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Originally Posted by skillosopher
awesome thread! exactly what we needed around here. but i have a few questions. for the number 4, when do we say shi, and when do we say yon. surely they must have appropriate usages. for instance...yondaime = shidaime?
and...for 22. if 20 = ni ju, and 21 = ni ju ichi, then why does 22 = ni ju san? shouldnt 22 = ni ju ni? like 199 = hayku kyu ju kyu?
help!
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well for instance, for time:
4 o'clock--you never say "shi ji", you say "yo ji"
and for 9 o'clock, you don say "kyou ji" you say "ku ji"
those are the two exceptions for time
however, for months
january = ichi gatsu
february= ni gatsu
march =san gatsu
april =
shi gatsu
september =
ku gatsu
again, those two, 4 and 9, are the exceptions
but as a general rule, i suggest you just use "yon" for most cases when you're not sure, except of course for "april".
also, for age, turning 20 in japan is like turning 21 in america, its really special.
so only for the age of 20, you say "ha ta chi", not "ni ju sai"
also, its a mistake that he wrote "ni ju san" for 22, your rights, its "ni ju ni". "ni ju san" =23
wow, it seems that i know more japanese than what i thought i knew.
