# Numbers

https://langs123.com/en/japanese/foundations/numbers/
CEFR A0–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> Numbers up to a million, the readings of 4, 7 and 9, the sound changes of 300 and 8000, **万****まん** and prices in **円****えん**. From 20, tens, **じゅう** and units make one word: に**じゅう**さん、ご**じゅう**ろく

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0–10 | one word each; 4, 7, 9 are **よん**, **なな**, **きゅう** | **よん** / **なな** / **きゅう** | 4 / 7 / 9 |
| 11–99 | number + **じゅう** + number | **じゅう**ご / に**じゅう**さん | 15 / 23 |
| Phone numbers | digit by digit; **の** for the hyphen | いちにさんよん**の**ごろくななはち | 1234-5678 |
| 100–900 | **ひゃく**; **びゃく** after 3; **ぴゃく** after 6 and 8 | さん**びゃく** / ろっ**ぴゃく** / はっ**ぴゃく** | 300 / 600 / 800 |
| 1000–9000 | **せん**; **ぜん** after 3; 8000 is **はっせん** | **せん** / さん**ぜん** / はっ**せん** | 1000 / 3000 / 8000 |
| Kanji | **一****いち** **二****に** **三****さん** … **十****じゅう** **百****ひゃく** **千****せん** | 二に十じゅう三さん / 三さん百びゃく | 23 / 300 |
| Yen | number + **円****えん** | 三さん百びゃく**円****えん**です。 | It is 300 yen. |
| 10 000+ | **万****まん** is 10 000, and **一****いち** stays before it | 一いち**万****まん** / 十じゅう**万****まん** / 百ひゃく**万****まん** | 10 000 / 100 000 / 1 000 000 |
| Trap | 100 takes no **いち** before it | **ひゃく** | 100 |
| Trap | 10 000 is one **万****まん**, never ten **千****せん** | **一****いち****万****まん** | 10 000 |

## 0 to 10

| Number | Word |
| --- | --- |
| 0 | ゼロ / れい |
| 1 | いち |
| 2 | に |
| 3 | さん |
| 4 | よん / し |
| 5 | ご |
| 6 | ろく |
| 7 | なな / しち |
| 8 | はち |
| 9 | きゅう / く |
| 10 | じゅう |

- Four, seven and nine have two readings each; when counting, say **よん**, **なな** and **きゅう**. **よん** / **なな** / **きゅう** (4 / 7 / 9)
- **し**, **しち** and **く** live on in fixed words: see Days, Months and Dates and Telling the Time.
- 0 has two words: **ゼロ** in daily speech and **れい** in maths and temperatures.
- Everyday writing uses digits (1, 2, 3); kanji numerals appear later in this topic.
- Counting things and people takes a counter after the number: see Counters.

## 11 to 99

| Number | Word |
| --- | --- |
| 20 | にじゅう |
| 30 | さんじゅう |
| 40 | よんじゅう |
| 50 | ごじゅう |
| 60 | ろくじゅう |
| 70 | ななじゅう |
| 80 | はちじゅう |
| 90 | きゅうじゅう |

| Numbers | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 11–19 | **じゅう** + number | **じゅう**いち / **じゅう**ご / **じゅう**きゅう | 11 / 15 / 19 |
| 21–99 | number + **じゅう** + number | に**じゅう**いち / ご**じゅう**ろく / きゅう**じゅう**きゅう | 21 / 56 / 99 |
| 4, 7, 9 | **よん**, **なな** and **きゅう** stay the same inside bigger numbers | じゅう**よん** / **なな**じゅう / **きゅう**じゅう | 14 / 70 / 90 |

## Phone numbers

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Each digit is read on its own, one after the other | **いちにさんよんごろくなな** | 1234567 |
| The hyphen between groups is said **の** | ゼロきゅうゼロ**の**いちにさんよん**の**ごろくななはち | 090-1234-5678 |
| **に** and **ご** are often lengthened to **にー** and **ごー** | いち**にー**さん**ごー** | 1235 |
| Asking for a phone number | でんわばんごうはなんばんですか。 — ゼロきゅうゼロのいちにさんよんのごーろくななはちです。 | What is your phone number? — It is 090-1234-5678. |

## Hundreds and thousands

| Number | Word |
| --- | --- |
| 100 | ひゃく |
| 200 | にひゃく |
| 300 | さん**びゃく** |
| 400 | よんひゃく |
| 500 | ごひゃく |
| 600 | ろっ**ぴゃく** |
| 700 | ななひゃく |
| 800 | はっ**ぴゃく** |
| 900 | きゅうひゃく |

- 100 is **ひゃく** on its own, with no **いち** before it. **ひゃく** / **ひゃく**ごじゅう (100 / 150)
- After 3, **ひゃく** is **びゃく**; after 6 and 8 it is **ぴゃく**, with a small **っ** before it. さん**びゃく** / ろっ**ぴゃく** / はっ**ぴゃく** (300 / 600 / 800)

| Number | Word |
| --- | --- |
| 1000 | せん |
| 2000 | にせん |
| 3000 | さん**ぜん** |
| 4000 | よんせん |
| 5000 | ごせん |
| 6000 | ろくせん |
| 7000 | ななせん |
| 8000 | はっ**せん** |
| 9000 | きゅうせん |

- After 3, **せん** is **ぜん**; after 8 the number ends in a small **っ**: **はっせん**. さん**ぜん** / はっ**せん** (3000 / 8000)
- A longer number joins its parts in one word, the largest first. ごひゃくろくじゅう / せんにひゃくさんじゅうよん (560 / 1234)

## Numbers in kanji

| Number | Kanji |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | 一いち |
| 2 | 二に |
| 3 | 三さん |
| 4 | 四よん |
| 5 | 五ご |
| 6 | 六ろく |
| 7 | 七なな |
| 8 | 八はち |
| 9 | 九きゅう |
| 10 | 十じゅう |
| 100 | 百ひゃく |
| 1000 | 千せん |

- Kanji numbers write the same words in the same order: **二****に****十****じゅう****三****さん** is 23. 三さん百びゃく / 八はっ千せん (300 / 8000)
- **百****ひゃく** and **千****せん** open a number alone, with no **一****いち** before them. 百ひゃく五ご十じゅう / 千せん (150 / 1000)

## Yen and prices

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Asking the price | これは**いくら**ですか。 — 三さん百びゃく**円****えん**です。 | How much is this? — It is 300 yen. |
| Giving a price: the number, then **円****えん** | 千せん**円****えん**です。 / 五ご百ひゃく**円****えん**です。 | It is 1000 yen. / It is 500 yen. |
| Prices from 10 000 yen | 一いち万まん五ご千せん**円****えん**です。 | It is 15 000 yen. |

- Before **円****えん**, 4 is read **よ**: **四****よ****円****えん** is 4 yen. **四****よ**円えん (4)

## Ten thousand and above

| Number | Kanji |
| --- | --- |
| 10 000 | 一いち万まん |
| 20 000 | 二に万まん |
| 100 000 | 十じゅう万まん |
| 1 000 000 | 百ひゃく万まん |

- **万****まん** is 10 000: larger numbers count in groups of four digits, not three. 十じゅう万まん / 百ひゃく万まん (100 000 / 1 000 000)
- **万****まん** always takes a digit before it, even one: **一****いち****万****まん**. 一いち万まん / 三さん万まん (10 000 / 30 000)
- Read the part before **万****まん** first, then the rest: 35 000 is **三****さん****万****まん****五****ご****千****せん**. 十じゅう二に万まん / 四よん万まん五ご千せん (120 000 / 45 000)

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| せんにひゃくさんじゅうよん | **いちにさんよん** | a phone number is read digit by digit, not as one number |
| いちひゃくえん | **ひゃく**えん | 100 takes no **いち** before it |
| さんひゃくえん | さん**びゃく**えん | after 3, **ひゃく** becomes **びゃく** |
| ろくひゃくえん | ろっ**ぴゃく**えん | after 6 and 8, **ひゃく** becomes **ぴゃく**, with a small **っ** before it |
| さんせんえん | さん**ぜん**えん | after 3, **せん** becomes **ぜん** |
| 万まん円えん | **一****いち**万まん円えん | **万****まん** always takes a digit before it, even one |
| 十じゅう千せん円えん | **一****いち****万****まん**円えん | 10 000 is one **万****まん**, never ten **千****せん** |