I want to know how to count in Japanese!
Difference between 数・数字・番号
When it comes to the number in Japanese, we need to distinguish well between the meanings of数 (kazu), 数字 (suuji) and番号 (bangou) because these three terms can be translated in the same way in English.
数
kazu
Number
Used to count something like an apple, two apples…
数字
suuji
Numerals
The writing system of the numbers like 1, 2, 3 and 一, 二, 三.
番号
bangou
Numeral indentifier
Used to specify something by numbers like telephone number.
And in this lesson, we will learn about 数 (kazu), how to count from 0 to 99.
How to count 0-99
So, let’s start counting.
Counitng up 0-9
From 0-9, we can usealmost the same method with what we learned in a previous lesson onnumerals.
So,
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 can be pronounced :
zero (rei), ichi, ni, san, yon (shi), go, roku, nana (shichi), hachi, kyuu (ku)
Conting from 10 -99
10 is pronunced asjuu.
Countingfrom 11 to 99 is easier than in English.
We doa simple calculation.
So for example,
10 + 1 = 11
Juu ichi = Juu ichi
Just a word of caution about counting from 20 to 90.
For example,20 is thought to be2*10, so
2*10 = 20
Ni Juu = Ni juu
Like this, we basically pronounce the numbers in order.
Now let’s use this knowledge to count up to 99,
33 : san juu san
44 : yon juu yon (shi)
55 : go juu go
66 : roku juu roku
77 : nana juu nana (shichi)
88 : hachi juu hachi
99 : kyuu juu kyuu (ku)
Attention number
When it comes to counting40, 70, 90, we need to pay attention to.
Although each of 4, 7, 9 has two pronunciations (4 : yon, shi, 7 : nana, shichi, 9 : kyuu, ku),there is only one way to pronounce 40, 70 and 90.
That is to say :
40 :YON juu
44 :YON juu yon (shi)
70 :NANA juu
77 :NANA juu nana (shichi)
90 :KYUU juu
99 :KYUU juu kyuu (ku)
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