V. Numerals, counters and numbers

A. Numerals of Type A from 0 to 10,000 and several counters like -ji for the hour of the day, -en for money, etc., were introduced in either Lesson 1 or 2. As shown there, counters are always preceded by the numerals and never occur as independent words. Japanese has many counters which will be introduced a few at a time.

Examples

-ji - hour of the day
-fun/-pun - minute
-en - money
-guramu - weight
-nin - person
-mai - things like papers
-kai/-gai - floor of a building
-shuukan - week

B. Numerals of Type B, which are of Japanese origin, are introduced here.

1 hitotsu 2 futatsu
3 mittsu 4 yottsu
5 itsutsu 6 muttsu
7 nanatsu 8 yattsu
9 kokonotsu 10 to, too

Numerals of Type B go only as far as 10; beyond 10, Type A numerals are used.

The following are some Japanese numbers.

1. day of the month

1st tsuitachi 2nd futsuka
3rd mikka 4th yokka
5th itsuka 6th muika
7th nanoka 8th yooka
9th kokonoka 10th tooka
llth juuichinichi l2th juuninichi
13th juusannichi 14th juuyokka
15th juugonichi 20th hatsuka
24th nijuuyokka 30th sanjuunichi


2. month of the year

January ichigatsu February nigatsu
March sangatsu April shigatsu
May gogatsu June rokugatsu
July shichigatsu August hachigatsu
September kugatsu October juugatsu
November juuichigatsu December juunigatsu

3. minute in the hour

1 ippun 2 nifun
3 sanpun 4 yonpun
5 gofun 6 roppun
7 nanafun 8 happun/hachifun
9 kyuufun 10 jippun
15 juugofun 20 nijippun
30 sanjippun,han 40 yonjippun
50 gojippun 60 rokujippun

4. floor of a building

1 ikkai 2 nikai
3 sankai 4 yonkai
5 gokai 6 rokkai
7 nanakai 8 hachikai
9 kyuukai 10 jikkai

5. person(s)

1 hitori 2 futari
3 sannin 4 yonin
5 gonin 6 rokunin
7 shichinin/nananin 8 hachinin
9 kyuunin/kunin 10 juunin