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Quiz about Counting in Japanese
Quiz about Counting in Japanese

Counting in Japanese Trivia Quiz


Counting in Japanese can be very confusing for someone who is used to Western ways of counting. This quiz will test your knowledge on the counting system of Japan, and maybe you'll learn a few new things!

A multiple-choice quiz by daimaoh34. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
daimaoh34
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
119,359
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
11 / 15
Plays
5132
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 115 (9/15), Guest 90 (3/15), pennie1478 (2/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. We'll start with the basics. In order to start counting in Japanese, you need to know how to say the number one. So how do you say it? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. In English script, what is the Japanese equivalent to the number two?

Answer: (One Word, Sounds like a part of the body)
Question 3 of 15
3. "Kaku" in Japanese can mean an "angle", so what would "san-kaku" mean? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. What is the Japanese equivalent of the number four, which also has an alternate meaning of death?

Answer: (One Word)
Question 5 of 15
5. Of the following, which of these go in numerical order from least to greatest? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. There are alternate ways of saying the numbers four and seven in basic Japanese counting. What are they respectively? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. There is also an alternative way to say nine that is often not understood as well. What are the two ways of saying nine? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. What is the number ten in Japanese? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Which one of these is not a way of saying the number zero in Japanese? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. What is the Japanese word for one hundred? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. What are the Japanese words for one thousand and ten thousand respectively? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. What number would "san-jyuu ichi" be?

Answer: (Number)
Question 13 of 15
13. How would you say the number 562 in Japanese? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. How would you say one million (1,000,000) in Japanese? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. This is a toughy for even the advanced Japanese students. What is the Japanese word for 100,000,000 (one-hundred million)? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. We'll start with the basics. In order to start counting in Japanese, you need to know how to say the number one. So how do you say it?

Answer: ichi

You might have heard phrases such as "ichi-ban" or "number one".
2. In English script, what is the Japanese equivalent to the number two?

Answer: ni

"Ni" is the number two in Japanese. Some words you might hear it in: "ni-gatsu" or February (second month), "ni-nensei" or second-year student.
3. "Kaku" in Japanese can mean an "angle", so what would "san-kaku" mean?

Answer: triangle

"San" is the Japanese equivalent of three. Therefore, "san-kaku" means three angles, which would lead you to a triangle. Other words you might hear: "San-ji" or three o'clock, "san-nichi" or three days, and "san-kaku" or triangle.
4. What is the Japanese equivalent of the number four, which also has an alternate meaning of death?

Answer: shi

"Shi" is the word for the number four. As you may or may not know, "shi" is also the word for "death". Therefore, Japanese people will tend to avoid doing things involving the number four, or pronounce the word "yon" instead. For instance, when you give a gift of food, you should always make sure that the amount of food is never given in a multiple of four as it is considered unlucky.
5. Of the following, which of these go in numerical order from least to greatest?

Answer: go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu

From least to greatest is "go" (five), "roku" (six), "shichi" (seven), "hachi" (eight), and "kyuu" (nine).
6. There are alternate ways of saying the numbers four and seven in basic Japanese counting. What are they respectively?

Answer: yon and nana

The alternate ways of saying four and seven is "yon" and "nana" respectively. For instance, "yon-pun" means four minutes (you wouldn't use "shi-pun" in this case), and "nana-fun" means seven minutes (again, you wouldn't use "shichi-fun" in this case).
7. There is also an alternative way to say nine that is often not understood as well. What are the two ways of saying nine?

Answer: kyuu and ku

The two ways of saying nine is "kyuu" and "ku". As mentioned in the question, these two ways of saying nine are often misunderstood and to be able to know when to use which one takes practice and experience. For instance, "kyuu-kai" means 9th floor, while "ku-ji" means 9 o'clock.
8. What is the number ten in Japanese?

Answer: juu

"Juu" is Japanese for ten. However, sometimes this word will leave out the last "u" depending on the circumstance. For instance, "juu-ji" means 10 o'clock, while "juppun" means 10 minutes. Some people will also interchange the short "ju" for "ji" instead, although this is rare.
9. Which one of these is not a way of saying the number zero in Japanese?

Answer: hou

Interestingly enough, "zero" (pronounced zeh-roh) is commonly used for the word zero. "Rei" and "maru" are nicknames for zero, but aren't necessarily defined as zero.
10. What is the Japanese word for one hundred?

Answer: hyaku

You might have heard of the comet named "hyaku-take" which was translated roughly to "hundred tails".
11. What are the Japanese words for one thousand and ten thousand respectively?

Answer: sen and ichiman

The Japanese counting system has two seperate words for these numbers. The reason? The Japanese counting system is based on units of 10,000 rather than what Westerners are used to (units of 1,000). Therefore there is no such thing as "jyuu-sen".
12. What number would "san-jyuu ichi" be?

Answer: 31

Japanese numbers place the value before the unit. Therefore, "san-jyuu" literally means "three-tens" and "ichi" means "one" giving you 31.
13. How would you say the number 562 in Japanese?

Answer: go-hyaku roku-jyuu ni

Again, in Japanese counting, you place the value before the unit place. Therefore 500 is "go-hyaku" (literally five hundreds), 60 is "roku-jyuu" (literally 6 tens), and 2 is "ni". Put them all together and you have "go-hyaku roku-jyuu ni".
14. How would you say one million (1,000,000) in Japanese?

Answer: Hyaku-man

As the Japanese use "man" (10,000) as their base units rather than 1,000, the Japanese counting system can get a little confusing. In this case, "hyaku-man" literally means a hundred ten-thousands which would give you 6 zeros or 1,000,000. "Sen-sen" (which theoretically would mean a thousand thousands) does not exist in Japanese.
15. This is a toughy for even the advanced Japanese students. What is the Japanese word for 100,000,000 (one-hundred million)?

Answer: oku

Again, because of the Japanese counting system being based on units of 10,000, there is a need for a new original unit word when you reach 100,000,000. The Japanese do have a word for it, and it happens to be "oku". "Man man" and "hyaku sen sen" aren't real numbers in Japanese and sound like jibberish to a native Japanese speaker.

By the way, the choice "chou" is actually a real number. It is the next original unit, which in this case would be 1 trillion. To put it simple, think of the Japanese counting system putting commas after each 4 zeros. So man would look like 1,0000; oku would look like 1,0000,0000; and chou would look like 1,0000,0000,0000. Hope you learned something about the counting system of the Japanese!
Source: Author daimaoh34

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
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