8.3 Numbers, Counters, Money & Time Words

Counting in Japanese: Numbers, Counters, Money, and Time

Numbers are everywhere on the N5 — in shopping receipts, timetables, ages, and phone dialogues — and Japanese counting has two features English lacks: two number systems and mandatory counter words. Master this section and you unlock a huge slice of the Vocabulary, Reading, and Listening questions.

Two number systems: native vs Sino

The native Japanese series counts generic items 1 through 10 and is irregular: ひとつ (1), ふたつ (2), みっつ (3), よっつ (4), いつつ (5), むっつ (6), ななつ (7), やっつ (8), ここのつ (9), とお (10). From 11 up, Japanese switches entirely to the Sino-Japanese series: いち (1), に (2), さん (3), し／よん (4), ご (5), ろく (6), しち／なな (7), はち (8), きゅう／く (9), じゅう (10), then ひゃく (100, 百), せん (1,000, 千), まん (10,000, 万). The Sino numbers are the ones you attach to counters, prices, dates, and clock times. Note the doublets: 4 is よん or し, 7 is なな or しち, 9 is きゅう or く — the exam picks whichever reading a counter demands (for example, 4時 is always よじ, never しじ).

Counters and their sound changes

You cannot say 'three books' in Japanese without a counter (助数詞, josūshi) — a suffix matching the shape or type of thing being counted. The generic native counter ~つ (ひとつ, ふたつ…) works for many objects when no specific counter is known, but the exam tests the specific ones below.

The sound changes are the exam's favourite trap. With ~ほん, the counter shifts to ぽ or ぼ depending on the number: 1本 いっぽん, 3本 さんぼん, 6本 ろっぽん, 8本 はっぽん, 10本 じゅっぽん. With ~かい (floors), 3 becomes さんがい and 6 becomes ろっかい. With ~にん (people), 1 and 2 are the irregular native forms ひとり and ふたり, then 3 onward is Sino (さんにん). Memorise the rule of thumb: numbers 1, 6, 8, and 10 usually double the following consonant (いっぽん, ろっぽん, はっぽん, じゅっぽん), and 3 often voices it (さんぼん, さんがい).

Money: prices in えん

Japanese currency is the yen (円, えん, en). Prices use Sino numbers followed directly by えん — no particle in between: 100円 = ひゃくえん, 150円 = ひゃくごじゅうえん, 1,000円 = せんえん, 10,000円 = いちまんえん. The question word for price is いくら (ikura, how much): 「これは いくらですか」— How much is this? A common N5 reading/listening task is arithmetic on a menu or receipt: りんご (apple) 150円 × 2 個 (ふたつ) + バナナ (banana) 80円 × 3 本 = 540円. Read the unit counter carefully (個 vs 本 vs ふくろ 'bag'), because the distractors change the count, not the price. Also watch the big jumps: 一万 (10,000) is いちまん, and Japanese groups by ten-thousands, so 100,000 is じゅうまん, not ひゃくせん.

Clock time: 〜じ〜ふん

Clock time combines 〜じ (時, o'clock) with 〜ふん／〜ぷん (分, minutes). The hours use Sino numbers but with three irregular readings you must memorise: 4時 よじ (not しじ), 7時 しちじ, 9時 くじ (not きゅうじ). Minutes alternate ふん and ぷん: 1分 いっぷん, 3分 さんぷん, 4分 よんぷん, 6分 ろっぷん, 10分 じゅっぷん, but 2分 にふん, 5分 ごふん. Half past is 〜はん (半): 3時半 (さんじはん, 3:30). The morning/afternoon markers ごぜん (AM) and ごご (PM) come before the time: ごご6時 (6 PM). The N5 listening section plants number traps here — 3時15分 (3:15) versus 3時50分 (3:50), where you must catch じゅうごふん versus ごじゅっぷん.

Calendar: days of the month

Days of the month mix systems and are highly irregular for the 1st through 10th, which use native-style readings: ついたち (1st), ふつか (2nd), みっか (3rd), よっか (4th), いつか (5th), むいか (6th), なのか (7th), ようか (8th), ここのか (9th), とおか (10th). From the 11th, most days switch to Sino number + にち (11日 じゅういちにち), with a few survivors like 14日 (じゅうよっか), 20日 (はつか — a special reading), and 24日 (にじゅうよっか). Days of the week use the element kanji + 曜日 (ようび): 月曜日 (げつようび, Monday), 火曜日 (かようび, Tuesday), 水曜日 (すいようび, Wednesday), and so on. The exam pairs these with relative-time words — きょう (today), あした (tomorrow), きのう (yesterday) — which take no particle, unlike specific clock times, which take に (「6時に おきます」).

Reading big numbers and the age counter

Once you can read the Sino numbers to ten, larger numbers build predictably by stacking hundreds (百), thousands (千), and ten-thousands (万). Three of these have their own sound changes you must memorise: 300 is さんびゃく (not さんひゃく), 600 is ろっぴゃく, and 800 is はっぴゃく; likewise 3,000 is さんぜん and 8,000 is はっせん. So 1,500 reads せんごひゃく, 3,600 reads さんぜんろっぴゃく, and 25,000 reads にまんごせん. Japanese groups digits by four, not three, so the jump at 10,000 (一万, いちまん) is the one that trips up English speakers: 100,000 is じゅうまん and 1,000,000 is ひゃくまん. The age counter is 〜さい (歳): 「にじゅうさんさいです」(23 years old), with the irregular 20 years old read はたち (二十歳), not にじゅっさい. The question word for age is なんさいですか (how old are you?), or the more polite おいくつですか.

Putting counters to work

When you build a counting sentence, the number-plus-counter usually sits directly before the verb with no particle: 「りんごを みっつ かいます」(I buy three apples), 「学生が さんにん います」(there are three students). This word order is itself tested — the star-mark reordering questions often hide the counter in the middle of a jumbled sentence, and the counter phrase belongs right before the verb. Keep the specific counters straight by picturing the shape: ~まい for anything flat (切手 stamps, シャツ shirts, かみ paper), ~ほん for anything long and thin (えんぴつ pencils, かさ umbrellas, ビール bottles), ~さつ for bound reading matter (本 books, ノート notebooks, ざっし magazines), ~だい for machines (くるま cars, テレビ TVs, コンピューター computers), ~にん for people (with irregular ひとり, ふたり for one and two), ~ひき for small animals (いぬ dogs, ねこ cats), and ~かい for the floor of a building. When you genuinely do not know the right counter, the safe fallback for a physical object is the native ~つ series (ひとつ〜とお), which is exactly why it is worth memorising cold.

Time-word traps to rehearse

The listening section deliberately places near-identical numbers next to each other, so drill the confusable pairs out loud: 3時15分 (さんじ じゅうごふん, 3:15) versus 3時50分 (さんじ ごじゅっぷん, 3:50); 100円 (ひゃくえん) versus 800円 (はっぴゃくえん); ごぜん9時 (9 AM) versus ごご9時 (9 PM). Also rehearse the relative-time ladder both ways: おととい (day before yesterday), きのう (yesterday), きょう (today), あした (tomorrow), あさって (day after tomorrow); and せんしゅう (last week), こんしゅう (this week), らいしゅう (next week); せんげつ, こんげつ, らいげつ for months. Because these relative words already contain the time reference, they never take に — a rule the grammar section tests by offering a に that does not belong. Master these number, counter, money, and time words and you will handle the arithmetic, timetable, and shopping items that make up a large, very learnable share of the N5. A good drill is to read aloud any receipt, clock, or calendar you encounter during the day: convert the price to its Sino reading with えん, the time to 〜じ〜ふん with the three irregular hours, and the date to its native day-of-month reading. Because numbers are the one topic where the answer is either exactly right or plainly wrong, they are the highest-return words to over-learn before test day, and steady spoken repetition cements the sound changes far better than silent reading ever will.