Japanese Numbers · Day 3 of 20
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Hundreds, and the sounds that change
百, and the three that are not regular
A hundred is ひゃく and the pattern is the same as before: the digit goes in front. Three of them change sound, and those three are not optional decoration. 600 said as ろくひゃく is one of the things that instantly marks someone out as reading from a phrasebook.
The hundreds
Regular ones first, then the three that shift. The changed ones are marked:
Three, six and eight are the ones that change, and the pattern behind it is worth knowing rather than memorising: さん turns a following h into b, while ろく and はち shorten to ろっ and はっ and turn the h into p. You will meet the same three troublemakers again with 本, 匹 and 階 later in this course, so the effort you spend here is paid back four times.
Putting a full number together
Largest part first, then the next, with nothing between them:
There is no と, no and, and no pause. You simply say the parts in order and stop. English speakers reach for a joining word out of habit, and there is nothing to reach for. 608 is ろっぴゃくはち because the tens place is empty and empty places are silent, not zero.
Where you meet hundreds
Almost always money, in practice:
Hundreds are the range where you stop translating and start recognising. A price said as ろっぴゃくはちじゅうえん is one sound, not four words, and the way to get there is repetition rather than analysis.
Carry over, from earlier days
Check yourself
8 questions. Nothing is saved unless you finish.