Numbers and counting: from 0 to 10,000, prices and phone numbers

You need numbers from your first day in Japan: prices at the convenience store, your phone number on a form, train platforms and addresses. Japanese numbers are very regular once you know the basics and a few sound changes.

Numbers 0 to 10

Number	Kanji	Reading	Romaji
0	—	ゼロ / れい	zero / rei
1	一	いち	ichi
2	二	に	ni
3	三	さん	san
4	四	よん / し	yon / shi
5	五	ご	go
6	六	ろく	roku
7	七	なな / しち	nana / shichi
8	八	はち	hachi
9	九	きゅう / く	kyū / ku
10	十	じゅう	jū

Why 4, 7 and 9 have two readings

The readings し (4) and く (9) sound like the words for “death” and “suffering”, and しち (7) is easy to confuse with いち (1). So in most everyday situations — counting, prices, phone numbers, ages — people say よん, なな and きゅう. The other readings appear in fixed words that you learn one by one, for example 四月しがつ (April), 七月しちがつ (July), 九月くがつ (September) and 九くじ (9 o’clock). There is even a special form for four people: 四人よにん.

From 11 to 99

Build these numbers like a calculation: tens first, then ones. 11 is ten-one, 十一じゅういち; 20 is two-ten, 二十にじゅう; 35 is three-ten-five, 三十五さんじゅうご; 99 is 九十九きゅうじゅうきゅう.

Hundreds, thousands and 10,000

100 is 百ひゃく and 1,000 is 千せん — no “one” in front. A few combinations change their sound:

Number	Reading	Number	Reading
300	さんびゃく sanbyaku	3,000	さんぜん sanzen
600	ろっぴゃく roppyaku	8,000	はっせん hassen
800	はっぴゃく happyaku	10,000	いちまん ichiman

Japanese counts big numbers in groups of four digits, not three. 10,000 has its own word, 万まん, and unlike 100 and 1,000 it always needs a number in front: 一万いちまん. So 25,000 is 二万五千にまんごせん — “two ten-thousands and five thousand”.

Prices: 〜円 and いくらですか

Put 円えん (en, yen) after the number: 百円ひゃくえん, 千五百円せんごひゃくえん. Price tags often show ¥ in front of the number (¥1,500), but you still say the number first and えん after it. Watch out for 4 yen: it is よえん, not “yon en”. To ask the price, point and say これはいくらですか (“How much is this?”).

Phone numbers

Say phone numbers digit by digit and read the dash as の. 0 is usually ゼロ, and people use よん, なな and きゅう to avoid mistakes. Short numbers are sometimes stretched to keep the rhythm: 2 can sound like にい and 5 like ごお. For example, 090-1234-5678 is zero-kyū-zero no ichi-ni-san-yon no go-roku-nana-hachi.

Counting things: ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ …

To count objects without a special counter word, Japanese uses a separate native set: ひとつ (1), ふたつ (2), みっつ (3), よっつ (4), いつつ (5), むっつ (6), ななつ (7), やっつ (8), ここのつ (9), とお (10). They are very useful in shops and cafés: りんごをみっつください (“Three apples, please”).

Common mistakes

• Saying “ichi hyaku” or “ichi sen”. 100 and 1,000 are just ひゃく and せん.
• Forgetting the sound changes: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく, さんぜん, はっせん.
• Reading 10,000 as “jū sen”. It is いちまん.
• Using し and しち for prices and phone numbers. Use よん and なな.

How to practise

• Read the prices on receipts and price tags aloud.
• Say your own phone number and your friends’ numbers in Japanese.
• Practise the kanji 一 to 十, 百, 千, 万 and 円 on the worksheet.
• Take the quiz, then do the “write the reading” exercise on the worksheet.