1 to 10

| Numerals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Kanji | 一| 二 | 三 | [四 | 五 |六 | 七 |八 | 九 | 十 |
| Reading | いち | に | さん | し／よん | ご | ろく | しち／なな | はち | きゅう | じゅう |

11 to 99

Example

1. 十一 【じゅう・いち】 – 11
2. 二十　【に・じゅう】 – 20
3. 二十一　【に・じゅう・いち】 – 21
4. 三十九　【さん・じゅう・きゅう】 – 39
5. 四十　【よん・じゅう】 – 40
6. 七十四　【なな・じゅう・よん】 – 74
7. 九十九　【きゅう・じゅう・きゅう】 – 99

Counters and Age

Let’s use the numbers we just learned to talk about our age. In Japanese, we must use counters to count different types of things. The counter for counting age is 「～歳」（さい）. Because the Kanji is rather difficult, it is also written as 「才」 (though it’s actually a completely different character)

Counters are simply attached to the end of the number. However, as we saw in the last section, Kanji readings can often go through small changes to aid pronunciation. The following digits are read slightly differently when used with the age counter. The age 20 is also a completely irregular reading.

Irregular readings

1. 一歳　【いっ・さい】 – 1 year old
2. 八歳　【はっ・さい】 – 8 years old
3. 十歳　【じゅっ・さい】 – 10 years old
4. 二十歳　【はたち】 – 20 years old

Example

1. 二十歳　【はたち】 – 20 years old
2. 二十一歳 【に・じゅう・いっ・さい】 – 21 years old
3. 四十八歳 【よん・じゅう・はっ・さい】 – 48 years old
4. 七十歳 【なな・じゅっ・さい】 – 70 years old