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.

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2 votes
1 answer
61 views

Is 77 ななじゅうなな or しちじゅうしち here?

One of the sentences I found in an online paper and put into my Anki deck is 77年前【ねんまえ】、原爆【げんばく】はなぜ長崎【ながさき】に落【お】とされたのか? Why was the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 77 years ago? How is 77 read? If I ...
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4 votes
2 answers
137 views

Number+counter when NOT used as an adverb

Following up from this question, I'm curious how Japanese people naturally describe the numbers of things when NOT used like an adverb. Do they still use 「thing + number + counter」, just like when ...
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3 votes
2 answers
227 views

All the ways of writing numbers

I couldn't find any sites where I could get a comprehensive list of possible number writing formats. My question is mainly about mixing and matching different ideas I've seen online. For general, ...
3 votes
2 answers
135 views

expressing fractions of people?

One pronounces "two people" as 二人【ふたり】, but what happens with "2.7 people"? Is the following reading of this sentence correct? このうち[2.7]{にてんなな}人【にん】に1人【ひとり】が「重【おも】い荷物【にもつ】を背負【せお】...
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1 vote
0 answers
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Is there any practical use of the word 正{せい} meaning 10^40 (ten thousand undecillion) ? Where did it come from? [duplicate]

I came across this definition of 正{せい} and I can't fathom what purpose such a large number (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) could serve, it looks strange to me that there is ...
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1 vote
2 answers
142 views

Random people names in Japanese? いちろう vs じろう vs さぶろうvs しろう

I'm just trying to learn Japanese. I ran into this. It is somewhat similar to what I've seen in English where we refer to random people as "Tom, Dick, and Harry" or Spanish where it is "...
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6 votes
2 answers
849 views

How do you read out numbers in scientific notation in Japanese?

For example, "5 * 10^80" would be said as "5 times 10 to the power of 80" in English. When translating to Japanese, would I translate all of these operations literally or is there ...
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0 votes
1 answer
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Can 一つ be used as a motivation or pump-up phrase, like a kiai?

In the Rockman X4 manga, the Reploid military of the Repliforce rebels against humanity for independence after being falsely suspected of involvement in a city's destruction and ordered to turn in ...
4 votes
1 answer
538 views

How is the number 0.01 spoken in Japanese?

How is the number 0.01 correctly spoken in Japanese? I always thought it is ゼロてんゼロいち, but Google Translate and DeepL give different readings: ゼロポイントゼロワン and ゼロ点ゼロ1
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1 answer
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Writing of decimal numbers with Kanji?

As an example, I want to write the decimal number 3.78 Is it common to write it as 三.七八 with Kanji? What about 点? Is 三点七八 being used?
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1 vote
0 answers
2k views

In Demon Slayer, what are the "upper" and "lower" rank words and numbers? [duplicate]

The Demon Slayer show has these inscriptions on eyes that mean "upper 6" or "lower 12" etc. I haven't seen these "upper" and "lower" rank words in my studies. ...
3 votes
2 answers
279 views

gemination orthography

In this sentence ミサイルは高【たか】さ100kmより低【ひく】い所【ところ】を東【ひがし】に750km飛【と】びました The missile flew 750 kilometers east at a height lower than 100 kilometers. appearing here https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/...
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2 votes
1 answer
223 views

How do you say "n out of m" with 目?

I'm writing an application which features pagination, and I would like to translate it into Japanese. I have the following English text: Page 2 / 115 Before adding pagination, I would have ...
0 votes
1 answer
280 views

How often are numbers written in katakana?

I'm working on a program that convert numbers written in kanji into their arabic numbers counterparts and one of the text I've been given to test my program contains numbers written in katakana. Most ...
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6 votes
1 answer
637 views

Pronunciation of 800 / 八百

A Japanese textbook labels the pronunciation of 800 / 八百 as はっぴゃく, but elsewhere labels the pronunciation of 5,800 / 五千八百 as ごせんはっびゃく (emphases added). Should the first syllable of 百 be ぴゃ or びゃ ...
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1 vote
0 answers
68 views

Anything special with the number 20? [duplicate]

When counting, the number 20 is always quite different than other numbers. For example, you have 二十日 (はつか) and 二十歳 (はたち). Where does this difference come from? Is the number 20 special in Japan?
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3 votes
1 answer
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Counting number of numbers

So I'm a Japanese learner just coming across how to count stuff like cars, or buildings, or bottles, or anything! But I was just wondering, is there any counter to count numbers? For example, you ...
2 votes
1 answer
312 views

Kanji for ordinal numbers

I am beginning to study kanji and while reading a wiki I noticed only the ordinal numbers first (初), second (乙), and third (丙) are listed. Which brings me to ask whether there are symbols for fourth, ...
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3 votes
1 answer
101 views

What is the grammatical function of "が" in this context of counting people?

In an anime I've been watching, the protagonist goes to a village where one of his friends came from, where all the people in the village have the same hair color as his friend. (with "〇" ...
0 votes
0 answers
55 views

Double/ordinal number expression [duplicate]

I would like to know the pronunciation for these following expressions: i) (1, 2日), (6, 7日), (7, 8日), (8, 9日), (8, 10日), (18~20日) ii) 第2日, 第3日, 第4日, 第5日, 第6日, 第7日, 第8日, 第9日, 第10日, 第20日
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1 answer
150 views

Native or Sino Japanese numbers?

When listing steps (step 1, 2, 3, etc) do you use the Native Japanese counter or the Sino Japanese counter?
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1 vote
2 answers
234 views

Can I pronounce 十三日 as じゅうみっか?

I wonder if both prounciations of 十三日 are accepted? じゅうさんにち じゅうみっか The reasons I am asking are these: Windows IME seems to accept it 十四日 is pronouncecd as じゅうよっか, matching the pronunciation of 四日, ...
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0 votes
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384 views

Can I say na, nano, nanu as "seven" instead of nana?

On my kanji dictionary, below 七, there are several kunyomi among the common ones (nana, nanatsu), they are: na, nano, nanu; it's written that they are nouns themselves and it's the same for the other ...
3 votes
1 answer
91 views

How to pronounce "2" in はやぶさ2 (spacecraft / mission)

I'm a beginner. I was watching news about JAXA's はやぶさ2 mission and I think it is pronounced はやぶさ つ. Can someone please confirm that "2" is pronounced "つ" and explain why.
0 votes
1 answer
326 views

Different ways of enumeration

Japanese seems to have multiple ways of enumerating sequences. The basic one is ordinal numbers: Arabic (Indian) numbers like in English: 1,2,3 classic Chinese numbers: 一、二、三 etc. special legal ...
5 votes
1 answer
622 views

Leaving away the 目 suffix for ordinal numbers

I've seen 「1ページ」 refer to "page 1" of e.g. a book. Wouldn't this technically mean "one page" and 「1ページ目」 be correct for "page 1"? Is leaving away the 目 when referring to ...
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0 votes
0 answers
124 views

Non-universal counters and reading 7 and 9

Q1. Why are these counters like 人(にん), 日(にち) and 歳(さい) not universal? 人(にん) is impossible to be joined with 1(いち) or 2(に)? 日(にち) is impossible to be joined with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20 or ...
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-3 votes
1 answer
159 views

Regarding 7日, 9日, and counting 40, 70, 90

If you convert "ななにち" or "しちにち", you can get a letter "㏦(IDEOGRAPHIC TELEGRAPH SYMBOL FOR DAY SEVEN). Doing "きゅうにち" or "くにち", you can get a letter "㏨(IDEOGRAPHIC TELEGRAPH SYMBOL FOR DAY NINE). When I ...
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0 votes
1 answer
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The day of the month

I've learned that the 1st to 10th day of the month is always read specially. However, when I converted these by using my computer typing "いちにち、ににち、さんにち、よんにち、ごにち、ろくにち、ななにち、はちにち、きゅうにち、じゅうにち、じゅうよんにち、...
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1 vote
1 answer
105 views

How to say 一〇年 in a sentence [duplicate]

I see this structure a lot: まるで一〇年以上....... What does the 一〇 mean and how do I pronounce it? Is it いちまる?
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5 votes
2 answers
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How would you refer to an apartment number?

I am currently working through みんなの日本語 (and still very new), in 第二課の会話 one character says "...408のサントスです。”, but in the audio the voice actor says what sounds like ”よんまるはちのサントスです". I would say 408 as "...
0 votes
1 answer
119 views

What is independent form of numeral 10?

An old Dover grammar-book of Japanese shows it to be to (it has no kana but I assume it's と), but Wikipedia shows to̅ (とお). Which one is correct?
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3 votes
1 answer
339 views

7色 vs 七色 for rainbow (7 colors vs 7 prismatic colors)

虹は7色だ。 Rainbow has 7 colors. There are 7 colors in rainbow. Question: how to pronounce 7色 to make meaning [7 colors]? Problem: 七色 is not [7 colors]. It is a special scientific term, meaning [7-...
1 vote
1 answer
352 views

What does 1500万0000円 mean on a price display?

I'm a bit confused by the price display in a sushi restaurant video, see https://youtu.be/V1g0yIBTDjQ?t=608 Do I misread the number or is this a joke (the video has an unusual cut there)? It shows ...
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0 votes
1 answer
141 views

Are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4....... also considered Romaji?

Are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4....... also considered Romaji? If they are not written using kanji?
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15 votes
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
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3 votes
3 answers
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How do you say "some", "many", "a few", and "few" when referring to people?

So, of course, I know words like 多い, たくさん, 少ない, 少し, and 何+[counter]+か to express "many", "few", "a few", and "some" in most contexts. However, I have absolutely no idea what are the Japanese ...
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1 vote
1 answer
110 views

Different ways of saying "single"?

I am trying to translate basic combat to Japanese, but find myself struggling as to which form of "x of this" to use. I am currently trying to figure out how to say "single," as in "single punch," ...
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6 votes
3 answers
480 views

Can 11,000 be written 1.1万?

I have seen 11,000 written as 1万1000, but not as 1.1万 (the way one may write '3.5 millions'). Is this possible?
8 votes
1 answer
932 views

How many things? AとBがふたつ

「その上{うえ}には熱帯魚{ねったいぎょ}の水槽{すいそう}と何{なに}かのトロフィーがふたつのっている。」 This is a quote from "The wind-up bird and Tuesday's Women." How many fish tanks are there? How many trophies?
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3 votes
1 answer
155 views

Is there a methodology for forming the intuition to count in myriads?

In my native language (not Japanese), the Sino-Xenic word for "ten thousand" (萬) is only used in historical contexts. In modern times, the Western way of counting in thousands is much preferred, and ...
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1 vote
2 answers
567 views

What is the meaning of 七五三 in the sentence, 七五三のしゃしんです。

I was looking at the following sentence under a picture that I unfortunately cannot provide: 七五三のしゃしんです。 I believe the sentence reads "It's a picture of 753"... which doesn't make sense. I know ...
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1 vote
2 answers
912 views

Why 112 is pronounced as ippyakujuuni instead of ichihyakujuuni?

I ran across Jim Breen's page (http://nihongo.monash.edu/jnumbers.html) regarding numbers, it links to an image (provided below) which I found confusing. It reads 112 as ippyakujuuni, and 1386 as ...
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4 votes
1 answer
124 views

Meaning of 以上 and 以下 according to water depth level

Reading a text like: 海の深さが200m以上{いじょう} The first thing that came into my mind was: Above a level of 200m depth But then I realized that my understanding can be wrong and it may mean something ...
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7 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the significance of number 8 (八) in Japanese? [duplicate]

I've noticed a couple of words with the character 八 that have (seemingly) nothing to do with the number 8. 八百屋【やおや】 - greengrocer 八つ【やつ】当たり【あたり】 - taking out anger on someone 八丁【はっちょう】 - ...
12 votes
1 answer
2k views

What does 中3の25% exactly mean?

I am not sure about the first part of 「中3の25%、短文も理解困難」  Do you read 中 as ちゅう here? 25% of 3 would be 0.75% if I am not mistaken. Therefore does it mean something like 「around 0.75% of the ...
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2 votes
2 answers
289 views

How are numbers pronounced in (movie) titles? (i.e. ジョーズ3)

For example, ジョーズ3 (i.e. "Jaws Three") is in a list of movies. Would the "3" be pronounced "さん"? Typically, counter words follow after a number in Japanese. And sometimes the number's reading ...
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3 votes
1 answer
83 views

#回に#度: probability or sequence?

In a game manual, there is a description of a rare item that sometimes appears instead of a regular one. The rule determining when this rare item appears is this: 16回に1度、Xのかわりに出現。 In an earlier ...
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2 votes
1 answer
136 views

Meaning of "1部2万"

たかが感想文とはいえ、ほどほどにリアルな文体と内容が好評で、今では俺の量産する感想文は現在1部2万で取引されている。 speaker talking about his trivial job of writing feedback for literature aimed at elementary schoolers, how many is 1部2万 exactly?
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1 vote
1 answer
172 views

What is the correct pronunciation of 唯一

For the word (or composition of two words): 唯一, sometimes also written as: 唯一つ, Two possible pronunciations come to my mind: ゆいいつ [yuiitsu] -onyomi and ただ ひとつ [tada hitotsu] -kunyomi Which one is ...
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