Numbers Part 4

In the last part of our lesson on numbers, so we'll cover big numbers.

1,000                      せん                        (sen)                              千

2,000                      にせん                    (nisen)                          二千

3,000                      さんぜん                 (sanzen)                       三千

4,000                     よんせん                (yonsen)                       四千   

5,000                     ごせん                    (gosen)                         五千

6,000                     ろせん                    (rokusen)                      六千   

7,000                      ななせん               (nanasen)                     七千         

8,000                      はっせん               (hassen)                       八千

9,000                      きゅうせん           (kyuusen)                     九千               

10,000                     いちまん               (ichiman)                      一万
Million                      ひゃくまん            (hyakuman)                  百万
10 Million                 せんまん              (senman)                      千万
100 Million               おく                       (oku)                             億
1 Billion                  じゅうおく             (jyuuoku)                   十億

Note that 3,000 and 8,000 are pronounced "sanZEN" and "haSSEN," respectively. As for higher numbers such as 10,000, you can see that the kanji is using 一 for 1 and 万 for 10,000. 20,000 would be 二万. One million is literally 100 10000's (100 x 10,000 = 1,000,000), hence the kanji for that is 百万. 億 (oku) means 100 million, so 10 of those (十億) would equal 1 billion.

Numbers Part 3

Previously, we covered single and double digits. Now we'll cover triple digits. Take note of the special ones, as you'll have to remember they are pronounced a little differently from the others.

100                 ひゃく                       (hyaku)                              百

200                 にひゃく                      (nihyaku)                          二百

300                 さんびゃく                   (sanbyaku)                       三百

400                よんひゃく                (yonhyaku)                       四百   

500                ごひゃく                    (gohyaku)                         五百

600                ろっぴゃく                (roppyaku)                       六百   

700                ななひゃく                (nanahyaku)                     七百         

800                はっぴゃく                (happyaku)                      八百

900                きゅうひゃく            (kyuuhyaku)                     九百               

1000              せん                             (sen)                                 千

Also, note that 400, 700, and 900 use よん, なな, and きゅう, respectively. As for 300, 600, and 800, you'll have to memorize how they are pronounced as they aren't pronounced "hyaku" like the others.

Numbers Part 2

Here are more numbers in Japanese, along with their kanji.

11                じゅういち                                (jyuuichi)                              十一

12                じゅうに                                    (jyuuni)                                十二

13                じゅうさん                                (jyuusan)                              十三

14                じゅうよん, じゅうし            (jyuuyon, jyuushi)                 十四   

15                じゅうご                                    (jyuugo)                               十五

16                じゅうろく                                (jyuuroku)                            十六   

17                じゅうなな, じゅうしち        (jyuunana, jyuushichi)           十七         

18                じゅうはち                                (jyuuhachi)                           十八

19                じゅうきゅう, じゅうく        (jyuukyuu, jyuuku)               十九               

20                 にじゅう                                   (nijyuu)                                二十

21                 にじゅういち                           (nijyuuichi)                           二十一    
30                 さんじゅう                (sanjyuu)                             三十
40                 よんじゅう               (yonjyuu)                              四十
50                 ごじゅう                 (gojyuu)                                五十
60                 ろくじゅう                (rokujyuu)                             六十
70                 ななじゅう               (nanajyuu)                             七十
80                 はちじゅう               (hachijyuu)                           八十
90                 きゅうじゅう              (kyuujyuu)                            九十
100               ひゃく                   (hyaku)                                 百

Note that 14 can be じゅうよん or じゅうし, but 40 has to use よん (よんじゅう).
Note that 17 can be じゅうなな or じゅうしち, but 70 has to use なな (ななじゅう).
Note that 19 can be じゅうきゅう or じゅうく, but 90 has to use きゅう (きゅうじゅう).

Numbers Part 1

Like the rest of the world, Japan uses numbers that you will recognize (1, 2, 3, etc.) but it's also important to recognize the Japanese kanji characters for numbers. These should be the first kanji you learn since they are pretty easy to work with and memorize.

0                 ゼロ, れい   (zero, rei)               零

1                 いち            (ichi)                       一

2                 に                (ni)                         二

3                 さん            (san)                       三

4                 し, よん      (shi, yon)                四

5                 ご                (go)                        五

6                 ろく            (roku)                     六

7                 しち, なな   (shichi, nana)         七

8                 はち            (hachi)                    八

9                 きゅう, く   (kyuu, ku)              九

10               じゅう        (jyuu)                     十

For 0, ゼロ and れい are both equally used.

For 4, よん is more commonly used. In some cases, it will be only よ (よにん = 4 people). Also, in some cases only し is used for certain things (しがつ = April).

For 7, なな is more commonly used. In some cases, only しち is used for certain things (しちじ = 7 o’clock).

For 9, きゅう is more commonly used. In some cases, only く is used for certain things (くじ = 9 o’clock).

X is NOT Y! (~じゃありません)

We learned how to say "X is Y" by using "X は Y です" but what if we wanted to say that X isn't Y? It's simple. You simply replace です with じゃありません (jya arimasen)

わたしはがくせいです。 (watashi wa gakusei desu)
I am a student.

わたしはがくせいじゃありません。 (watashi wa gakusei jya arimasen)
I am not a student.

For now, keep in mind that じゃありません is used for nouns, so Y has to be a noun. In the case that Y is an adjective (such as 'X is fast'), we will learn about this later. Remember, there are い-adjectives and な-adjectives and they are different in conjugation. じゃありません is used for な-adjectives, but I don't want to start confusing you so don't worry about it until later.

~よ (I Tell You)

Like ね (ne), you can add よ (yo) to the end of a statement, but よ makes your statement sound assuring. It gives your statement a sense of authority. You can think of よ roughly meaning "I tell you" or something along those lines.

わたしのせんもんはにほんごですよ。 (watashi no senmon wa nihongo desu yo)
My major is Japanese (I tell you).

ほんださんのねこはちいさいですよ。 (Honda-san no neko wa chiisai desu yo)
(I assure you) Honda-san's cat is small.

That's all there is to ~よ. かんたんですよ。(It's easy, I tell you!)

~ね (Right?)

At the end of a statement, you can add ね (ne) to make it sound as if you are asking for confirmation, or are suggesting agreement. Its translation is something along the meaning of "right?" or "isn't it?".

いいおてんきですね。 (ii otenki desu ne)
It's good weather, isn't it?

これはさかなですね。 (kore wa sakana desu ne)
This is fish, right?

And that's all there is to this lesson. かんたんですね。 (Easy, right?)

The Particle も (mo) and Another Function of は

To understand the function of the particle も (mo), let's first take a look at these two sentences.

あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

The first sentence establishes にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic or property. Now, if you were to use "X も Y です," it relates back to the previously established characteristic. The particle も comes after a noun and replaces は  to give the meaning of "Noun is also..." instead of simply restating "Noun is..." (this is what は does).

However! Take a look at these three sentences:


あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

ゆかりさんはさんねんせいです。 (Yukari-san wa san nensei desu)
Yukari-san is a third year (student).

There is another function to the particle は, and that is to show contrast. The first two sentences is establishing にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic, but the third sentence changes it to さんねんせい (third year). In this case, the は in "X は Y です" isn't necessarily the topic marker, but one that indicates a contrast to the the previous sentence.

That's pretty much it to the particle も. Hopefully, all of these particles aren't confusing yet.