How to Write Numbers in Japanese77

Japanese has two main numeral systems: a native Japanese system and a system adopted from Chinese. The native Japanese system is used for numbers one through ten, and the Chinese system is used for all other numbers.

Native Japanese Numerals

The native Japanese numerals are:
一 (ichi) - one
二 (ni) - two
三 (san) - three
四 (shi) - four
五 (go) - five
六 (roku) - six
七 (nana) - seven
八 (hachi) - eight
九 (kyuu) - nine
十 (juu) - ten

These numerals are used to count objects and to indicate time. For example, to say "one o'clock," you would say "ichi-ji." To say "two apples," you would say "ni-ko." Note, however, that the native Japanese numeral for "four" (shi) is always pronounced as "yon" when it is used in a compound word. For example, "four apples" is "yon-ko."

Chinese Numerals

The Chinese numerals are used for all numbers greater than ten. These numerals are:
百 (hyaku) - hundred
千 (sen) - thousand
万 (man) - ten thousand
億 (oku) - hundred million
兆 (chou) - trillion
京 (kei) - ten quadrillion
垓 (gai) - hundred quadrillion
秭 (shi) - thousand quadrillion
穣 (jou) - ten thousand quadrillion
溝 (kou) - hundred thousand quadrillion

To form numbers greater than ten, the Chinese numerals are combined with the native Japanese numerals. For example, to say "one hundred," you would say "hyaku-ichi." To say "one thousand," you would say "sen-ichi." To say "one million," you would say "hyaku-man."

Special Cases

There are a few special cases to keep in mind when writing numbers in Japanese.
The number zero is written as "rei" or "zero."
When counting people, the native Japanese numeral for "one" (ichi) is replaced with the word "hitori." For example, to say "one person," you would say "hitori."
When counting years, the Chinese numeral for "year" (nen) is added to the end of the number. For example, to say "2023," you would say "ni-sen-ni-juu-san-nen."
When counting money, the Chinese numeral for "yen" (en) is added to the end of the number. For example, to say "100 yen," you would say "hyaku-en."

Practice

Let's practice writing some numbers in Japanese:
12 - juuni
25 - ni-juu-go
100 - hyaku
1,000 - sen
10,000 - man
100,000 - juuman
1,000,000 - hyakuman
10,000,000 - senman
100,000,000 - okuman
1,000,000,000 - jyuuokuman

Conclusion

Writing numbers in Japanese is not difficult, but there are a few things to keep in mind. By following the rules outlined in this guide, you should be able to write any number in Japanese with confidence.

2024-12-22

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