Japanese language has 3 origins:
- Wago – native Japanese words,
- Kango – words imported from China,
- Gairaigo – words brought in from other countries.
And each have their own counting method:
| Number | Wago | Kango | gairaigo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | – | れ(re)い(i) | ゼロ | |
| 1 | ひ(hi)と(to)つ(tsu) | 一(ひと)つ | い(i)ち(chi) | ワン |
| 2 | ふ(fu)た(ta)つ(tsu) | 二(ふた)つ | に(ni) | ツー |
| 3 | み(mi)っ(t)つ(tsu) | 三(みっ)つ | さ(sa)ん(n) | スリー |
| 4 | よ(yo)っ(t)つ(tsu) | 四(よっ)つ | し(shi)｜よ(yo)ん(n) | フォー |
| 5 | い(i)つ(tsu)つ(tsu) | 五(いつ)つ | ご(go) | ファイブ |
| 6 | む(mu)っ(t)つ(tsu) | 六(むっ)つ | ろ(ro)く(ku) | シックス |
| 7 | な(na)な(na)つ(tsu) | 七(なな)つ | し(shi)ち(chi)｜な(na)な(na) | セブン |
| 8 | や(ya)っ(t)つ(tsu) | 八(やっ)つ | は(ha)ち(chi) | エイト |
| 9 | こ(ko)こ(ko)の(no)つ(tsu) | 九(ここの)つ | く(ku)｜きゅう(kyuu) | ナイン |
| 10 | と(to)お(o) | 十(とお) | じゅう(juu) | テン |
| 11 | と(to)お(o)あまりひ(hi)と(to)つ(tsu) | 十(とお)あまり一(ひと)つ | じゅう(juu)い(i)ち(chi) | イレブン |
| 12 | と(to)お(o)あまりふ(fu)た(ta)つ(tsu) | 十(とお)あまり二(ふた)つ | じゅう(juu)に(ni) | トゥエルブ |
| … | … | … | … | … |
| 100 | もも | – | ひゃく(hyaku) | ハンドレッド |
Numbers to avoid while counting
Commonly used counting method is kango. And the following 3 has 2 pronunciations as shown above. But Japanese people avoid using one of the two.
4: よんis used instead of し which means 死death in Chinese.
7: なな is preferred and commonly used more than しち as it has し ( 死 ) pronunciation and can be confused with いち.
9: きゅうis read rather than くas it has pronunciation of 苦 which means suffering or agony.
Things (～つ)
～つ is the general counting unit for things and use wago counting method. You can look the above table for counting things with ～つ. Notice that 10 and 100 don’t have つ. Normally, people would use つ till 9. But for those who wish to know how to count after 9, the following is the list for these counters. You will have to use “あまり..” for every number after tens like 21 and 101.
| Unit (つtsu) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | hiragana | romaji |
| 20 | はた | hata |
| 21 | はたあまり一つ | hataamarihitotsu |
| 30 | みそ | miso |
| 40 | よそ | yoso |
| 50 | いそ | iso |
| 60 | むそ | muso |
| 70 | ななそ | nanaso |
| 80 | やそ | yaso |
| 90 | ここのそ | kokonoso |
| 101 | ももあまり一つ | momoamarihitotsu |
This is the foundation of counting numbers in Japanese. We will explore more counting units in the future. So, please look forward to it.
Counting days in Japanese [Part 2]
Content Writer by Win Win Maw
