Numbers In Japanese
Dec 15th 2011 11:52
If you have Japanese friends, ask them to count 1 to 10 in Japanese.
They will say…
“1Ichi 2ni 3san 4shi 5go 6roku 7shichi 8hachi 9kyu 10jyu”
Then, ask them to count 10 to 1 in Japanese.
You may guess they will reverse it, like
“10Jyu 9kyu 8hachi 7shichi 6roku 5go 4shi 3san 2ni 1ichi”
I’m sure they won’t.
They will say
“10Jyu 9kyu 8hachi 7nana 6roku 5go 4yon 3san 2ni 1ichi”
Try to ask them why they say “7nana” and “4yon” instead of “7shichi” and “4shi”.
I wonder how they explain it.
It is so tricky.
They will say…
“1Ichi 2ni 3san 4shi 5go 6roku 7shichi 8hachi 9kyu 10jyu”
Then, ask them to count 10 to 1 in Japanese.
You may guess they will reverse it, like
“10Jyu 9kyu 8hachi 7shichi 6roku 5go 4shi 3san 2ni 1ichi”
I’m sure they won’t.
They will say
“10Jyu 9kyu 8hachi 7nana 6roku 5go 4yon 3san 2ni 1ichi”
Try to ask them why they say “7nana” and “4yon” instead of “7shichi” and “4shi”.
I wonder how they explain it.
It is so tricky.
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If you have Japanese friends, ask them to count from 1 to 10 in Japanese.
“Ichi (1), ni (2), san (3), shi (4), go (5), roku (6), shichi (7), hachi (8), kyu (9), jyu (10)”
Then, ask them to count from 10 to 1 in Japanese.
You might guess they would reverse it, like:
“Jyu, kyu, hachi, shichi, roku, go, shi, san, ni, ichi”
Although, I’m sure they wouldn't.
They would say:
“Jyu, kyu, hachi, nana, roku, go, yon, san, ni, ichi”
Try asking them why they say, “nana” and “yon”, instead of, “shichi” and “shi”.
I wonder how they would explain it.
I have never counted backwards, but I think nana and yon, sounds better, in this case.
Although, I don't know the real reason.