This is not only the Japanese number system, but also some kind of fun nursery rhyme you could recite! Easy to memorize, it will allow you to tell everyone that you speak some Japanese!
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Read the numbers 1 to 10
Practice:
Step 1. Ichi (一); it means one
- Pronunciation: "ici"
- When said quickly, the final "i" is hardly pronounced and the word sounds like "ic".
Step 2. Ni (二); means two
Pronunciation: "ni"
Step 3. San (三); means three
Pronunciation: "san"
Step 4. Shi (四); means four
- Pronunciation: "sci"
- The other word for the number four is yon ("ion").
Step 5. Go (五); means five
Pronunciation: "go"
Step 6. Roku (六); means six
- Pronunciation: "roku"
- The pronunciation of "r" is halfway between "r" and "L". The Japanese "r" is pronounced using only the tip of the tongue.
Step 7. Shichi (七); means seven
- Pronunciation: "scici"
- The other word for the number seven is nana ("nana").
Step 8. Hachi (八); means eight
Pronunciation: "haci"
Step 9. Kyuu (九); means nine
Pronunciation: "kiu"
Step 10. Juu (十); means ten
Pronunciation: "Jun"
Method 2 of 2: Counting Objects
If you want to study or speak Japanese, you should know the language systems for counting objects. In fact, there are several suffixes, called "counters", to be added to the numbers, depending on the type of object we are considering. If we are counting long and thin objects, such as pencils, we will use the suffix –pon which, however, based on certain phonetic needs, can become –hon or –bon. If we are counting cats, we will use the suffix -piki / –hiki / -biki (again this depends on the phonetics). However, not all objects have suffixes, and sometimes you won't know which counter is suitable. In that case, you can use the following system.
Step 1. Hitotsu (一 つ); means "one"
- Pronunciation: "hitotzu"
- A curiosity: the word is simply written with the kanji of "ichi" (一) and the hiragana "tsu" (つ). This scheme applies to all numbers in this system.
Step 2. Futatsu (二 つ); means "two"
Pronunciation: "futatzu"
Step 3. Mittsu (三 つ); means "three"
- Pronunciation: "mitzu"
- Japanese is a rhythmic language and silences and pauses have the same importance as pronounced sounds. If we take a look at the phonetic characters of this word, "み っ つ", we will notice that they are not just two sounds, but three: the small central "tsu" represents a pause. When Japanese is transcribed into Latin characters (called ロ ー マ 字 "rōmaji"), these rests become consonants; in this case, "miTTsu". It sounds complicated, but with listening you will begin to understand.
Step 4. Yottsu (四 つ); means "four"
Pronunciation: "yotzu"
Step 5. Itsutsu (五 つ); means "five"
Pronunciation: "itzutzu"
Step 6. Muttsu (六 つ); means "six"
Pronunciation: "mutzu"
Step 7. Nanatsu (七 つ); means "seven"
Pronunciation: "nanatzu"
Step 8. Yatsu (八 つ); means "eight"
Pronunciation: "iatzu"
Step 9. Kokonotsu (九 つ) means "nine"
Pronunciation: "kokonotzu"
Step 10. To (十) means "ten"
- Pronunciation: "to"
- This is the only number in the system that doesn't have a つ at the end.
- It sounds difficult, but if you learn this system, you can practically count every object and Japanese people will understand you. It will be much easier than learning all the counters.
- Why does the Japanese have two ways of counting? In short, the pronunciations of the first system are based on Chinese (音 読 み on'yomi "Chinese letter"), since the Japanese borrowed the kanji, that is the ideograms, from this language several centuries ago. The second system derives, however, from the native Japanese words (訓 読 み kun'yomi "Japanese reading") used to identify numbers. In the modern idiom, most kanji have both an "on'yomi" and a "kun'yomi"; the use of one or the other depends on the grammatical situation.
Advice
- Go to Japanese Online and use their interactive learning program to learn Japanese pronunciation.
- The numbers from 11 to 99 are nothing more than a combination of the digits from 1 to 10. For example, 11 is "juu ichi" (10 + 1), 19 is "juu kyuu" (10 + 9). What do you say 20? "Ni juu" (2 * 10). And 25? "Ni juu go" (2 * 10 + 5).
- Four and seven both contain the sound "shi", which also means "death", which is why they have an alternate pronunciation, used in various cases. For example, 40 is said to be "yon juu". With a little practice, you will soon remember how to use them.
- As we have already stated, Japanese includes an elaborate system for counting different types of objects. As it is irregular, this system must be memorized. For example, "-piki / -biki / -hiki" is the counter you use for animals, and instead of "ichi inu", "a dog", you say "ippiki". Another example: "three pens" translates as "san-bon" (the counter for long and thin objects is "-hon / -pon / -bon", depending on your phonetic needs).
- When using the "hitotsu-futatsu" number system, you add "me" (pronounced as it is spelled) to create ordinal numbers. In this way, "hitotsume" means "the first / the first", "futatsume" means "the second / the second", etc. "Nanatsume no inu" would translate as "the seventh dog" and you could use it in phrases like "this is the seventh dog I saw in my yard today". However, if you mean "there were seven dogs", you should use the counter and translate "seven dogs" as "nana-hiki".
