すうじ (suuji) - Numbers (Part 2)

So ready for more numbers?

~~ 20, 30, 40, 50, etc ~~

This is really easy. 20 in Chinese is 二十, and in Japanese, it is the same. に (ni) is for 2 and じゅう (juu) for 10. So put together, you get にじゅう (nijuu).

30 - さんじゅう (san + juu = sanjuu)

40 - よんじゅう (yon + juu = yonjuu)

50 - ごじゅう (go + juu = gojuu)


~~ 21 - 99 ~~

In Chinese, 21 would be 二十一. Similarly, in Japanese it is にじゅういち (ni + juu + ichi).

More examples?

32 - さんじゅうに (san + juu + ni)

54 - ごじゅうよん (go + juu + yon)

67 - ろくじゅうなな (roku + juu + nana)


~~ Hundreds ~~

100 - ひゃく (hyaku)

1,000 - せん (sen)

I feel that this is one of the most important part for learning, cos most of the things in Japan are in hundreds and thousands.


200 - にひゃく (ni + hyaku)

300 - さんびゃく (san + byaku)*

400 - よんひゃく (yon + hyaku)

500 - ごひゃく (go + hyaku)

600 - ろっぴゃく (ro + p + pyaku)*

700 - ななひゃく (nana + hyaku)

800 - はっぴゃく (ha + p + pyaku)*

900 - きゅひゃく (kyu + hyaku)

* Note:
You have have noticed that 300, 600 and 800 are not your standard combo. There is a slight variation to the standard ひゃく (hyaku).

So how do you say numbers like 123? Easy! Think of how it goes in Chinese? 一百二十三! Except that in Japanese they don't add in the 1 for the 100.

123 - ひゃくにじゅうさん (hyaku + ni + juu + san)

234 - にひゃくさんじゅうよん (ni + hyaku + san + juu + yon)

345 - さんびゃくよんじゅうご (san + byaku + yon + juu + go)


So are you ready for more? Or the numbers are swimming in your head? (^.^)

I'll continue with thousands and millions in the next post.

Happy numbering!

さようなら

~ Rene ~

Labels: Numbering