Japanese Lesson 6 - Numbers and School

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The 6th lesson teaches counting in cardinal and ordinal numbers in Japanese. I also included a vocabulary list about school and finally common daily phrases. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. Going through the whole page should take about 30 min. Make sure to read the pronunciation and hear the audio as well. If you have any question about this course, please email me directly at Japanese Classes.

Numbers

Knowing how to count in Japanese is essential and should be one of first things to learn. By simply knowing numbers from 1 to 9 you could express large numbers in a simplified way. Cardinal numbers are for counting such as "1, 2, 3 ...". Ordinal numbers represent order or rank such as "1st, 2nd, 3rd ...".

Below is a list of the first 20 cardinal and ordinal numbers that you might come across or use very often. The table contains 3 columns (English, Japanese, and Audio). Make sure you repeat each word after hearing it by either clicking on the audio button or by reading the pronunciation. That should help with memorization as well as improving your pronunciation.

Numbers in Japanese

Numbers	Japanese	Audio
One	一 or １ [ichi]
First	１番 [ichiban]
Two	ニ or ２ [ni]
Second	２番 [ni ban]
Three	三 or ３ [san]
Third	３番 [san ban]
Four	四 or ４ [yon]
Fourth	４番 [yon ban]
Five	五 or ５ [go]
Fifth	５番 [go ban]
Six	六 or ６ [roku]
Sixth	６番 [roku ban]
Seven	七 or ７ [nana]
Seventh	７番 [nana ban]
Eight	八 or ８ [hachi]
Eighth	８番 [hachi ban]
Nine	九 or ９ [kyuu]
Ninth	９番 [kyuu ban]
Ten	十 or １０ [juu]
Tenth	１０番 [juu ban]
Eleven	十一 or １１ [juu ichi]
Eleventh	１１番 [juu ichi ban]
Twelve	十二 or １２ [juu ni]
Twelfth	１２番 [juu ni ban]
Thirteen	十三 or １３ [juu san]
Thirteenth	１３番 [juu san ban]
Fourteen	十四 or １４ [juu yon]
Fourteenth	１４番 [juu yon ban]
Fifteen	十五 or １５ [juu go]
Fifteenth	１５番 [juu go ban]
Sixteen	十六 or １６ [juu roku]
Sixteenth	１６番 [juu roku ban]
Seventeen	十七 or １７ [juu nana]
Seventeenth	１７番 [juu nana ban]
Eighteen	十八 or １８ [juu hachi]
Eighteenth	１８番 [juu hachi ban]
Nineteen	十九 or １９ [juu kyuu]
Nineteenth	１９番 [juu kyuu ban]
Twenty	二十 or ２０ [ni juu]
Twentieth	２０番 [niyuu ban]
Thirty three (31)	二十三 or ２３ [nijuu san]
One hundred (100)	三十 or ３０ [san juu]
Three hundred and sixty (360)	三百六十 or 360 [san byaku rokujuu]
One thousand (1000)	一千 or １０００ [issen or sen]
Two thousand and fourteen (2014)	二千四十2,040 [nisen yon juu]
One million	百万 or 100万 [hyaku man]
Once	1回 [ikkai]
Twice	2回 [ni kai]

Now we will try to implement some of the numbers above into full Japanese sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.

Japanese Numbers in a Sentence

Numbers	Japanese	Audio
I'm 30 years old	私は３０才です。 [Kare wa 30 sai desu.]
I have 2 sisters and 1 brother	私には二人の女の子と一人の男の子がいます。 [Watasi niwa futari no onna no ko to hitori no okoko no ko ga imasu.]
English is my first language	英語は私の母国語です。 [Eigo wa watashi no bokokugo desu.]
Her second language is Spanish	彼女の第二外国語はスペイン語です。 [Kanojo no daini gaikokugo wa Supeingo desu.]

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact me If you simply want to ask a question, please Japanese contact form on the header above.

Vocabulary List about School

Below is a list of 26 words related to school and classrooms. If you can memorize them by heart, you will be able communicate to a teacher/students many objects in your class.

School Words in Japanese

School	Japanese	Audio
Answer	答え [kotae]
Book	本 [hon]
Books	本 [hon]
Chair	椅子 [isu]
Desk	机 [tsukue]
Dictionary	辞書 [jisho]
Laptop	ラップトップ [rappu toppu]
Library	図書館 [toshokan]
Notebook (paper notebook)	ノート [nouto]
Page	ページ [pēji]
Paper	紙 [kami]
Pen	ペン [pen]
Pencil	鉛筆 [enpitsu]
Question	質問 [sitsumon]
School	学校 [gakkoo]
Student	学生 [gakusei]
Teacher	教師 [kyoosi]
University	大学 [daigaku]

Daily Conversation in Japanese

Finally, a couple bonus sentences that you might find useful. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Japanese Phrases page. Enjoy!

Common Expressions in Japanese

English	Japanese	Audio
I have a question	質問があります。 [Sitsumon ga arimasu.]
To listen	聴く [kiku]
To read	読む [yomu]
To speak	話す [hanasu]
To think	考える [kangaeru]
To understand	理解する [rikaisuru]
To write	書く [kaku]
What's the name of that book?	この本の名前は何ですか？ [Kono hon no namae wa nan desuka?]
What do you do for a living?	仕事は何をしておられますか？ [Shigo wa nani o shite orare masuka?]
I'm a (teacher / artist / engineer)	私は　先生／芸術家／エンジニアです。 [Watasi wa sensei / geijyutsuka / enjinia desu.]
Oh! That's good!	まぁー！　それは良いですね！ [Maa! Sore wa iidesu-ne!]
Can I practice with you?	あなたと一緒に練習してもいいですか？ [Anata to issho ni rennshu shitemo ii desuka?]

Fun Facts

Language Quote: Approximately one new word is added to the English language every two hours and around 4,000 new words are added to the English dictionary every year.

Congratulations! You finished your 6th lesson in Japanese about numbers, and school terms. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Japanese Lesson 7. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Japanese homepage.

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Linguistic Japanese Vocabulary

Culture Japanese Phrases

Structure Japanese Grammar