GrammarN52 min read2026-02-17

すうじの かぞえかた②

Learn to read and count large Japanese numbers using ひゃく, せん, まん, and おく

Meaning

This lesson covers how to count numbers from 100 onwards in Japanese. The units are ひゃく (100), せん (1,000), まん (10,000), and おく (100,000,000). Important: certain numbers have special sound changes. When 3 combines with ひゃく, it becomes さんびゃく (300), and when 6 and 8 combine with ひゃく, they become ろっぴゃく (600) and はっぴゃく (800). Similar sound changes occur in the thousands: さんぜん (3,000) and はっせん (8,000), though ろくせん (6,000) has no sound change.

Formation

Part of speechFormation
百位ひゃく(100)、にひゃく(200)、さんびゃく(300)、よんひゃく(400)、ごひゃく(500)、ろっぴゃく(600)、ななひゃく(700)、はっぴゃく(800)、きゅうひゃく(900)
千位せん(1,000)、にせん(2,000)、さんぜん(3,000)、よんせん(4,000)、ごせん(5,000)、ろくせん(6,000)、ななせん(7,000)、はっせん(8,000)、きゅうせん(9,000)
万位以上いちまん(10,000)、さんまん(30,000)、はちまん(80,000)、じゅうまん(100,000)、ひゃくまん(1,000,000)、いっせんまん(10,000,000)、いちおく(100,000,000)

Examples

Summary

  • Use ひゃく for 100-900, せん for 1,000-9,000, まん for 10,000+, and おく for 100,000,000
  • Special pronunciations: 300 (さんびゃく), 600 (ろっぴゃく), 800 (はっぴゃく), 3,000 (さんぜん), 8,000 (はっせん)
  • 6,000 is ろくせん without sound change, unlike 600 which is ろっぴゃく

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