ぶんぽう：　レッスン　２

Grammar: Lesson 2

Numbers in Japanese

In Japanese, there are different ways to count different things. Pronunciations of numbers and their suffixes (or “counters”) change depending on what it is you are counting.In this lesson, we will learn:

• The counting (or cardinal) numbers, • digits used for phone numbers, • numbers used to express age, • and the months of the year.

Counting Numbers in Japanese

The Counting Numbers (or cardinal numbers) are the numbers used to count, such as the English words one, two, three, twenty-five, three hundred and sixteen…etc.

Counting NumbersRomaji ひらがな

HiraganaEnglish Translation

Ichi いち 1

Ni に 2

San さん 3

Shi or yon し　 or 　よん 4

Go ご 5

Roku ろく 6

Shichi or nana しち　 or 　なな 7

Hachi はち 8

Ku or kyuu く　 or 　きゅう 9

Jyuu じゅう 10

These are the counting numbers… used for counting. Notice that some numbers, like 4, 7, and 9 have more than one pronunciation.Their 2nd pronunciations (in red) are used when counting double or more digits.

Counting Numbers Past 10

For making numbers past 10, take a look at these examples:

12 じゅう

jyuuにni =

じゅう　に

jyuu ni

10 2 12

30さんsan

じゅうjyuu =

さん　じゅうsan jyuu

3 10 30

47

よんyon

じゅうjyuu

+

ななnana

=

よん　じゅう　なな

yon jyuu nana

4 107 47

40

でんわ　ばんごうPhone numbers

denwa bangou

でんわ　ばんごうPhone numbers

でんわ　ばんごう　は　なん　です　か。Denwa bangou wa nan desu kaWhat is your phone number?

•Phone numbers usually contain hyphens. •The phone number in the response below has a hyphen after the first 3 digits of the phone number. •Hyphens are read out loud as の no.

わたし　の　でんわ　ばんごう　は　さん　よん　なな　の　いち　に　よん　はち　です。

Watashi no denwa bangou wa san yon nana no ichi ni yon hachi desu.My phone number is 347–1248.

Digits for phone numbersRomaji ひらがな

HiraganaEnglish

Zero or maru ぜろ　 or 　まる 0

Ichi いち 1

Ni に 2

San さん 3

Yon よん 4 *

Go ご 5

Roku ろく 6

Nana なな 7 *

Hachi はち 8

Kyuu きゅう 9 *

• Only use these pronunciations for 4, 7, and 9 when reading phone numbers.

なん　さい　です　か。 How Old Are you?

nan sai desu ka

なん　さい　です　か。How old are you?The general rule for answering how old you are: state the number and add the suffix さい sai.

– For example:

• わたし　は　ご　さい　です。• Watashi wa go sai desu• I am 5 years old.

• わたし　は　じゅう　ご　さい　です。• Watashi wa jyuu go sai desu.• I am 15 years old.

• わたし　は　に　じゅう　ご　さい　です。• Watashi wa ni jyuu go sai desu.• I am 25 years old.

なん　さい　です　か。 How old are you? (Continued)

• There are a few ages that have pronunciations that are exceptions to the rule above. • Digits that end in 1, 8, or 10 will follow these exceptions.

– For example:

• さん　じゅう　はっさい• San jyuu hassai• 38 years old

• よん　じゅう　いっさい• Yon jyuu issai• 41 years old

• じゅう　ご　さい• Jyuu go sai• 50 years old

Romaji ひらがなHiragana

English Translation

Issai いっさい 1 year old

Ni sai にさい 2 years old

San sai さんさい 3 years old

Yon sai よんさい 4 years old*

Go sai ごさい 5 years old

Roku sai ろくさい 6 years old

Nana sai ななさい 7 years old*

Hassai はっさい 8 years old

Kyuu sai きゅうさい 9 years old*

Jyuusai or jissai じゅうさい　 or 　じっさい

10 years old

Jyuu issai じゅういっさい 11 years old

Jyuu hassai じゅうはっさい 18 years old

hatachi はたち 20 years old*Only use these pronunciations for 4, 7, and 9 when saying ages.

なん　がつ　うまれ　です　か。

What month were you born in?

nan gatsu umare desu ka

がつ - Months• In Japan, as in many parts of the

world, there are 12 months to make a whole year.

• Months in Japanese are basically the number of the month plus the counter word がつ gatsu, which means month.

• Take a look at January. いち ichi is the number 1. Add がつ gatsu after いち ichi to say “month one” or, in other words, January.

* Note that April, July, and September use alternate pronunciations.

Romaji Hiragana English

Ichi gatsu いち　がつ January

Ni gatsu に　がつ February

San gatsu さん　がつ March

Shi gatsu し　がつ April*

Go gatsu ご　がつ May

Roku gatsu ろく　がつ June

Shichi gatsu しち　がつ July*

Hachi gatsu はち　がつ August

Ku gatsu く　がつ September*

Jyuu gatsu じゅう　がつ October

Jyuu ichi gatsu じゅう　いち　がつ November

Jyuu ni gatsu じゅう　に　がつ December

なん　がつ – What month?• “What” in Japanese can either be “nan” or “nani” ( なん or なに )

• When you want to just ask “what?” say なに nani.

• When you are dealing with counters or other nouns, like months, phone numbers, or age, なん nan is used for “what”.

• For example:

Example 1: What month is it? Example 2: What month were you born in?

Q: なん がつ ですか。Nan gatsu desu kaWhat month is it?

A: はち がつ　です。Hachi gatsu desuIt is August.

Q: なん がつ　うまれ　です　か。Nan gatsu umare desu kaWhat month were you born in?

A: く がつ　うまれ　です。Ku gatsu umare desuI was born in September.

じょしparticles

Particles are very important in Japanese. If you use the wrong particle the sentence will have a totally different meaning.

For example:

OK! わたし　の　なまえ 　 Watashi no namae. 　 My name

NO わたし　は　なまえ

watashi wa namae (doesn’t make sense!)

Know when and where to use particles!In this lesson, we’ll learn some new particles and review some. 　

jyoshi

の no – the Possessive Particle• の no is used to show ownership, or possession. • In other words, it shows who the object / thing / person belongs to.• It is very similar to apostrophe + s ( …‘s ) in the English language.

– For example:• わたし　の　たんじょうび　です。• Watashi no tanjyoubi desu.• It is my birthday.

• だいち　の　せんせい• Daichi no sensei• Daichi’s teacher

• さくらさん　の　でんわ　ばんごう• Sakurasan no denwa bangou• Ms. Sakura’s phone number

は　 wa – the Topic Marker (Review)

• Remember, the particle は wa connects the topic with the object.

• Take a look at the sentences below:

– Note that we have also translated them literally to show the differences with and without は wa

OK! わたし　は　だいち　です。

Watashi wa daichi desu

I am Daichi.

(lit. Talking about myself, I am Daichi)

NO わたし　だいち　です。

Watashi daichi desu

I Daichi am.

(lit. I Daichi am.)

おわり

This is the end of the Grammar Notes for this lesson.

You can print these notes for your reference using the link above this slideshow.