Japanese Numbers: Counting From 0 to 100
Numbers are some of the most useful Japanese you can learn — prices, ages, phone numbers, times. The good news: once you know 1 to 10, the rest of the system is almost pure Lego.
0 to 10
Start here:
| Number | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | ゼロ／れい | zero / rei |
| 1 | いち | ichi |
| 2 | に | ni |
| 3 | さん | san |
| 4 | し／よん | shi / yon |
| 5 | ご | go |
| 6 | ろく | roku |
| 7 | なな | nana |
| 8 | はち | hachi |
| 9 | きゅう | kyū |
| 10 | じゅう | jū |
Building 11 to 99
This is where Japanese is kinder than English. There is no "eleven" or "twelve" to memorise — you just combine:
- 11 = 10 + 1 → じゅういち (jū-ichi)
- 20 = 2 × 10 → にじゅう (ni-jū)
- 34 = 3×10 + 4 → さんじゅうよん (san-jū-yon)
- 99 = 9×10 + 9 → きゅうじゅうきゅう (kyū-jū-kyū)
The pattern never breaks. Hundreds work the same way: 100 is ひゃく (hyaku), so 300 is さんびゃく (sanbyaku — with a small sound change).
The readings to watch
The table shows the everyday reading. A few numbers also have an older reading (borrowed from Chinese) that only turns up in certain words — treat these as exceptions, not rules:
- 4 — normally よん (yon); し (shi) appears in some words, but is often avoided because it sounds like the word for "death."
- 7 — normally なな (nana); the reading しち (shichi) is the exception, in words like しちがつ (shichigatsu, July).
- 9 — normally きゅう (kyū); the reading く (ku) is the exception, in words like くじ (kuji, nine o'clock).
Don't drill these — just learn the everyday reading and let the exceptions sink in as you meet them.
Telling your age
Age uses the counter 〜さい (sai):
- ごさい (go-sai) — 5 years old.
- さんじゅっさい (san-jus-sai) — 30 years old.
- なんさいですか。(Nan-sai desu ka?) — "How old are you?"
One exception worth knowing: 20 years old is はたち (hatachi).
A first look at counters
Here is the one twist: Japanese rarely counts things with a bare number. It attaches a counter that depends on what you are counting — flat things, long things, people, animals. You will meet 〜さい for age, 〜えん (en) for money, 〜じ (ji) for the hour. There are many, but you learn them gradually, a few at a time, exactly as they come up — not all at once.
Practice
Read prices, count out loud, say your phone number digit by digit. Numbers reward repetition more than almost anything else. They also slot straight into your self-introduction — here is how to introduce yourself in Japanese.
Count out loud from your first lesson on Llearny.