Japanese Language Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [numbers]

数字. The various spoken and written forms of words and characters covering digits, numbers, numerals, including derived forms such as ordinals.

Questions about the various spoken and written forms of words and characters covering digits, numbers, numerals, including derived forms such as ordinals.

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How to choose between "よん" (yon) vs "し" (shi) for "四" (4) and "しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) for "七" (7)?

Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives. 四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi) 七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana) I know that "し" (shi) can be avoided because it has the same…
hippietrail
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Arabic numbers: half-width or full-width?

Using my computer, I type a lot of numbers in Japanese text, and I am not sure when to use half-width or full-width. Are there rules? Right now I only use half-width, is it fine? Off-topic: Here is a picture of a book showing a happy mix of…
Nicolas Raoul
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Why is 二十歳 pronounced はたち?

二十歳 is a (to me) bizarre exception to the usual number+さい rule for discussing age. Is this rooted in 20 being the Japanese age of majority? Added: To be more specific: why isn't it pronounced にじゅうさい like the rest of the さい words for age?
sartak
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Differences between 度 and 回 when counting occurrences

What are the differences between using 度 and 回 when used to count number of occurrences? For example: そんなことは一度もしたことがない そんなことは一回もしたことがない Are there any restrictions on what kind of actions referred by そんなこと that can be used with 度 or 回 in the…
Lukman
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Is there a reason why numbers in Japanese are delimited into blocks of four?

As I understand, Japanese numbers are divided into blocks of four, so while we would think of the number 89123889 as 89,123,889, in Japan they would think of it as 8912,3889 (八千九百十二万三千八百八十九). So English uses thousands and Japanese uses tens of…
Lou
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Rules for slang of Japanese numbers

I often hear Japanese using a different method for saying a number like "248" as によんぱ — especially for highways and license plates. While this one is easy to understand, there are others that I don't quite understand. Could someone provide a list…
Mark Hosang
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Can you say "half hour" or must you say "30 minutes"?

I know that to say an hour and a half you can say 一時間半, but is it possible to express simply half an hour even though the counter comes before 半? Or would you just have to say 三十分? If both ways are possible, is one widely more common or are they…
atlantiza
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How to read: the "~" (tilde) in "3~4 行"

How should I read the "~" mark that stands for range, as described in the title? I saw this in the following sentence: 3~4行ごとに1行あけると読みやすい。
Eric
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Are there native Japanese numbers greater than 10? What use are they?

Most people who've taken a Japanese 101 class know the 10 native Japanese numbers (一つ、二つ・・・十). It's always seemed odd that a system would stop at 10 when so many things in life need larger numbers. Are there in fact native Japanese numbers greater…
Kaji
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About writing numbers using Japanese numerals vs using Arabic numerals

I noticed that even though Japanese language has kanji characters for numbers (e.g. 十、百、千、万　etc), there are many places where Arabic numerals are used instead, for example, prices for shop items are written as １００円 instead of 一百円. I am curious…
Lukman
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Temperature abbreviations?

A certain dialog in my book has a man describing the symptoms of his cold to the doctor. It reads thus: 医者：熱はありますか。 患者：はい、きのうから。夕べはぞくぞく寒気がしたので、高熱が出るんじゃないかとひやひやしたんですが、今のところ７度８分【なな・ど・はち・ぶ】くらいでおさまっています。 The English translation on the next page…
istrasci
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What is the correct expression of 10/20, 20/30, 30/40 etc?

On a news report, I heard the phrase 四五{しご}十{じゅう}メートル and it got me thinking about how to express other number approximations. Are the following correct? 10 or 20 meters　じゅうにじゅうメートル 20 or 30 meters　にさんじゅうメートル 30 or 40 meters　さんよんじゅうメートル 40 or 50…
kandyman
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How do I read 100°C in Japanese?

In English, I just read it "one hundred degrees Celsius". In Japanese, I don't know how to read it.
user9296
13
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1 answer

The first: 第一 vs 一番 vs 第一番

What are differences among 第一, 一番 and 第一番, all of which seem to mean "the first" in English? Are any of them more suitable for some specific scenarios than the others (e.g. 安全第一 but 世界で一番)?
Lukman
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Japanese/Chinese numbers usage timeline

Japanese uses both native and Chinese numbering numbering systems, the Sino-Japanese pronunciations being いち, に, さん, etc. and the native being ひと, ふた, み, etc. For the most part they are used for different things. However, numbers past 10 generally…
Nate Glenn
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