Lesson #5: Numbers: Money, Time, and Phone Numbers

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This page was created on 6 June, 2007.

Numbers

Watch the video clip below for a quick introduction to correctly pronouncing numbers 0-20 in Japanese.

Repeating after the voice in the video helps a lot with pronunciation. Try to imitate the speaker's pronunciation as closely as possible!

Now that we have learned how to say the numbers, you should learn to read them in hiragana. There are also kanji for numbers which are used more frequently, but these will be introduced in later lessons.

0	ゼロ
1	いち
2	に
3	さん
4	よん
5	ご
6	ろく
7	なな
8	はち
9	きゅう
10	じゅう
11	じゅういち
12	じゅうに
13	じゅうさん
14	じゅうよん
15	じゅうご
16	じゅうろく
17	じゅうなな
18	じゅうはち
19	じゅうきゅう
20	にじゅう

Do you notice any patterns? 11-20 consist of the Japanese word for 10 combined with the numbers 1 through 10. This pattern holds for numbers 21-99 as well. For example, 99 is きゅうじゅうきゅう.

Larger Numbers

100	ひゃく
200	にひゃく
300	さんびゃく
400	よんひゃく
500	ごひゃく
600	ろっぴゃく
700	ななひゃく
800	はっぴゃく
900	きゅうひゃく
1,000	せん
2,000	にせん
3,000	さんぜん
4,000	よんせん
5,000	ごせん
6,000	ろくせん
7,000	ななせん
8,000	はっせん
9,000	きゅうせん
10,000	いちまん
20,000	にまん

The bolded words are irregular. You should take special care to memorize them. The unbolded numbers follow a consistent pattern.

Telling Time

Telling time in Japanese is very simple. You simply take a number from 1-12 and add じ to it to make it into number + 'o clock.

Example: さんじ is 3 o'clock.

However, there are TWO exceptions to this rule.

1. 4 o'clock is よじ not よんじ

2. 9 o'clock is くじ not きゅうじ

Han

Adding はん after the hour turns the time into _:30.

Example: じゅうにじはん is 12:30.

Now we can combine our ability to state the time with the simple statements we learned in the previous lesson.

Example: It is 6:30. ろくじはんです。

Prices

Stating prices in Japanese is especially easy. Now that you have memorized the higher numbers introduced earlier in this lesson, you should be able to state prices with ease. The most difficult part is memorizing the numbers themselves. Don't worry; it definitely takes practice and a lot of repetition to get them all right!

In order to state a price, simply take the number and add the Japanese monetary unit, the yen, to it.

However, in Japanese, they pronounce yen as "en."

Example: ￥30,000 is さんまんえん

Asking Prices

If you go shopping in Japan, it's very important that you know how to ask what the price is. In order to ask the price of an object or product, simply say:

Object はいくらですか。

Note that the "desu ka" ending is the same one you learned in the previous lesson. "Wa" is also the same particle you learned in that lesson. "Ikura" signifies the question word "how much."

Phone Numbers

Phone numbers are easy to read once you have learned number 0-9. You simply say the numbers individually, and when you get to the dash, simply say "no."

Example: (408) 777-8228 is read:

よんゼロのはちななななななのはちににはち

Easy, right?

It helps to pronounce monosyllabic numbers such as "ni" or "san" a little longer so as to make sure that the listener is able to distinguish them from the other numbers.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary in this lesson is simply all the numbers that have been introduced in this lesson from 0 to 90,000.

Assignment
Please record a clip of yourself reading the following expressions in Japanese. E-mail this clip as an attachment to your instructor at: eunnah@stanford.edu in order to receive personal feedback on your pronunciation.

100

800

4 o'clock

It is 9:30.

￥80,000

How much is it?

(987) 223-4892

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Tokoro created and updated by Eunice Lee