How to count numbers in Japanese? Counting numbers (100-10,000)

Let’s learn how to count bigger numbers in Japanese.
Check the following post to find out how to count from 1 to 100.

Counting numbers in Japanese
https://japango.life/daily/counting-numbers-in-japanese/
Let’s learn how to count numbers in Japanese today. Knowing how to count numbers will increase your proficiency level in Japanese.

Vocabulary (100-10000)

Have you mastered all numbers up to 100? Let’s challenge bigger numbers once you’ve done that.
Basically, 100 is “hyaku” and 1000 is “sen” but things are not so simple. Let’s look at the following table.

Numerals	Hiragana	Reading	Kanji
100	ひゃく	hyaku	百
200	にひゃく	ni hyaku	二百
300	さんびゃく ×さんひゃく	san byaku × san hyaku	三百
400	よんひゃく	yon hyaku	四百
500	ごひゃく	go hyaku	五百
600	ろっぴゃく ×ろくひゃく	roppyaku × roku hyaku	六百
700	ななひゃく	nana hyaku	七百
800	はっぴゃく ×はちひゃく	happyaku × hachi hyaku	八百
900	きゅうひゃく	kyuu hyaku	九百
?	なんびゃく	nan byaku	何百
1000	せん ×いちせん	sen × ichi sen	千
2000	にせん	ni sen	二千
3000	さんぜん ×さんせん	san zen × san sen	三千
4000	よんせん	yon sen	四千
5000	ごせん	go sen	五千
6000	ろくせん	roku sen	六千
7000	ななせん	nana sen	七千
8000	はっせん ×はちせん	hassen × hachi sen	八千
9000	きゅうせん	kyuu sen	九千
?	なんぜん ×なんせん	nan zen × nan sen	何千
10000	いちまん × まん	ichi man × man	一万

Change in pronunciation for numbers in the hundreds

Counting from 100 to 900 is not just a matter of adding “hyaku”. The pronunciation sometimes changes to “byaku” or “pyaku”. These changes, known as “euphonic changes”, occur when we add certain numbers to “hyaku”. It is thought that doing so makes it easier to pronounce the words. If there is an “n” sound before “hyaku”, the sound changes to a voiced sound.

300：Sam ＋　byaku　Instead of the h sound in “hyaku”, the pronunciation is affected by the bilabial m sound and changes to a b sound.

400：It was originally pronounced as “shihyaku” but because “shi” is a taboo word meaning “to die”, it is changed to “yon” instead and “hyaku” remains as it is.

?: Nam ＋　byaku　 Instead of the h sound in “hyaku”, the pronunciation is affected by the bilabial m sound and changes to a b sound.

600：roku＋hyaku　As it is difficult to move the mouth from the consonant k sound to h and also because it’s difficult to catch the sound, it became a semi-voiced sound instead.

800：hachi＋hyaku　 As it is difficult to move the mouth from the consonant ch sound to h and also because it’s difficult to catch the sound, it became a semi-voiced sound instead.

The above explanation may be a little technical but we decide to include it here as it is easier to remember if you know the reason.

Change in pronunciation for numbers in the thousands

3000：A voiced sound occurs after the “n” in “san”.

4000：It was originally pronounced as “shisen” but because “shi” is a taboo word meaning “to die”, it is changed to “yon” instead and “sen” remains as it is.

? 　：A voiced sound occurs after the “n” in “nan” and it is pronounced as “nanzen”.

8000：hachi＋sen　 As it is difficult to move the mouth from the consonant ch sound to s and also because it’s difficult to catch the sound, it became a double consonant sound instead.

You may also think of such euphonic changes as an optimal way of pronouncing the words over time.

How to read numbers

Let’s try to read some numbers.

2560：にせんごひゃくろくじゅう　Nisen gohyaku rokujyuu

47984：よんまんななせんきゅうひゃくはちじゅうよん Yonman nanasen kyuuhyaku hachijyuu yon

Practice

Repeat 100 to 1000 five times.
Repeat 1000 to 100 five times.
Repeat 1000 to 10000 five times.
Repeat 10000 to 1000 five times.
Say the following numbers.
200　430　784　300　600　800　139　995　666　873　520　138
2000　4000　5000　3200　9800　8000　7235　6500　9999　8989
Let’s say some prices. $ in Japanese is called “ドル doru”. 10$ is called “じゅうドル jyuu doru”. \ is pronuounced as “en” and is written in kanji as “円”.
A: 100＄　B: 300＄　C: 650＄　D: 973＄　E: 730＄　F: 839＄　G: 1000＄　H: 2500＄　I: 3500円　J: 9890円　K: 4600円　L: 5000円　M: 6598円　N: 8890円　O: 7732円