I can ask the price, understand and write down an amount in hundreds and thousands, ask for the number of tickets I need, and understand what the cashier is asking.
How much it costs: hundreds, thousands, and 円（えん）
How much it costs: hundreds, thousands, and 円（えん）
You can't buy anything without asking the price and understanding the answer.
The price question: それはいくらですか。 The answer is a number ＋ えん: 350円（さんびゃくごじゅうえん）です。 Unlike the dollar sign in $300, 円 always comes after the number.
Hundreds: ひゃく, にひゃく, よんひゃく … Three readings change: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく. The rest are simply the number ＋ ひゃく. 100 is just ひゃく, with no いち, though English says “one hundred”.
Thousands: せん, にせん, よんせん … Two readings change: さんぜん and はっせん. 1000 is just せん, with no いち.
English groups big numbers by thousands; Japanese groups them by ten thousands. 10000 is いちまん, “one 万（まん）”, not じゅう ＋ せん (“ten thousands”). Then 20000 is にまん, 30000 is さんまん.
Common mistakes:
• NOT ろくひゃくえん — 600 is read ろっぴゃく.
• NOT さんせんえん — 3000 is read さんぜん.
• NOT じゅうせんえん — 10000 is read いちまん.
Hundreds, thousands, and 万（まん）
The readings that change are highlighted. Price tags also use kanji: 三百円 = 300円.
| Hundreds | Reading | Thousands | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 (百) | ひゃく | 1000 (千) | せん |
| 200 | にひゃく | 2000 | にせん |
| 300 | さんびゃく | 3000 | さんぜん |
| 400 | よんひゃく | 4000 | よんせん |
| 500 | ごひゃく | 5000 | ごせん |
| 600 | ろっぴゃく | 6000 | ろくせん |
| 700 | ななひゃく | 7000 | ななせん |
| 800 | はっぴゃく | 8000 | はっせん |
| 900 | きゅうひゃく | 9000 | きゅうせん |
| — | — | 10000 (一万) | いちまん |
Lesson notes
How much it costs: hundreds, thousands, and 円（えん）
You can't buy anything without asking the price and understanding the answer.
The price question: それはいくらですか。 The answer is a number ＋ えん: 350円（さんびゃくごじゅうえん）です。 Unlike the dollar sign in $300, 円 always comes after the number.
Hundreds: ひゃく, にひゃく, よんひゃく … Three readings change: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく. The rest are simply the number ＋ ひゃく. 100 is just ひゃく, with no いち, though English says “one hundred”.
Thousands: せん, にせん, よんせん … Two readings change: さんぜん and はっせん. 1000 is just せん, with no いち.
English groups big numbers by thousands; Japanese groups them by ten thousands. 10000 is いちまん, “one 万（まん）”, not じゅう ＋ せん (“ten thousands”). Then 20000 is にまん, 30000 is さんまん.
Common mistakes:
• NOT ろくひゃくえん — 600 is read ろっぴゃく.
• NOT さんせんえん — 3000 is read さんぜん.
• NOT じゅうせんえん — 10000 is read いちまん.
At the register: 枚（まい）, ずつ, and what the cashier says
まい counts anything flat: tickets, sheets of paper, copies. きっぷを3枚（さんまい）ください。 The readings of this counter don't change: いちまい, にまい … じゅうまい. The question is なんまい. English puts the number straight on the noun (“two tickets”); Japanese names the thing, then the number with its counter.
ずつ means “each”: 2つ（ふたつ）ずつください。 — “two each, please”.
At the register you'll be asked set questions: you need to understand them, not say them yourself. The list is in the table below. Answer briefly: はい、おねがいします。 or いいえ、いりません。
On a price tag: 半額（はんがく） is half price, 30%引き（びき） is 30 percent off.
Common mistakes:
• NOT きっぷ2ください — tickets are counted with まい.