3.5 Numbers 0 to 10 and Year Levels

Counting from 0 to 10

Here is how to count from 0 to 10 in Japanese. Repeat after each sound.

Here’re a few important points to keep in mind:

• The number zero: When counting numbers, the number zero is generally read as ‘zero’ rather than ‘rei’.
• The number four: It can also be read as よ (yo) with certain ‘counters’ (words used for counting objects, people or concepts), such as 年生（ねんせい: nensei）for year level. We will learn how to use the counter 年生 in this module.
• The number seven: When counting numbers, it is a personal preference to read the number seven either as ‘nana’ or ‘shichi’.
• The number nine: When counting numbers, the number nine is generally read as ‘kyuu’ instead of ‘ku’.

Now that you can read these basic numbers, you can use them for phone numbers in Japanese. However, keep in mind that instead of saying ‘triple three’ for the numbers 333 in a phone number, you should say ‘san san san’. Similarly, 000 is ‘rei rei rei’  or ‘zero zero zero’, not ‘triple zero’.

To test your comprehension of small numbers in Japanese, you may find the following resource (about 8 minutes long) created by MYsensei helpful. The video provides mnemonics and covers the numbers from 0 to 12. In Chapter 5, we will delve into numbers greater than 10.

Counter: 年生（ねんせい）

With the basic numbers, you can also describe your year level by using the counter 年生（ねんせい: nensei）. To indicate someone’s year level in Japanese, simply add 年生 after the number.

Here are a few examples of how to use the counter 年生 with numbers in Japanese:

Note that before the counter 年生, the number four is always よ (yo),  notよん (yon), and the number nine is commonly きゅう (kyuu), not く (ku).

One important point to keep in mind is that the counter 年生 is specifically used to count school year levels, such as grade levels in school or university. However, it’s not applicable for other types of years, such as:

• Calendar years: the term 年 (nen) is used in Japanese for calendar years. For example, the year ‘2024’ is 二千二十四年（にせんにじゅうよねん: ni-sen ni-juu yo-nen）.
• Age: When talking about someone’s age, the counter 歳（さい: sai）or 才 （さい: sai）is used. For example, 十九歳（じゅうきゅうさい: juu-kyuu-sai）is ’19 years old’. Interestingly, while the age 20 is written as 二十歳, it is pronounced not as にじゅうさい（nijuusai）or にじゅっさい（nijussai）, but as はたち（hatachi）. This is because turning 20 is regarded as a coming-of-age milestone in Japan.