Japanese for Secondary Students - 3) Numbers, telephone numbers, dates, months, years, counting items and people

If embeded sounds are not working, please reflesh the page. They are working with my Windows PCs and iPads.

a) Numbers

For 4 and 7(and 9), there are two pronunciations. I use the one for broader use. If you practice Karate, you may remember the other pronunciations, but they are less common.

Why do they have two pronunciations for some numbers? There are two sauces for numbers; one is from Japanese, and the other is from Chinese. Unfortunately, these two counting systems mixed over history. Even one number can be a mixture of Chinese-origin counting and Japanese-origin counting.

When you memorise them, I recommend making small chunks, such as [1,2,3][4,5,6][7,8,9,10], and then mastering each small chunk. It is not efficient to try to memorise all of them. You can add the second chunk when confident with the first one. This scientific memorisation technique is helpful for other subjects as well. I have added small pictures as mnemonics, but they do not show the pronunciation. Copy mine.

I have made a Quizlet activity and Wordwall activities for you. Enjoy.

Numbers 1-10 (Roma-ji, Quizlet)
Numbers 1-10 (Listening, Wordwall)
Numbers 1-10 (Roma-ji, put words in order, Wordwall)
Numbers 1-10 (Roma-ji, balloon pop, Wordwall)

Beyond 10 is logical and systematic.

Let's learn tens first.

Between tens, add the first digit after one of the tens:

How do you say a) to e)?
a) 18
b) 21
c) 37
d) 53
e) 99

One Hundred is:

100

It is spelt 'Hya-ku' while we use the alphabet (=Roma-ji). Listen to the first 'Hya' part well and try copying mine.

Answers: a) juu-hachi, b) nijuu-ichi, c) sanjuu-nana, d) gojuu-san, e) kyuujuu-kyuu. If you get all correct well done. One or two missing, still very good.

b) Telephone numbers

Japanese phone numbers are very straightforward.

Landline
Landline numbers are usually made up of 10 digits. The structure is:
(large area code) - (local area code) - (individual number)
For example, the central Tokyo large area code is 03. Here is one I made up:
03 - 1234 - 5678
They say one number each. '0' is 'ze-ro' in Japanese. For hyphens '-' between chunks, they say 'no' ('no' for 'not'). So, the reading of the phone number is:
zero-san no ichi-ni-san-yon no go-roku-nana-hachi

zero-san no ichi-ni-san-yon no go-roku-nana-hachi

The above is the only way. They do not combine two digits, such as 'twelve' for '12'. The '0' is always 'zero'.

Mobile phone number
Mobile numbers have 11 digits. The first chunk is either 090 or 080; then the remaining eight digits make another chunk.
090-12345678
zero-kyuu-zero no ichi-ni-san-yon-go-roku-nana-hachi

c) Dates

Dates in a moth is a mixture of Japanese-origin counting and Chinese-origin counting.

We start with 1st to 10th. Unfortunately, they are all irregular. However, they share the roots with general counting. You will find general counting easier after learning the numbers from 1st to 10th. The 1st, 2nd, ...I use here does not mean you can use the Japanese word that means any '1st' or '2nd'. There are other words for them.

Again, the 'k' in the middle is for a silent sound unit. There are three sound units in the word. If you are not sure what I am talking, please go back to page 1) Sound and check Silence counts section.

The middle 'tsu' is not a silent sound unit. It is a proper sound unit, but the vowel part 'u' is not really there.

The middle 'o' is for a long sound.

'yokka'(4th) and 'youka'(8th) are similar and easy to get confused. The 4th 'yokka' has a silence sound unit in the middle and the 8th 'youka' has a sound unit for a longer sound.

yokka or youka?

And of course activities to practise the dates 1st to 10th.

Dates 1st - 10th (Listening, Wordwall)
Dates 1st - 10th (Roma-ji, Quizlet)

I'll provide you with some additional information about the dates so far. Did you notice that all words except one end with 'ka'? Guess what the end 'ka' means. Yes, you are right. It is an ending to mean 'day of a month'. It does NOT mean any 'ka' at the end of a word means it.

Why is the 1st tsuitachi completely different from the others?
It did not come from a number. It came from the moon calendar. The Japanese used to use the moon calendar. 'Tsuitachi' was originally 'tsukitachi'. 'Tsuki' means moon, and 'tachi' means to stand. They thought of a moon cycle from no moon to full moon to no moon. The beginning of a month was a no-moon day, which was called tsukitachi (tsuitachi). If you are a keen scientist, you may have observed that the moon cycle and the sun cycle do not align. They inserted an extra month every three years to align with the calendar. Recently, 2024 had thirteen months in the year!

The next step is from the 11th to the 31st. The majority of the dates are systematic, but seven dates are either slightly or properly irregular.

When the date is systematic, it is
(Number) + ni-chi
format. 'Ni-chi' is a date suffix (=a small part you can add at the end of a word to add a meaning).

11th
11 is 'ju-u-i-chi'. Then add the date suffix 'ni-chi'. You have:

So, 12th is 'ju-u-ni + ni-chi'.

Then, they combine a regular 'ju-u' and an irregular 'yo-k-ka' for 14th!

For the 17th, they use another counting for '7' which is 'shi-chi', so it is 'ju-u-shi-chi-ni-chi'.

For 19th, instead of the usual 'kyu-u', they use the 'ku' sound for '9'. The result is 'ju-u-ku-ni-chi'

The 20th is very different from the others. It is 'ha-tsu-ka'. The 'ka' ending is as you see in 2nd to 10th, but 'ha-tsu' has a different origin. The best explanation to me at the moment is like this. In classical Japanese, the verb 'hatsu' meant 'to use all that you have, nothing left'. You have 10 fingers in each hand for counting, and then you have another 10 on your feet. When you reach 20, you have used all your fingers to count. The number 20 is the point at which you have no fingers left to count. That is why 20 is 'hatsu'.

To ensure that my accent is correct, I checked with a professional announcer's video to verify my accent. I am glad to say that my accent was spot on. Start watching this from 2 minutes in the video.

In Japan, there is a profession to pronounce words accurately. BBC news readers conduct research and ask questions to guests, but Japanese news readers' job is to read manuscripts with a perfect accent and intonation.

Here is a list to show irregular dates.

d) Months

Compared to months in English or other European languages, Japanese months are a lot easier.
The format is:

Number + ga-tsu

The 'gatsu' is a month suffix. Three months are slightly different from how you remembered the numbers at the top of this page. The 'ga' sound of 'ga-tsu' is often nasal, but it is a natural pronunciation for those who grew up in Tokyo. You do not have to make an effort, though.

e) Years

For the purpose of saying 2025 or 2026, you only need 'two thousand', which is 'ni-sen', and a suffix for 'year', 'nen'. You have already learnt how to say 25 or 26. The idea is 2000 + 25 + nen.

Taking this opportunity, you should learn how to say larger numbers.

Up to 9999-ma-n, count the number and add 'ma-n'. It is easy. However, it is confusing because the units differ between English and Japanese. Try saying the beflow in Japanese:

1) Sixty thousand = ?
2) Six hundred thousand = ?
3) Sixty hundred thousand = ?

1) is Roku-man, 2) is Rokujuu-man, and 3) is Roppyaku-man.

Beyond 9999-man? There is another unit 'o-ku'. 'O-ku' is '100 million'. How things work is the same as 'ma-n'. Say the number and add 'o-ku'. I am not going into details here.

f) Counting items

I will give you two versions that they typically use.

1) 'tsu' counter
You have already learnt dates in the section (c). The Tsu counter shares the same word roots, so it is easier.

You may see 'f' in other resources, but I use 'h'. I do not want you to pronounce English 'f', which does not exist in Japanese.

The middle 't' means a silent sound unit. After saying 'mi', immediately prepare to say 'tsu', but you hold it for one unit length.There are three sound units in the word, and those units must have even time lengths.

The middle 't' means a silent sound unit. After saying 'yo', immediately prepare to say 'tsu', but you hold it for one unit length. There are three sound units in the word, and those units must have even time lengths.

The middle 't' means a silent sound unit.

The middle 't' means a silent sound unit.

It is not 'too' in English. Say the 'to', again, not English 'to', and say 'o'. Please check how I pronounce 'to' and say 'o' without a break. This confusion happens as long as we use the alphabet. I will teach you the Japanese alphabet on the next page.

Here are some practices for you.

'tsu' counter (Roma-ji, Quizlet)

2) 'ko' counter
This counter 'ko' is easy to use as it is systematic. If you can count numbers, all you need to do is add 'ko' after the number. However, there are some irregularities in pronunciation. You can still communicate effectively without mastering the irregularities, so don't worry too much.

Between 'i' and 'ko', there is a silent unit. Immediately after pronouncing the 'i', you prepare to say 'ko', but hold it for one sound unit length, then say the 'ko'. All three sound units should have equal time length.

Between 'ro' and 'ko', there is a silent unit. All three sound units should have equal time length.

Between 'ha' and 'ko', there is a silent unit. All three sound units should have equal time length.

After 'kyu', there is 'u'. These two sounds are liased. The 'u' unit should be the same time length as 'kyu'. Try copying my pronunciation model.

The correct pronunciation is 'Jikko'. Have a look at a dictionary. However, many people mispronounce it as 'jyu-k-ko', so the incorrect pronunciation has now gained widespread acceptance. You can enjoy correcting native speakers' mispronunciation!

Here are some practices.

'Ko' counter (Roma-ji, Quizlet)

You may wonder why there are two generic counters; that's an excellent question.

The beginning of each 'tsu' count, such as 'hi, hu, mi, yo, i, mu, na, ya, ko, to', are from ancient Japanese, so I presume the counter 'tsu' is also Japanese. Whereas for 'ko', the Chinese character 個 or 箇 is used, and the number part before the 'ko' is also of Chinese origin.

Up to ten items, 'tsu' counting and 'ko' counting are equally used. However, beyond ten, they only use 'ko' counting. It is possible to say beyond ten by 'tsu' counting, such as 'to-o a-ma-ri hi-to-tsu' for eleven, but it is too long to say, and usually Japanese do not know them. From eleven, they shift to 'ko' counting.

You may think that you can ignore 'tsu' counting and remember 'ko' counting only. As long as your speaking is concerned, that would do, but Japanese people constantly use 'tsu' counting. At least you need to be able to understand them when you hear them.

g) Counting people

When you can count items using the 'tsu' counter, it is very easy to count people for you.

One person, two people share the same root of 'tsu' counting.

From three people, the pattern is 'number + ni-n'.

For 11 and 12 people, unlike the dates, they do not use 'hi-to-ri', 'hu-ta-ri'. They use 'ju-u-i-chi' and 'ju-u-ni'.

From 13 people, you can recycle 'sa-n-ni-n'(3 people) to 'ju-u-ni-n' (10 people).

13 people = ju-u + sa-n-ni-n (じゅうさんにん)
14 people = ju-u + yo-ni-n (じゅうよにん)
15 people = ju-u + go-ni-n (じゅうごにん)
16 people = ju-u + ro-ku-ni-n (じゅうろくにん)
17 people = ju-u + shi-chi-ni-n (じゅうしちにん)
18 people = ju-u + ha-chi-ni-n (じゅうはちにん)
19 people = ju-u + ku-ni-n (じゅうくにん・じゅうきゅうにん)
20 people = ni + ju-u-ni-n (にじゅうにん)

Luckily, there are no irregularities in pronunciation. You can simply add 'ni-n' after a number. For example:

31 people = sanjuu ichi nin
321 people = sanbyaku nijuu ichi nin
4567 people = yonsen gohyaku rokujuu shichi/nana nin

Here are some practices:

Counting people (Roma-ji, Quizlet)