Asking the price and buying a few things in Japanese
By the end of this lesson you can ask what something costs at a Japanese stall, understand a simple price and ask for one, two or three of it. Buying takes two kinds of counting: the price uses ordinary numbers plus 円 (en), and the quantity uses ひとつ (hitotsu), ふたつ (futatsu) and みっつ (mittsu). You'll see both in one short exchange: いくらですか (ikura desu ka), "How much is it?", 百円です (hyaku en desu), "It's a hundred yen", and ふたつお願いします (futatsu onegai shimasu), "Two, please".
A quick warm-up: what you'll be reusing
Here is what this lesson reuses, even if it's the first time you've seen it. すみません (sumimasen) gets someone's attention, and お願いします (onegai shimasu) asks politely, as in もう一度お願いします (mō ichido onegai shimasu), "once more, please". これ (kore) is the thing near you and それ (sore) the thing near the other person. In これは本です (kore wa hon desu), "this is a book", は, read wa, marks what you're talking about and です (desu) ends the sentence politely; か (ka) makes it a question, as in これは何ですか (kore wa nan desu ka), "What is this?" For prices you'll also need 十 (jū, ten), 五十 (gojū, fifty), 八十 (hachijū, eighty) and 百 (hyaku, a hundred).
- formal
すみません。
- formal
すみません、もう一度お願いします。
- formal
これは何ですか？
- formal
これは本です。
The words for buying: how much, yen, how many
いくら (ikura) asks the price. 円 (en) is the yen; Japanese says it with no y sound at the start. ひとつ (hitotsu), ふたつ (futatsu) and みっつ (mittsu) count things up to three, shown here in short sentences with です. 百 (hyaku) is a hundred, and りんご (ringo) and オレンジ (orenji) are the apples and oranges on our stall.
- いくらhow much
- 円yen
- ひとつです。That's one.
- ふたつです。That's two.
- みっつです。That's three.
- 百hundred
- りんごapple
- オレンジorange
At the fruit stall
A customer points at some apples, asks the price and orders two. The seller hears three, so she corrects him with いいえ (iie), "no". She can say just ふたつ because the apples are right in front of them. The last line, 二百円です (nihyaku en desu), is only for recognizing: you don't need to say it yet.
- Aformal
すみません、これはいくらですか。
- Bformal
百円です。
- Aformal
ふたつお願いします。
- Bformal
みっつですか。
- Aformal
いいえ、ふたつです。
- Bformal
二百円です。
Asking the price: いくらですか
Name or point at the thing, add は, and finish with いくらですか: これはいくらですか (kore wa ikura desu ka), りんごはいくらですか (ringo wa ikura desu ka). When it's clear what you mean, いくらですか is enough. English puts "how much" first, but いくら sits where the answer will go: りんごはいくらですか is answered by りんごは百円です (ringo wa hyaku en desu), "The apples are a hundred yen". Japanese has no "is" or "are" to choose here: です stays the same for one thing or several. To ask the price of a single one, use ひとついくらですか (hitotsu ikura desu ka), with no は.
- formal
これはいくらですか。
- formal
それはいくらですか。
- formal
りんごはいくらですか。
- formal
オレンジはいくらですか。
- formal
いくらですか。
- formal
ひとついくらですか。
Saying the price: number + 円
A price is a number, then 円, then です: 五十円です (gojū en desu), 八十円です (hachijū en desu), 百円です (hyaku en desu). Like English "yen", 円 has no plural. On price tags you'll usually see digits, as in 100円 or ¥100, and they are read the same way. The last two lines are only for recognizing: compare 百 in 二百 (nihyaku, two hundred) with the sound change in 三百 (sanbyaku, three hundred).
- formal
五十円です。
- formal
八十円です。
- formal
百円です。
- formal
二百円です。
- formal
三百円です。
Asking for a few things: ふたつお願いします
Say the number, then お願いします: ふたつお願いします is enough when you're pointing at what you want. To name it, say the thing first, pause, then give the number: りんご、ふたつお願いします (ringo, futatsu onegai shimasu). English says "two apples", with the number first; in these requests the thing comes first, and りんご doesn't change for a plural. This short way of asking is natural at a stall. A later lesson, on requests at the counter, adds a particle after the thing.
りんご、ふたつお願いします。
- formal
ひとつお願いします。
- formal
ふたつお願いします。
- formal
みっつお願いします。
- formal
りんご、ひとつお願いします。
- formal
りんご、ふたつお願いします。
- formal
オレンジ、みっつお願いします。
Two kinds of counting in one purchase
Prices use ordinary numbers: 五十円, 百円. How many things you want uses ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, which you learn as whole words: they aren't 一 (ichi), 二 (ni), 三 (san) plus つ, so there's no いちつ. On signs you may see them written 一つ, 二つ, 三つ, and they're read the same. The two kinds can sit side by side: ひとつ百円です (hitotsu hyaku en desu) means "a hundred yen each". This counting works for many everyday things, such as fruit, but not for everything: people and books, for example, have counting words of their own.
- formal
ひとつ百円です。
- formal
りんごはひとつ百円です。
- formal
ひとついくらですか。
For reference: counting to ten, and hundreds of yen
This chart is for looking things up. You only need ひとつ to みっつ and the prices above for now. In the last column, each row up to 9 is that number times a hundred yen. Two details to look for: ten is とお (tō), with no つ, and 三百, 六百 and 八百 change their sound.
| Number | Counting things | Hundreds of yen |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一つ（ひとつ・hitotsu） | 百円（ひゃくえん・hyaku en） |
| 2 | 二つ（ふたつ・futatsu） | 二百円（にひゃくえん・nihyaku en） |
| 3 | 三つ（みっつ・mittsu） | 三百円（さんびゃくえん・sanbyaku en） |
| 4 | 四つ（よっつ・yottsu） | 四百円（よんひゃくえん・yonhyaku en） |
| 5 | 五つ（いつつ・itsutsu） | 五百円（ごひゃくえん・gohyaku en） |
| 6 | 六つ（むっつ・muttsu） | 六百円（ろっぴゃくえん・roppyaku en） |
| 7 | 七つ（ななつ・nanatsu） | 七百円（ななひゃくえん・nanahyaku en） |
| 8 | 八つ（やっつ・yattsu） | 八百円（はっぴゃくえん・happyaku en） |
| 9 | 九つ（ここのつ・kokonotsu） | 九百円（きゅうひゃくえん・kyūhyaku en） |
| 10 | 十（とお・tō） | — |
Your turn, and a summary
You're at the same stall and you want three oranges. Cover the lines below. Ask the price of the oranges, imagine the seller saying 八十円です, then ask for three, naming the fruit. Say each line aloud before you check it, then try again with りんご and another number. In short: ask with いくらですか, say a price with number + 円 + です, and ask for things with ひとつ, ふたつ or みっつ + お願いします. To name what you want, the thing comes before the number: りんご、ふたつお願いします.
- formal
オレンジはいくらですか。
- formal
八十円です。
- formal
オレンジ、みっつお願いします。