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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "ninety-nine" in Japanese?
九十九
kyūjūkyū
In Japanese, "ninety-nine" is 九十九 (kyūjūkyū).
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Pronunciation
九十九 is written using kanji. Romanised as kyūjūkyū, it sounds roughly like "kyoo-joo-kyoo" to an English ear.
Writing and usage
九 (nine) doubles in 九十九 (ninety-nine), creating the final compound number in the two-digit range. After this, all subsequent numbers will require the kanji 百 (hundred).
Example sentence
この学校には生徒が九十九人います。
Kono gakkou ni wa seito ga kyūjūkyū nin imasu.
This school has ninety-nine students.
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How to remember 九十九
Nine-ten-nine: two matching 九 characters mark the absolute end of the two-digit counting era. The hook curves toward completion.
Related words
- eighty-eight 八十八 hachijūhachi
- tall 背の高い sen no takai
- thirty-two 三十二 sanjūni
- forty-five 四十五 yonjūgo
- thirty-six 三十六 sanjūroku
- sixty-one 六十一 rokujūichi
- open 開いた aita
- five 五 go
- closed 閉じた tojita
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 九十九
How do you pronounce 九十九?
九十九 is romanised as kyūjūkyū. Say it roughly like "kyoo-joo-kyoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.
Is 九十九 formal or casual?
九十九 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is 九十九 written in Japanese?
九十九 is written using kanji. 九 (nine) doubles in 九十九 (ninety-nine), creating the final compound number in the two-digit range.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
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"Ninety-nine" in other languages
- Korean 구십구 (gu sip gu)
- Chinese 九十九 (jiǔ shí jiǔ)
- Spanish noventa y nueve
- Spanish (Latin America) noventa y nueve
- French quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
- German neunundneunzig
- Italian novantanove
- Russian девяносто девять (devyanosto devyat')
- Greek ενενήντα εννέα (enenínta ennéa)
- Arabic تسعة وتسعين (tis'a witiseen)
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