2010-03-22 12:34:23 +0900
_Learn Japanese numbers, their pronunciations and spellings, that may come in handy one or two days in the future. If you are new to Japanese numbers, read the introduction below before you begin._*Introduction*
Before you begin learning all the Japanese numbers that I have included in this course you should know a little bit about how to count in Japanese, or the information this list provides you won't help you very much.
The first ten items in this course are numbers one through ten, and they all have one unique kanji each. A few of them have several pronunciations but you will hopefully have no problem remembering all the pronunciations along with the kanji. After the first ten items you there are the numbers eleven through 19 which, instead of having their own unique kanji as the first ten numbers, is created by combining the kanji for ten with one of the other 1-9 kanji. To write eleven, you simply write the kanji for ten 十 followed by the kanji for one 一. To raise the number from eleven you just switch the kanji for one with the kanji for either two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or nine. When you reach 20 you do it the other way around, adding the kanji for two 二 before the kanji for ten. For the numbers 30 to 90 you just change the kanji that precedes the kanji for ten. You can think of it like this, if you like: the kanji after ten is "ten plus x" (switch the "x" to the number you want to add) and the kanji before ten is "x times ten" (switch the "x" to the number you want before the zero in maybe 20 or 30, does not work like 21 times 10 - only single numbers can be used for this formula). It may sound difficult, but if you can understand what I mean it should make sense. You don't have to think that way, of course, you can just as well remember all the kanji by studying and iterating them all, over and over. This rule also applies for more-digit numbers. To write 200 you put the kanji for two 二 before the kanji for 100 百 and for 300 you put the kanji for three 三 in front of the kanji for 100. Below you can see a short summary of higher digit numbers, a bit easier than my earlier formula, maybe.- Tens from 20 to 90 are "(digit)-jū".
- Hundreds from 200 to 900 are "(digit)-hyaku".
- Thousands from 2000 to 9000 are "(digit)-sen".
- Additionally, the tens from 30 to 90 in kun reading are formed by "(digit)-so", where the digit is also in kun reading: miso (30), yoso (40), iso (50), muso (60), nanaso (70), yaso (80), kokonoso (90). Variations include "i" for 50 and the suffix "-ji" for 20 through 90. However, for the most part, these are not in use in modern Japanese.After the kanji for 20 there won't be anymore numbers ending with 1-9 but only number like 30, 40, and 50, seeing as you should understand how to say or write the numbers in between by now, assuming you have read this text.Now that you have read the introductions and hopefully understand what I have been talking about, feel free to start the course and the iKnow! application and study until you go bald! There also a few count words in there such as "hitotsu" and "futatsu" which are used more for actual counting "one, two, three..." style. Thank you, you're welcome, and good luck!EDIT: I've removed several alternative pronunciations for the iKnow! application to work better so you can study easier and learn better, but you should be aware of the alternatives that I've removed because they're used as well:四 can be read as よん or し
七 can be read as なな or しち
九 can be read as きゅう or くThis also goes for some several digit numbers such as 14 or 40:十四 can be read as じゅうよん じゅうし
四十 can be read as よんじゅう しじゅう
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