – four
go – five
roku – six
shichi / nana – seven
hachi – eight
kyuu – nine
juu – ten
juuichi – eleven
juuni – twelve yonjuu – forty
juusan – thirteen yonjuu-ichi – forty one
juushi , etc, – fourteen , etc. guu/ gojuu – fifty
nijuu – twenty gojuu-ichi – fifty one
nijuuichi – twenty one hyaku – one hundred
nijuuni – twenty two nihyaku – two hundred
nijuusan – twenty three sen – one thousand
nijuushi – twenty four juuman – one hundred thousand
nijuugo, etc. – twenty five, etc.
sanju – thirty
sanjuu-ichi, – thirty one
Numeral Classifiers / Counters
1. nin – for persons 9. dai – for vehicles
2. wa – for birds 10. ken – for houses and buildings
3. hiki – for animals and fish 11. choo – for things with handles
4. hon – for long or cylindrical objects 12. soku – for things worn on feet, pairs of footwears
5. hai – for cupfuls, containerful 13. soo – for ships or boats
6. mai – for flat things 14. kai – for number of times, classifier for floors or storeys
7. tsu – for pairs 15. ko – for bundles, parcels
8. en – suffix for Japanese money
Days of the week :
1. Nichiyoobi – Sunday 5. Mokuyoobi – Thursday
2. Getsuyoobi – Monday 6. Kinyoobi – Friday
3. Kayoobi – Tuesday 7. Doyoobi – Saturday
4. Suiyoobi – Wednesday
Months of the Year :
1. ichigatsu – January 7. shichigatsu – July
2. nigatsu – February 8. hachigatsu – August
3. sangatsu – March 9. kugatsu – September
4. shigatsu – April 10. juugatsu – October
5. gogatsu – May 11. juuicjigatsu – November
6. rokugatsu – June 12. juunigatsu – December
Counting People
1. hitori – one 6. rokunin – six
2. futari – two 7. sichinin – seven
3. sannin – three 8. hachinin – eight
4. yunin – four 9. kyuunin – nine
5. gonin – five 10. juunin – ten
Counting in multiples of ten
10 – juu 60 – rokujuu
20 – nijuu 70 – nanajuu
30 – sanjuu 80 – hachijuu
40 – yonjuu 90 – kyuujuu
50 – gojuu 100 – hyaku
Counting in multiples of one hundred
100 – hyaku 600 – roppyhaku
200 – nihyaku 700 – nanahyaku
300 – sanhyaku 800 – happyaku
400 – yonhyaku 900 – kyuuhyaku
500– gohyaku 1000 – sen
Counting in multiples of one thousand
1,000 – sen 8,000 – hassen
2,000 – nisen 9,000 – kyuusen
3,000 – sanzen 10,000 – ichiman
4,000 – yonsen 100,000 – juuman
5,000– gosen 1,000,000 – hyakuman
6,000 – rokusen 10,000,000 – senman
7,000 – nanasen 100,000,000 – ichioku
How to tell the time ?
1. ichiji – 1 o’clock 7. shichiji – 7 o’clock
2. niji – 2 o’clock 8. hachiji – 8 o’clock
3. sanji – 3 o’clock 9. kuji – 9 o’clock
4. yoji – 4 o’clock 10. juuji – 10 o’clock
5. goji – 5 o’clock 11. juuichiji – 11 o’clock
6. rokuji – 6 o’clock 12. juuniji – 12 o’clock
“ji” – means o’clock and “nanji” means what time?
Counter for number of minutes :
“fun” or “pun” is the numeral classifier for minute and “nanpun” means “how many minutes”
1. ippun – 1 minute 11. juugofun – 15 minutes
2. nifun – 2 minutes 12. nijuppun – 20 minutes
3. sanpun – 3 minutes 13. nijuugofun – 25 minutes
4. yonfun – 4 minutes 14. sanjuppun – 30 minutes
5. gofun – 5 minutes, 15. sanjuugofun – 35 minutes
6. roppun – 6 minutes 16. yojuppun – 40 minutes
7. nanafun – 7 minutes 17. yonjuugofun – 45 minutes
8. happun – 8 minutes 18. gojuppun – 50 minutes
9. kyuufun – 9 minutes 19. gojuugofun – 55 minutes
10. juppun – 10 minutes 20. rokujuppun – 60 minutes
Examples :
8:15 – hachiji juugofun 3:35 – sanji sanjuugofun
10:20 – juuji nijuppun 2:25 – niji nijuugofun
11:45 – juuichiji yonjuugofun 1:30 – ichiji han
12:10 – juuniji juppun 5:30 – goji han
9:10 – kuji juppun 4:30 – yoji han
5 minutes before three – sanji gofun mae
10 minutes before 12 – juuniji juppun mae
15 minutes before 10 – juuji juugofun mae
It’s 5 minutes advanced – gofun susundeimasu
It’s 10 minutes advanced – juppun susundeimasu
It’s 20 minutes advanced – Nijuppun susundeimasu
5 minutes past 9 – kuji gofun sungi.
It’s 5 minutes late. – gofun okureteimasu.
10 minutes past 12 – juuniji juppun sugi.
It’s 10 minutes late. – juppun okureteimasu.
NOTE :
susudeimasu – means “It’s advanced”.
okurete – means “it’s late”
7:30 AM – gozen shichiji han 4:30 PM – gogo yoji han
11:30 AM – gozen juuichiji han 5:30 PM – gogo goji han
from 8:00 to 5:00 – hachiji kara goji made
from 10:30 in the morning to 9:00 in the evening – asa juuji han kara yoru kuji made
Dialogue ( taiwa )
I. A : Ima nanji desu ka. What time is it now ?
B : Rokuji desu. It’s six o’clock.
A : Nihon wa ima nanji desu ka What time is it now in Japan ?
B : Kuji desu. It’s nine o’clock.
A.: Gogo kuji desu ka. Is it 9 PM ?
B : Hai, soo desu. Yes it is.
Dialogue II
A : Sumimasen, nanji desu ka ? Excuse me, what time is it ?
B : Yoji nijuupun desu. It’s four twenty.
A. : Arigatoo gozaimasu. Thank you.
B : Doo itashimashite. You’re welcome.
Days of the Month
tsuitachi – 1st day juushichinichi – 17th day
futsuka – 2nd day juuhachinichi – 18th day
mikka – 3rd day juukunichi – 19th day
yokka – 4th day hatsuka – 20th day
itsuka – 5th day nijuuichinichi – 21st day
muika – 6th day nijuuninichi – 22nd day
nanoka – 7th day nijuusannichi – 23rd day
yooka – 8th day nijuuyokka – 24th day
kokonoka – 9th day nijuugonichi – 25th day
tooka – 10th day nijuurokunichi – 26th day
juuichinichi – 11th day nijuushichinichi – 27th day
juuninichi – 12th day nijuuhachinichi – 28th day
juusannichi – 13th day nijuukunichi – 29th day
juuyokka – 14th day sanjuunichi – 30th day
juugonichi – 15th day sanjuuichinichi – 31st day
juurokunichi – 16th day
Vocabulary words :
takusan – many, a lot, plenty mise – store; shop
ten–in – sales clerk nannin – how many ( persons )
peso – peso Ikura – how much
doru – dollar kippu – ticket
sangurasu – sunglasses tamago – egg
koohii – coffee Nihon ryoori – Japanese food
ocha – green tea Chuuka ryoori – Chinese food
koocha – black tea Firipin ryoori – Filipino food
miruku – milk Kankoku ryoori – Korean food
koora – coke Kaisen ryoori – seafoods
biiru – beer ebi – fish
pan – bread sakana – fish
gohan – rice ( cooked ) yasai – vegetables
mizu – water niku – meat
juusu – juice ima – now
choodo – exactly ; just asa – morning
yoru – night; evening mae – before
kara – from sugi – past
made – until ; up to han – half past
susundeimasu – advanced/ be too fast ji – o’clock
okureteimasu – late / be too slow pun/ fun – minute
hiru – afternoon tokei – watch; clock
shoogo – noon atteimasu – right; keep good time
kinoo – yesterday kyoo – today
ashita – tomorrow yuube – last night
konban – tonight ototoi – the day before yesterday
asatte – the day after tomorrow mainichi – everyday
tokidoki – sometimes kongetsu – this month
sengetsu – last month raigetsu – next month
konshuu – this week senshuu – last week
raishuu – next week kotoshi – this month
kyonen – last year rainen – next year
nin – numeral classifier for persons. It is added to the Chinese-style numerals.
ikutsu – how many ( inquire about the number of things);
how old ( inquire about somebody’s age )
Sentences :
1. Anata wa nani o nomimasu ka. What do you drink ?
2. Watashi wa koocha o nomimasu. I drink tea.
3. Anata wa biiru o nomimasu ka. Do you drink beer ?
4. Hai, biiru o nomimasu. Yes, I drink beer.
5. Anata wa doo desu ka. How about you ?
6. Watashi mo biiru o nomimasu. I drink beer, too.
7. I eat Japanese food. Watashi wa Nihon ryoori o tabemasu.
8. She doesn’t eat Chinese food. Kanojo wa Chuuka ryoori o tabemasen.