Numbers are one of the most important pieces of vocabulary you can learn in Japanese, maybe any language. They are used far more often than you would think. What time is it? What day is it? What year? How much does this cost? What house number? Radio station? The list of uses and needs goes on and on. It's also fun being able to count, as it makes me feel like I'm learning something. Sure, knowing simple sentences is alright, but when someone breaks out something I don't recognize, those simple phrases are useless. With numbers, I feel like I know what I'm doing, which is encouraging. The fact it's so useful is a nice bonus. Let's begin, shall we?
Quick explanation of the format. The first line consists of the kanji, written in kanji of course, and the English translation. Then the On- reading (音), which is katakana, followed by the Kun- reading (訓), in hiragana. After that is a list of three common compounds for each word or, in this case, number.
For now, just focus on learning the On- reading. If you can master the Kun-, that's great, too.
I put the compounds and kanji in for posterity sake. If someone is further along, they can learn from their inclusion and newer readers can look back at them later when they are more experienced. For now, just think of them as a introduction to the kanji and various readings.
You can also use the compounds to help build more vocabulary even if you don't know the kanji, as the hiragana is provided for each word. This tells you how to pronounce it and you can write it as that if you wish and most people will still understand it.
Quick explanation of the format. The first line consists of the kanji, written in kanji of course, and the English translation. Then the On- reading (音), which is katakana, followed by the Kun- reading (訓), in hiragana. After that is a list of three common compounds for each word or, in this case, number.
For now, just focus on learning the On- reading. If you can master the Kun-, that's great, too.
I put the compounds and kanji in for posterity sake. If someone is further along, they can learn from their inclusion and newer readers can look back at them later when they are more experienced. For now, just think of them as a introduction to the kanji and various readings.
You can also use the compounds to help build more vocabulary even if you don't know the kanji, as the hiragana is provided for each word. This tells you how to pronounce it and you can write it as that if you wish and most people will still understand it.
Numbers Vocabulary
一 One (1)
音：イチ 訓：ひと（つ)
Common Compounds
一月 いちがつ January (lit. first month)
一年 いちねん one year
一人 ひとり one person
二 Two (2)
音：二 訓：ふた（つ）
Common Compounds
二月 にがつ February (lit. second month)
二年 にねん two years
二人 ふたり two people
三 Three (3)
音：サン 訓：み（っつ）
Common Compounds
三年 さんねん three years
三人 さんにん three people
三月 さんがつ March (lit. third month)
四 Four (4)
音：シ 訓：よん、よ（っつ）
Common Compounds
四年 よんねん four years
四月 しがつ April (lit. fourth month)
四日 よっか fourth day of month, four days
五 Five (5)
音：ゴ 訓：いつ（つ）
Common Compounds
五年 ごねん five years
五日 いつか five days, fifth day of month
十五 じゅうご fifteen (15)
六 Six (6)
音：ロク、リク 訓：むっ（つ）、む
Common Compounds
六日 むいか six days, sixth day of month
六月 ろくがつ June (lit. sixth month)
六千 ろくせん six thousand (6000)
七 Seven (7)
音：シチ 訓：なな（つ）
Common Compounds
七年 しちねん seven years
七月 しちがつ July (lit. seventh month)
七人 ななにん、しちにん seven people
八 Eight (8)
音：ハチ 訓：やっ（つ）
Common Compounds
八日 ようか eight days, eighth day of month
八月 はちがつ August (lit. eighth month)
八百 はっぴゃく eight hundred (800)
九 Nine (9)
音：キュウ、ク 訓：ここの（つ）
Common Compounds
九日 ここのか nine days, ninth day of month
九月 くがつ September (lit. ninth month)
九十 きゅうじゅう ninety (90)
十 Ten (10)
音：じゅう 訓：とお、と
Common Compounds
十年 じゅうねん ten years
十人 じゅうにん ten people
十日 とおか ten days, tenth day of month
Notes
4 & 7
4 & 7 are unique compared to the other numbers in that they use both the On- and Kun- readings to count. You will generally find that you use the On- reading for 1-10 and the Kun- reading for 10+. So 4 would be し, but 14 or 40 would be じゅうよん or よんじゅう. Of course, like all Japanese, there are exceptions to this in all forms of counting.
Counters
Japan uses counters to state the number of objects they are talking about. Think of it as 10 people or 4 bottles or 3 small animals and so on. This can end with different uses of numbers. As you saw above, 1 person is ひとり and 2 people is ふたり. You might think it would be いち- or に-, but that would be too easy. (=p)
So, that's the reason for learning the On- and Kun- readings of the numbers, but don't make it a focus if you are starting out. They're used for more than counters as well, but I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible.
Counting
Alright, we know how to count from 1-10. What's 11? Well, it's literally 10, 1 or じゅういち. Ah, but what about 20, 30, etc? Well, just like 11 is ten-one, 20 becomes two tens or にじゅう. Now you can count from 1-99 with ease.
Later, I will post higher numbers with their kanji, readings and compounds, but for now, know that 100 is ひゃく or, in kanji form, 百, and 1000 is せん or, in kanji form, 千. Both are used for counting in the same way as earlier numbers.
If you want 3000, it's literally three one thousand or さんぜん or, in kanji, 三千and 9999 becomes nine one thousand, nine one hundred, nine ten, nine or きゅうせんきゅうひゃくきゅうじゅうきゅう or, in kanji, 九千九百九十九.
One thing to notice is that sometimes sounds change when counting, like in the above 3000 example, is that せん became ぜん in 3000 simply because it makes it easier to pronounce with the way those two words blend into each other.
Another example is ひゃく becoming びゃく under certain conditions. As you go along, you'll see these rare examples and they are pretty easy to remember simply because they make sense. If something sounds really ackward when counting, you probably need to try one of the dokuon versions of the kana.
一 One (1)
音：イチ 訓：ひと（つ)
Common Compounds
一月 いちがつ January (lit. first month)
一年 いちねん one year
一人 ひとり one person
二 Two (2)
音：二 訓：ふた（つ）
Common Compounds
二月 にがつ February (lit. second month)
二年 にねん two years
二人 ふたり two people
三 Three (3)
音：サン 訓：み（っつ）
Common Compounds
三年 さんねん three years
三人 さんにん three people
三月 さんがつ March (lit. third month)
四 Four (4)
音：シ 訓：よん、よ（っつ）
Common Compounds
四年 よんねん four years
四月 しがつ April (lit. fourth month)
四日 よっか fourth day of month, four days
五 Five (5)
音：ゴ 訓：いつ（つ）
Common Compounds
五年 ごねん five years
五日 いつか five days, fifth day of month
十五 じゅうご fifteen (15)
六 Six (6)
音：ロク、リク 訓：むっ（つ）、む
Common Compounds
六日 むいか six days, sixth day of month
六月 ろくがつ June (lit. sixth month)
六千 ろくせん six thousand (6000)
七 Seven (7)
音：シチ 訓：なな（つ）
Common Compounds
七年 しちねん seven years
七月 しちがつ July (lit. seventh month)
七人 ななにん、しちにん seven people
八 Eight (8)
音：ハチ 訓：やっ（つ）
Common Compounds
八日 ようか eight days, eighth day of month
八月 はちがつ August (lit. eighth month)
八百 はっぴゃく eight hundred (800)
九 Nine (9)
音：キュウ、ク 訓：ここの（つ）
Common Compounds
九日 ここのか nine days, ninth day of month
九月 くがつ September (lit. ninth month)
九十 きゅうじゅう ninety (90)
十 Ten (10)
音：じゅう 訓：とお、と
Common Compounds
十年 じゅうねん ten years
十人 じゅうにん ten people
十日 とおか ten days, tenth day of month
Notes
4 & 7
4 & 7 are unique compared to the other numbers in that they use both the On- and Kun- readings to count. You will generally find that you use the On- reading for 1-10 and the Kun- reading for 10+. So 4 would be し, but 14 or 40 would be じゅうよん or よんじゅう. Of course, like all Japanese, there are exceptions to this in all forms of counting.
Counters
Japan uses counters to state the number of objects they are talking about. Think of it as 10 people or 4 bottles or 3 small animals and so on. This can end with different uses of numbers. As you saw above, 1 person is ひとり and 2 people is ふたり. You might think it would be いち- or に-, but that would be too easy. (=p)
So, that's the reason for learning the On- and Kun- readings of the numbers, but don't make it a focus if you are starting out. They're used for more than counters as well, but I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible.
Counting
Alright, we know how to count from 1-10. What's 11? Well, it's literally 10, 1 or じゅういち. Ah, but what about 20, 30, etc? Well, just like 11 is ten-one, 20 becomes two tens or にじゅう. Now you can count from 1-99 with ease.
Later, I will post higher numbers with their kanji, readings and compounds, but for now, know that 100 is ひゃく or, in kanji form, 百, and 1000 is せん or, in kanji form, 千. Both are used for counting in the same way as earlier numbers.
If you want 3000, it's literally three one thousand or さんぜん or, in kanji, 三千and 9999 becomes nine one thousand, nine one hundred, nine ten, nine or きゅうせんきゅうひゃくきゅうじゅうきゅう or, in kanji, 九千九百九十九.
One thing to notice is that sometimes sounds change when counting, like in the above 3000 example, is that せん became ぜん in 3000 simply because it makes it easier to pronounce with the way those two words blend into each other.
Another example is ひゃく becoming びゃく under certain conditions. As you go along, you'll see these rare examples and they are pretty easy to remember simply because they make sense. If something sounds really ackward when counting, you probably need to try one of the dokuon versions of the kana.
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