Verbs
Kanji Kana Polite form
-forms English
`Ê ÉÊ ÉåÑ ÉëZ arrive
¤L ½L ½Ñ ½Z leave
¤ÅL ½åL ½åÑ ½åZ can do
Øç æç æëÑ æÓZ buy
{ç Éæç ÉæëÑ ÉæÓZ use
ÁL âL âKÑ âÓZ know
Beyond 90,000
Although it may not be important for everyone, for those who would like to know how to express
numbers in Japanese beyond 90,000, the system is as follows. It is likely, however, that you will
have to deal with bigger numbers in Japanese, especially when currency is involved. This is
because the unit of the Japanese monetary system, yen, is smaller than the American unit of cur-
rency, the dollar. For instance, one dollar has the value of about one hundred yen, although since
the exchange rate fluctuates, we can seldom maintain a stable equivalency of the two currency sys-
tems. After “nine man” (90,000), you will go to “ten man” (100,000), that is ¶º ìܸçÑïÍ.
Then, to “one hundred man” (1,000,000), º ìHÊÑïÍ, and then to “one thousand man”
(10,000,000), that is ¨º ìäïÑïÍ. This is easier to grasp if you place a comma after four zeros
instead of three zeros, as done in the West. See the following:
90,000 = 9,0000 = nine man = º ìå¸çÑïÍ
100,000 = 10,0000 = ten man = ¶º ìܸçÑïÍ
1,000,000 = 100,0000 = one hundred man = º ìHÊÑïÍ
10,000,000 = 1000,0000 = one thousand man = ¨º ìäïÑïÍ
The next highest unit after man is ì[ÊÍ. The system is recursive, as in the following:
100,000,000 = 1,0000,0000 = one oku = ¼ ìëÂ[ÊÍ
1,000,000,000 = 10,0000,0000 = ten oku = ¶ ìܸç[ÊÍ
10,000,000,000 = 100,0000,0000 = hundred oku = ìHÊ[ÊÍ
100,000,000,000 = 1000,0000,0000 = thousand oku = ¨ ìäï[ÊÍ
The next highest unit after ì[ÊÍ is ìÂÚçÍ. The system here, too, is recursive.
1,000,000,000,000 = 1,0000,0000,0000 = one choo = ¼ ìëÓÂÚçÍ
10,000,000,000,000 = 10,0000,0000,0000 = ten choo = ¶ ìܸÓÂÚçÍ
100,000,000,000,000 = 100,0000,0000,0000 = hundred choo = ìHÊÂÚçÍ
1,000,000,000,000,000 = 1000,0000,0000,0000 = thousand choo = ¨ ìäïÂÚçÍ
Supplementary Vocabulary
Stage 1-4 (Workbook 1) 131