Japanese · JLPT Band 1 (N5) · Chapter 11
いくつですかHow many?
Big numbers — hyaku (100), sen (1000), zero (0) — and ikutsu, "how many". Ikutsu desu ka works for counting things and for age. Hatachi is the special word for 20 years old. Review the quantity words sukoshi / takusan / zenbu too. No new grammar — you use desu. Kana: reading big numbers.
Dialogue
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いくつですか— How Old Are You?
- Yukiマイクさんはいくつですか。Mike, how old are you?
- Mikeにじゅっさいです。I'm twenty. (slip: 20 years old is "hatachi", not "nijussai")
- Yuki20さいは「はたち」ですよ。Twenty is "hatachi", you know.
- Mikeあ、はたちです!ゆきさんもはたちですか。Oh, hatachi! Yuki, are you twenty too?
Dialogue
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さんびゃく? さんひゃく?— Sanbyaku? Sanhyaku?
- Yuki100はひゃく、200はにひゃくです。300は?100 is hyaku, 200 is nihyaku. And 300?
- Mikeさんひゃくです。San-hyaku. (slip: 300 is "sanbyaku" — the h becomes b)
- Yuki「さんびゃく」ですよ。「さんひゃく」じゃないです。It's "sanbyaku". Not "sanhyaku".
- Mikeあ、さんびゃくですね!ありがとう。Oh, sanbyaku! Thanks.
Vocabulary
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- ひゃく
numeralhundred
- せん
numeralthousand
- ぜろ
numeralzero
- はたち
nountwenty years old
- とし
nounage, year
- なんばん
pronounwhat number
- ばん
count.(number/order suffix)
- いくつ
pronounhow many / how old
- すこし
adverba little, a few
- たくさん
adverbmany, a lot
- ぜんぶ
nounall, everything
Grammar
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Big numbers and ikutsu ("how many")
Explanation
Big numbers build up: hyaku (100), nihyaku (200), sanbyaku (300), sen (1000). Use Ikutsu desu ka to ask the number of things or someone's age, and answer with a number or a quantity word: sukoshi (a little), takusan (a lot), zenbu (all). For age you can ask either nansai or ikutsu — but 20 has the special form hatachi. No new grammar; it all works with desu.
Examples
- いくつですか。— たくさん です。How many? — A lot.
- なんばんですか。— ぜろ・はち・はち です。What number? — Zero, eight, eight.
- あには はたちです。My older brother is twenty.
- すこし です。ぜんぶ じゃ ないです。It's a little. Not all of it.
Kana
i
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ひらがな: おおきい すうじの おと— Hiragana: The Sounds of Big Numbers
Examples where hyaku changes sound:
- さんびゃくsanbyaku300 — hyaku → byaku (濁点)
- ろっぴゃくroppyaku600 — small っ + pyaku
- はっぴゃくhappyaku800 — small っ + pyaku
- さんぜんsanzen3000 — sen → zen (濁点)
Read aloud:
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