Lesson 6 of 126
The lesson
1.6 Numbers 1 to 10
Overview
Learn the numbers 1 to 10 in Japanese. Japanese has two sets of number words — the Sino-Japanese set used in most contexts, and the native Japanese set used when counting general objects.
Japanese has two ways to say numbers: the Sino-Japanese set (originally from Chinese) and the native Japanese set.
The Sino-Japanese numbers are used in most everyday situations — telling time, phone numbers, prices, addresses, and so on. Focus on these first.
The native Japanese numbers (ひとつ、ふたつ...) are used when counting general objects up to ten without a specific counter word. They come up often in conversation, so it is good to know them too.
| Number | Sino-Japanese | Native Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | いち | ひとつ |
| 2 | に | ふたつ |
| 3 | さん | みっつ |
| 4 | し / よん | よっつ |
| 5 | ご | いつつ |
| 6 | ろく | むっつ |
| 7 | しち / なな | ななつ |
| 8 | はち | やっつ |
| 9 | く / きゅう | ここのつ |
| 10 | じゅう | とお |
For 4, both し and よん are correct. よん is more common in everyday speech. し can sound like the word for "death" (<Reader ord={57} content={死]]), so it is often avoided.
For 7, both しち and なな are correct. なな is more common in everyday speech.
For 9, きゅう is more common than く in most contexts.} />
Dialogue
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