Numbers and Counters
Japanese numbers are refreshingly logical — but to count things you need counters, little words that change with the shape of whatever you're counting. This chapter gives you numbers up to 10,000 and the counters every JLPT N5 learner meets first.
Zero to ninety-nine with eleven words
Japanese numbers are beautifully regular. Learn eleven words and you can count all the way to 99 with no new vocabulary — there are no awkward extras like "eleven" or "twenty"; everything just stacks.
| Number | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | ゼロ／れい | zero / rei |
| 1 | 一 | ichi |
| 2 | 二 | ni |
| 3 | 三 | san |
| 4 | 四 | yon / shi |
| 5 | 五 | go |
| 6 | 六 | roku |
| 7 | 七 | nana / shichi |
| 8 | 八 | hachi |
| 9 | 九 | kyū / ku |
| 10 | 十 | jū |
Three numbers offer a choice of reading: 4 (よん or し), 7 (なな or しち) and 9 (きゅう or く). When in doubt use よん, なな and きゅう — they are always safe, and the culture note below explains why し and く are often avoided.
From 11 to 99, simply read the digits like little sums: 11 is "ten-one", 20 is "two-ten", 21 is "two-ten-one".
- 11 = 十一 (jū ichi)
- 20 = 二十 (ni jū)
- 21 = 二十一 (ni jū ichi)
- 76 = 七十六 (nana jū roku)
- 99 = 九十九 (kyū jū kyū)
In the tens, stick to よん, なな and きゅう: 40 is よんじゅう, 70 is ななじゅう and 90 is きゅうじゅう.
Listen: counting words at the townhall
Yennifer and Meera count real things with real counters. Tap ► to hear how counters sound in context.
Yenniferミーラさんは何ヶ国語ができますか？
mirā san wa nan ka kokugo ga dekimasu ka?
How many languages can you speak Meera?
Meera五ヶ国語ができますよ
go ka kokugo ga dekimasu yo
I can speak five languages
Yenniferへえ？どこで勉強しましたか？
hē? doko de benkyō shimashita ka?
Eh? Where did you learn them?
Meeraここで勉強しましたよ
koko de benkyō shimashita yo
I have learnt them here
Meeraナウン・タウンでどんな言葉も勉強できますよ
naun taun de donna kotoba mo benkyō dekimasu yo.
In Noun Town you can study whatever language.
Big numbers: hundreds, thousands and ten thousand
100 is 百 (hyaku) and 1,000 is 千 (sen). Both stack just like 十: 200 is 二百, 5,000 is 五千. A handful of combinations change their sound, though — these are the ones to memorise:
| Number | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 百 | hyaku |
| 300 | 三百 | sanbyaku |
| 600 | 六百 | roppyaku |
| 800 | 八百 | happyaku |
| 1,000 | 千 | sen |
| 3,000 | 三千 | sanzen |
| 8,000 | 八千 | hassen |
| 10,000 | 一万 | ichiman |
Notice that 100 and 1,000 stand alone — there's no ichi in front. 10,000 is different: it uses a brand-new unit, 万 (man), and it always takes the 一: 一万. You'll meet it constantly with prices — 一万円 is roughly £50.
The all-purpose counter 〜つ
Here's the twist English speakers never expect: in Japanese you can't just say "three apples". Numbers attach to a counter — a small word chosen by the shape or type of thing you're counting. The good news: there's an all-purpose counter, 〜つ, that works for most everyday objects when no specific counter springs to mind. It uses an old native set of readings, nothing like いち・に・さん:
| How many | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一つ | hitotsu |
| 2 | 二つ | futatsu |
| 3 | 三つ | mittsu |
| 4 | 四つ | yottsu |
| 5 | 五つ | itsutsu |
| 6 | 六つ | muttsu |
| 7 | 七つ | nanatsu |
| 8 | 八つ | yattsu |
| 9 | 九つ | kokonotsu |
| 10 | 十 | tō |
Two things to watch: 10 is just とお, with no つ — and the series stops there. From 11 upwards you simply use the ordinary numbers instead.
りんごを三つください。
ringo o mittsu kudasai.
Three apples, please.
Word order: thing + を + number + ください. The counter slots in after the particle.
パンを一つください。
pan o hitotsu kudasai.
One bread roll, please.
いすが四つあります。
isu ga yottsu arimasu.
There are four chairs.
あります = "there is / there are" (for objects). It gets a full chapter later.
Counting people: ひとり、ふたり…
People take the counter 〜人. It's regular from three upwards, but the first two come from the old native system and are irregular:
| How many | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 一人 | hitori |
| 2 people | 二人 | futari |
| 3 people | 三人 | sannin |
| 4 people | 四人 | yonin |
| 5 people | 五人 | gonin |
| how many? | 何人 | nannin |
Watch 4 people: it's よにん — not よんにん, and definitely not しにん, which would sound like 死人, "dead person".
家族は四人です。
kazoku wa yonin desu.
There are four people in my family.
兄弟は二人です。
kyōdai wa futari desu.
I have two siblings.
子供が三人います。
kodomo ga sannin imasu.
There are three children.
います is the "there is" verb for people and animals — coming up in a later chapter.
Long, flat and furry: ほん・まい・ひき
Three shape-based counters cover most N5 objects:
- 〜本 — long, thin things: pencils, bottles, umbrellas, bananas. Nothing to do with books! As a noun 本 means "book", but as a counter it means "long object".
- 〜枚 — flat things: paper, tickets, plates, shirts, photos.
- 〜匹 — small animals: cats, dogs, fish.
枚 is perfectly regular (いちまい、にまい、さんまい…), but 本 and 匹 begin with an h-sound, and h-counters change their sound after certain numbers:
| How many | 〜本 | 〜匹 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一本 | 一匹 |
| 2 | 二本 | 二匹 |
| 3 | 三本 | 三匹 |
| 6 | 六本 | 六匹 |
| 8 | 八本 | 八匹 |
| 10 | 十本 | 十匹 |
| how many? | 何本 | 何匹 |
The pattern: after 1, 6, 8 and 10 the number contracts and h becomes p; after 3 and 何, h becomes b. Similar changes return with 〜ふん (minutes) in the time chapter, so this table pays for itself twice.
えんぴつを二本ください。
enpitsu o nihon kudasai.
Two pencils, please.
きっぷを二枚ください。
kippu o nimai kudasai.
Two tickets, please.
犬が三匹います。
inu ga sanbiki imasu.
There are three dogs.
さんびき — the same b-voicing as さんぼん and さんびゃく.
バナナが六本あります。
banana ga roppon arimasu.
There are six bananas.
Asking age: なんさいですか
Age uses the counter 〜歳 (sometimes written 才). The familiar contractions appear again — 一歳 (issai), 八歳 (hassai), 十歳 (jussai) — and one age is fully irregular: 20, the traditional age of adulthood, is 二十歳 (hatachi). Ask someone's age with 何歳ですか, or more politely おいくつですか.
何歳ですか。
nansai desu ka.
How old are you?
おいくつですか is the politer version — safest with adults you've just met.
二十歳です。
hatachi desu.
I'm twenty.
Not にじゅっさい — 20 gets its own special word.
妹は八歳です。
imōto wa hassai desu.
My little sister is eight years old.
More practice in the game
Two free browser lessons drill this chapter with native audio: counting words at the town hall, and ages and birthdays at school.
Chapter vocabulary
Eighteen number words from the game — drill them until counting from zero to one hundred is automatic.
Tap ► to hear the native audio from the game, or tap a word to open its dictionary entry.
Lucky and unlucky numbers
Four and nine are Japan's unlucky numbers. 四 sounds exactly like 死 (death), and 九 like 苦 (suffering) — which is precisely why the alternative readings よん and きゅう exist and dominate. Many hospitals and hotels skip room numbers ending in 4 and 9, and gifts are never given in sets of four. On the bright side, 七 is lucky (as in much of the world), and 八 is auspicious because the kanji widens towards the bottom — 末広がり, "spreading out towards the end", an image of growing prosperity.
Test yourself
Eight quick questions on numbers, counters and the irregular readings.
8 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
Why do 4, 7 and 9 have two readings in Japanese?
Japanese inherited number readings from Chinese (し, しち, く) but kept some of its own native words (よん, なな, ここの-). Both survived, and superstition settled the contest: し sounds like "death" and く like "suffering", so よん and きゅう became the everyday defaults. しち survives mainly in set contexts like 七時 (しちじ, seven o'clock).
How many counters do I need for the JLPT N5?
Japanese has hundreds of counters, but the N5 set is small: the all-purpose つ series, 人 for people, 本 for long objects, 枚 for flat objects, 匹 for small animals, and 歳 for age — plus the time and date counters covered in later chapters. If you blank on the right counter, the つ series is an acceptable fallback for most objects.
What happens if I use the wrong counter?
You'll still be understood — context does most of the work, and Japanese people are very used to learners mixing counters up. It sounds a little odd, like saying "two sheets of dog" in English, but it never causes offence. Default to the つ series for objects and learn the specific counters gradually.
Why is 20 years old はたち instead of にじゅっさい?
はたち is a survivor of the old native counting system — the same one behind ひとつ, ひとり and ふたり. Because 20 was traditionally the age of adulthood in Japan, celebrated every January on Coming-of-Age Day, the native word stayed in everyday use. にじゅっさい is understood, but はたち is the standard reading of 二十歳.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.