JAPANESE NUMBERS

Numbers are one of the first lessons you will learn in class, so we created this page for you to visit if you ever need to review some of your knowledge, or have a look at a number you forgot how to pronounce!

KUNYOMI & ONYOMI

Kanji is used to indicate numbers have Kunyomi and Onyomi.

Kunyomi is the Japanese pronunciation of a Kanji character while Onyomi is a pronunciation derived from Chinese where Kanji originated. 

The native Japanese reading, which is kunyomi or “kun reading” is used only up to ten numbers. Hence, you are more likely to use Sino-Japanese reading which is Onyomi or “On reading”. 

Before understanding the difference between kunyomi and onyomi, first let’s get familiar with the numbers. Master the numbers up to 10 by practicing them continuously so you can easily count beyond 10.

In this guide, we are going to learn numbers in Kanji followed by their pronunciation in kunyomi and onyomi.

THE PRONONCIATION OF ZERO

For 0, the kanji is 零 with pronunciation れい (rei). However, it is commonly used the same way it is used in English.

0 is commonly used as ゼロ (zero in Katakana script of Japanese language).

Sometimes, it is also referred as マル (maru) which translates to “circle”. It is used like “oh” is used instead of “zero” in English when reading individual digits of a number.

Once you master counting up to 10, counting beyond 10 becomes much easier to learn. You just have to keep compounding and adding.

Let me show you an example: 11 is 十一 

If you refer to the above table, you can easily notice that it is a combination for Kanji used for 10 and Kanji used for 1.

To pronounce the number, you just have to add the Sino-Japanese reading of both the numbers, in this case 10 and 1. 

The pronunciation of 11 (十一) is じゅういち (Jyuu-ichi).

Following the exact same rule: the pronunciation of 15 is じゅうご (Jyuu-go).

For numbers beyond 19, all you need to do is count the 10s (two 10’s, three 10’s and so on) and then add the next number.

The pronunciation of 20 (二十) is にじゅう (Ni-jyuu).

Following this rule: 47 is 四十七. The pronunciation of 47 is よんじゅうしち (Yon-jyuu-shichi).

JAPANESE NUMBERS BEYOND 100

For numbers beyond 100, just count the 100’s, count the 10’s and then add the next number.

459 is 四百五十九, pronounced as よんひゃくごじゅうきゅう (Yon-hyaku-go-jyuu-kyuu).

For numbers beyond 1,000, you have to follow exact same procedure. Count the 1000’s, count the 100’s, count the 10’s and then add the next number.

If there is a no number in the middle, for example, a number with a zero in it, you just have to skip the counting for that part.

For example: 2022 is 二千二十二.

The pronunciation of 2022 is にせんにじゅうに (Ni-sen-ni-jyuu-ni).

EXCEPTIONS

There are some pronunciation exceptions, so keep those in mind.

So, counting up till now is quite easy, right? Don’t worry! The next numbers are also easy too!

BIG NUMBERS IN JAPANESE

There’s just one thing you need to be careful about.

Up until now, we didn’t use いちせん for 1000, nor いちひゃく for 100 or いちじゅう for 10.

From now, things become a little different.

Let’s look at a bigger number now: 123,456

Now you can understand why it’s easier to use Kanji for Japanese numbers, right? For big numbers, Hiragana can get pretty long and sometimes confusing too.

Hence, the use of Arab numerals is pretty common in Japanese, especially with bigger numbers.

In our next article, you will learn to use these numbers with counters, for stating numbers of specific objects. So, until then, keep practicing!

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