Hindu-Arabic numerals are defined as a number system based on the symbols for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. An example of Hindu-Arabic numerals is an ancient system of counting in India.

sitta

Basic numbering in Japanese. There are two ways of writing the numbers in Japanese: in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Chinese numerals (一, 二, 三). The Arabic numerals are more often used in horizontal writing, and the Chinese numerals are more common in vertical writing.

Today, speakers of Chinese use three written numeral systems: the system of Arabic numerals used worldwide, and two indigenous systems. The more familiar indigenous system is based on Chinese characters that correspond to numerals in the spoken language.

The number four (4) is called either “yon” or “shi” in Japanese. In the case of four you can say any of those. But for other words, like “death” (死）that is also pronounced “shi”, you can’t change it for “yon”. In other words, “shi” and “yon” are both words that represents the number four.

To say “One hundred (100)” in Chinese, you need a new word – 百 (bǎi) or 一百 (yìbǎi).

Counting People (How many people?), a reply of ‘hitotsu’ (or ‘ichi’) will get you, at least for a few moments, a blank stare. One human is ‘hitori’, two is ‘futari’, but after that it’s easy.

ごじゅうはち go-juu-hachi. 97.

1 to 10

The Japanese verbs arimasu and imasu both translate to “there is” in English. ★ Generally, Imasu is used for living things and arimasu is used for everything else.

When you don’t know which counter is correct, use the standard Japanese counting system from one to nine, which ends in a “つ”: 一つ (ひとつ, one), 二つ (ふたつ, two), 三つ (みっつ, three), 四つ (よっつ, four), 五つ (いつつ, five), 六つ (むっつ, six), 七つ (ななつ, seven), 八つ (やっつ, eight) and 九つ (ここのつ, nine).

こ – ko

Japanese Numbers 1-10: How to Count to Ten in Japanese

satsu

★ The Japanese word for one (book) is 一冊 (いっさつ – issatsu).

“You should”, and “You shouldn’t” in Japanese: -たほうがいい and -ないほうがいい

1. 3.1 You should (-たほうがいい)
2. 3.2 (past-tense form of a verb/ ta- form) + “～ほうがいい”
3. 3.3 You shouldn’t (-ないほうがいい)
4. 3.4 (negative form of a verb/ verb + ない) + “ほうがいい”

Most Japanese nouns do not have plural forms. Instead, when indicating a specific number or amount of a noun, the noun is followed by a counter (助数詞, じょすうし). There are a large number of these counters, each referring to a particular kind of thing to count. あそこに本が四冊あります。

First of all, the number system is in units of four instead of three, which can make converting into English quite difficult. Also, there are things called counters, which are required to count different types of objects, animals, or people….Vocabulary.