Japanese 1, Module 1, Lesson 2 Grammar notes

1. ぶんぽう： レッスン ２
Grammar: Lesson 2

2. In Japanese, there are different ways to count different things.
Pronunciations of numbers and their suffixes (or “counters”) change
depending on what it is you are counting.
In this lesson, we will learn:
• The counting (or cardinal) numbers,
• digits used for phone numbers,
• numbers used to express age,
• and the months of the year.
Numbers in Japanese

3. The Counting Numbers (or cardinal numbers) are the numbers used to
count, such as the English words one, two, three, twenty-five, three
hundred and sixteen…etc.
Counting Numbers in Japanese

4. Counting Numbers
Romaji ひらがな
Hiragana
English Translation
Ichi いち1
Ni に2
San さん3
Shi or yon し or よん4
Go ご5
Roku ろく6
Shichi or nana しち or なな7
Hachi はち8
Ku or kyuu く or きゅう9
Jyuu じゅう10
These are the counting numbers… used for counting.
Notice that some numbers, like 4, 7, and 9 have more than one pronunciation.
Their 2nd pronunciations (in red) are used when counting double or more digits.

5. Counting Numbers Past 10
For making numbers past 10, take a look at these examples:
12
じゅう
jyuu
にn
i =
じゅう
に
jyuu ni
10 2 12
30
さん
san
じゅう
jyuu =
さん
じゅう
san jyuu
3 10 30
47
よん
yon
じゅう
jyuu
+
なな
nana
=
よん じゅう
なな
yon jyuu nana
4 10
7 47
40

6. denwa bangou
でんわ ばんごう
Phone numbers

7. でんわ ばんごう
Phone numbers
でんわ ばんごう は なん です か。
Denwa bangou wa nan desu ka
What is your phone number?
•Phone numbers usually contain hyphens.
•The phone number in the response below has a hyphen after the first 3
digits of the phone number.
•Hyphens are read out loud as の no.
わたし の でんわ ばんごう は さん よん なな の いち に よん
はち です。
Watashi no denwa bangou wa san yon nana no ichi ni yon hachi desu.
My phone number is 347–1248.

8. Digits for phone numbers
Romaji ひらがな
Hiragana
English
Zero or maru ぜろ or まる0
Ichi いち1
Ni に2
San さん3
Yon よん4 *
Go ご5
Roku ろく6
Nana なな7 *
Hachi はち8
Kyuu きゅう9 *
• Only use these pronunciations for 4, 7, and 9 when reading phone numbers.

9. nan sai desu ka
なん さい です か。
How Old Are you?

10. なん さい です か。
How old are you?
The general rule for answering how old you are:
state the number and add the suffix さい sai.
– For example:
• わたし は ご さい です。
• Watashi wa go sai desu
• I am 5 years old.
• わたし は じゅう ご さい です。
• Watashi wa jyuu go sai desu.
• I am 15 years old.
• わたし は に じゅう ご さい です。
• Watashi wa ni jyuu go sai desu.
• I am 25 years old.

11. なん さい です か。
How old are you? (Continued)
• There are a few ages that have pronunciations that are exceptions to the rule above.
• Digits that end in 1, 8, or 10 will follow these exceptions.
– For example:
• さん じゅう はっさい
• San jyuu hassai
• 38 years old
• よん じゅう いっさい
• Yon jyuu issai
• 41 years old
• じゅう ご さい
• Jyuu go sai
• 50 years old

12. Romaji ひらがな
Hiragana
English Translation
Issai いっさい1 year old
Ni sai にさい2 years old
San sai さんさい3 years old
Yon sai よんさい4 years old*
Go sai ごさい5 years old
Roku sai ろくさい6 years old
Nana sai ななさい7 years old*
Hassai はっさい8 years old
Kyuu sai きゅうさい9 years old*
Jyuusai or jissai じゅうさい or じっ
さい
10 years old
Jyuu issai じゅういっさい11 years old
Jyuu hassai じゅうはっさい18 years old
hatachi はたち20 years old
*Only use these pronunciations for 4, 7, and 9 when saying ages.

13. nan gatsu umare desu ka
なん がつ うまれ です
か。
What month were you born in?

14. がつ - Months
• In Japan, as in many parts of the
world, there are 12 months to
make a whole year.
• Months in Japanese are basically
the number of the month plus the
counter word がつ gatsu, which
means month.
• Take a look at January. いち ichi
is the number 1. Add がつ
gatsu after いち ichi to say
“month one” or, in other words,
January.
* Note that April, July, and
September use alternate
pronunciations.
Romaji Hiragana English
Ichi gatsu いち がつJanuary
Ni gatsu に がつFebruary
San gatsu さん がつMarch
Shi gatsu し がつApril*
Go gatsu ご がつMay
Roku gatsu ろく がつJune
Shichi gatsu しち がつJuly*
Hachi gatsu はち がつAugust
Ku gatsu く がつSeptember*
Jyuu gatsu じゅう がつOctober
Jyuu ichi gatsu じゅう いち
がつNovember
Jyuu ni gatsu じゅう に が
つDecember

15. なん がつ – What month?
• “What” in Japanese can either be “nan” or “nani” ( なん or なに)
• When you want to just ask “what?” say なに nani.
• When you are dealing with counters or other nouns, like months, phone numbers,
or age, なん nan is used for “what”.
• For example:
Example 1: What month is it? Example 2: What month were you born in?
Q: なん がつ ですか。
Nan gatsu desu ka
What month is it?
A: はち がつ です。
Hachi gatsu desu
It is August.
Q: なん がつ うまれ です か。
Nan gatsu umare desu ka
What month were you born in?
A: く がつ うまれ です。
Ku gatsu umare desu
I was born in September.

16. Particles are very important in Japanese. If you use the wrong particle the sentence will
have a totally different meaning.
For example:
OK! わたし の なまえ
Watashi no namae.
My name
NO わたし は なまえ
watashi wa namae
(doesn’t make sense!)
Know when and where to use particles!
In this lesson, we’ll learn some new particles and review some.
jyoshi
じょし
particles

17. の no – the Possessive Particle
• の no is used to show ownership, or possession.
• In other words, it shows who the object / thing / person belongs to.
• It is very similar to apostrophe + s ( …‘s ) in the English language.
– For example:
• わたし の たんじょうび です。
• Watashi no tanjyoubi desu.
• It is my birthday.
• だいち の せんせい
• Daichi no sensei
• Daichi’s teacher
• さくらさん の でんわ ばんごう
• Sakurasan no denwa bangou
• Ms. Sakura’s phone number

18. は wa – the Topic Marker (Review)
• Remember, the particle は wa connects the topic with the object.
• Take a look at the sentences below:
– Note that we have also translated them literally to show the differences with
and without は wa
OK! わたし は だいち です。
Watashi wa daichi desu
I am Daichi.
(lit. Talking about myself, I am Daichi)
NO わたし だいち です。
Watashi daichi desu
I Daichi am.
(lit. I Daichi am.)

19. おわり
This is the end of the Grammar Notes for
this lesson.
You can print these notes for your reference
using the link above this slideshow.