Lesson 5: Numbers

Click here for the kana version.

In this lesson, we will study Japanese numbers. Let's start with one through ten.
1 - 10
rei or zero
ichi
ni
san
shi or yon
go
roku
nana or shichi
hachi
kyuu or ku
juu

zero
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten

Note that several of the numbers have two pronunciations. Each pronunciation is used in specific
situations. Sometimes either pronunciation is acceptable.
11 - 19
The numbers from 11 to 19 are formed by putting the appropriate number after ten. Thus 11 is juu
+ ichi = juuichi.
juu-ichi
juu-ni
juu-san
juu-shi or juu-yon
juu-go
juu-roku
juu-nana or juu-shichi
juu-hachi
juu-kyuu or juu-ku

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

20 - 90
The numbers from 20 to 90 are formed by putting the appropriate number before ten. Thus 20 is
ni + juu = nijuu. Think of it like saying 'two tens.'
ni-juu
san-juu
yon-juu
go-juu

twenty
thirty
fourty (Not shi-juu)
fifty

roku-juu
nana-juu
hachi-juu
kyuu-juu

sixty
seventy
eighty
ninety (Not ku-juu)

Other numbers can be formed in ways similar to the 1-19 and 20-90 ways. For example, 21 is
formed by making twenty, then adding one. 21 = ni + juu + ichi = nijuuichi. Or, 'two tens and one'
is twenty one.
Examples:
san-juu-ni
roku-juu-nana
yon-juu-hachi
kyuu-juu-ku

32
67
48
99

100 - 900
One hundred is hyaku. The numbers from 200 to 900 are formed like the numbers from 20-90. Be
careful as there are some exceptions in pronunciation.
nihyaku
sanbyaku
yonhyaku
gohyaku
roppyaku
nanahyaku
happyaku
kyuuhyaku

200
300 *
400
500
600 *
700
800 *
900

Note the exceptions in pronunciation for the numbers with asterisks.

Larger Numbers:
sen
man
juu-man
hyaku-man
sen-man
oku

thousand
ten thousand
hundred thousand
million
ten million
hundred million