Unlike numbers 20 to 99, the number 100 has no relation to any previous single digit number. This is a number you’ll just have to memorize. Luckily for numbers 200 to 900, they look a lot like the numbers 2 – 9.
100 – hyaku (ひゃく)
200 – nihyaku (にひゃく)
300 – sanbyaku (さんびゃく)
400 – yonhyaku (よんひゃく)
500 – gohyaku (ごひゃく)
600 – roppyaku (ろっぴゃく)
700 – nanahyaku (ななひゃく)
800 – happyaku (はっぴゃく)
900 – kyuuhyaku (きゅうひゃく)
There area couple ofnumbers in particular that I want you to pay attention to. The number for 300 is pronounced as sanbyaku (さんびゃく). Notice how most of the numbers have ended in hyaku (ひゃく). The change in pronunciation is slight, so make sure you pronounce 300 with a “b” instead of an “h”.
Another slight pronunciation change is the number for 600 and 800. Both 600 and 800 deviate from the hyaku (ひゃく) ending. Instead of an “h” sound they end in an “p” sound. It’s hard to pronounce the number for six and one hundred and it’s also hard to pronounce the number for 8 and one hundred. Try it yourself rokuhayku (ろくひゃく), hachihyaku (はちひゃく). As a result, a part of 600 and 800 become chopped off and a consonant more conducive to pronunciation is added. One other thing I want to stress is that 600 and 800 have a slight pause when pronounced. 600 is going to be pronounced as rop – pyaku and 800 is pronounced as hap – pyaku. The hyphen indicates where you should add the slight pause.
Hopefully you’re finding a pattern. For the most part (not including some exceptions) Japanese numbers follow a pattern. When you understand the pattern, Japanese numbers are easy to remember; even when they get to the high numbers.
FAQs
Starting at 万 (10,000), numbers begin with 一 (ichi) if no digit would otherwise precede. That is, 100 is just 百 hyaku, and 1000 is just 千 sen, but 10,000 is 一万 ichiman, not just *man.
Is 4 in Japanese Yon or Shi? ›
In Japanese, is 四 (four) pronounced as よん (yon) or し (shi)? Both of them are correct,but in different occasions,differences exist. In all,there are three different pronounciation for 四. Like April,in Japanese,it's 四月(しがつ)、and よ、四人(よにん)、and when it comes to number like 40,it's 四十(よんじゅう).
How do you say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in Japanese? ›
When counting up (0 to 10)
- いち (ichi)
- に (ni)
- さん (san)
- し (shi)
- ご (go)
- ろく (roku)
- しち (shichi)
- はち (hachi)
Japanese numbers: 1 to 10
| Hiragana | English | Phonetics |
|---|
| しち / なな | seven | shichi / nana |
| はち | eight | hachi |
| きゅう/く | nine | kyu / ku |
| じゅう | ten | juu |
6 more rowsThis vocabulary corresponds with JLPT levels N3 / N2. About 10,000 words will give you a high level of competence. You will still need to look up a lot of words if you read a novel, but you will be able to get the gist of almost anything you read or hear.
How do you write 500,000 in Japanese? ›
The number 500,000 is go jū man 五十万 (5 and 10 and 10,000), and so on.
Why is 4 not used in Japan? ›
Traditionally, 4 is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death. Sometimes levels or rooms with 4 do not exist in hospitals or hotels. Particularly in the maternity section of a hospital, the room number 43 is avoided because it can literally mean "stillbirth".
Is 9 kyu or ku? ›
This bears an unfortunate resemblance to the Japanese word for “death,” or 死（し、shi）. The second pronunciation for the number 4 is よん, or yon. Likewise, the number 9 is pronounced く, or ku. This sounds like 苦（く、ku） or “agony, suffering.” Nobody wants that, so a slight variation was created: きゅう, or kyuu.
Is 3 a lucky number in Japan? ›
It is known that Japanese tend to be superstitious. There are certain things or circ*mstances that are uniquely explained sometimes through superstitious beliefs. One of those things are the concept about Lucky Numbers! Did you know that the number 3 is considered as one of the lucky numbers in Japan?
Is it Nana or Shichi? ›
Oh, yeah...Japanese has multiple words for the same number! Seven can be either "nana" or "shichi", for example.
The term ''Pons'' is used in The Man in the High Castle. It is a derogatory term for Japanese people based on the word ''Nippon,'' which is one of the Japanese words for Japan.
What is six in Japan? ›
Native Japanese counting: “hitotsu” (1), “futatsu” (2), “mittsu” (3), “yottsu” (4), “itsutsu” (5), “muttsu” (6), “nanatsu” (7), “yattsu” (8), “kokonotsu” (9), and “tou” (10).
Why is 7 lucky in Japan? ›
During the course of their history, the mutual influence between gods has created confusion about which of them was the patron of certain professions. The worship of this group of gods is also due to the importance of the number seven in Japan, supposedly a signifier of good luck.
Is shi and Yon the same? ›
The number four (4) is called either “yon” or “shi” in Japanese. In the case of four you can say any of those. But for other words, like “death” (死）that is also pronounced “shi”, you can't change it for “yon”. In other words, “shi” and “yon” are both words that represents the number four.
Is it ku or kyuu? ›
9 - can be KYUU or KU and since KU sounds like the KU in the Kanji meaning suffering it too is bad luck. HOWEVER probably the biggest reason why there are two versions is that the Kanji for the numbers have two different readings.
How do you say 100/1000 in Japanese? ›
Numbers 100 through 1000 :: Japanese vocabulary
- 100 百 (hyaku)
- 200 二百 (nihyaku)
- 300 三百 (sanbyaku)
- 400 四百 (yonhyaku)
- 500 五百 (gohyaku)
- 600 六百 (roppyaku)
- 700 七百 (nanahyaku)
- 800 八百 (happyaku)
3. Counting in Japanese: Numbers up to 1000
| 漢字 Kanji | Reading |
|---|
| 100 | 百 | hyaku |
| 200 | 二百 | ni-hyaku |
| 300 | 三百 | san-byaku |
| 400 | 四百 | yon-hyaku |
9 more rowsOct 24, 2019
Japanese numbers beyond 100
| Number | Kanji symbol | Sino-Japanese |
|---|
| 10,000 | 一万 | いちまん |
| 100,000 | 十万 | じゅうまん |
| 1 million | 百万 | ひゃくまん |
| 10 million | 千万 | せんまん |
13 more rowsFor example, the term for 10,000 yen, or about $100, is 'one ten thousand', 一万 ichi-man (then add 'en' for yen). Then for 100,000 yen, about $1,000, it's 'ten ten thousands', 10万 Ju-man. For 100,000,000 it's not 'one hundred million', it's 'one one hundred million', 一億, Ichi-oku. Simple.
