basically just need help with a simple structure issue…
I want to be able to count ‘1100, 1200, 1300’, and furthermore such like ‘1311’, etc…
Am I right or wrong in writing 1100 as 千百? Is 1311 yen like… 千三百十一円? Or am I missing something? I feel so frustrated at myself, like I’m missing some fundamental factor to the counting system…
Is this even in the right topic category?
You are correct. 
It’s just adding kanji up, and taking the dakuten into consideration. 
Although I think you usually use 一千 instead of just 千.
Nah, it’s just 千. Same as 百 - it’s 百四十二 not 一百四十二.
When you go up to the next power of ten, mind, you do need to include the 一 - always 一万 not just 万.
Thank you for confirming! It took me a while to remember I had this question, but it came up in my mind again and I remembered I posted something here on the subject. Glad I did, otherwise I’d still be stumped!
Probably worth adding that counting anything above 万 can get a little confusing in terms of what the actual number is, since the Japanese system changes every 4 powers of ten, instead of 3. Probably not the best way to explain it, so here’s what I mean:
English:
1,000 = one thousand
10,000 = ten thousand
100,000 = one hundred thousand
1,000,000 = one million
1,000,000,000 = one billion
etc
Japanese:
1,0000 = 一万 (ie. one ten-thousand)
10,0000 = 十万 (ie. ten ten-thousand)
100,0000 = 百万 (ie. one hundred ten-thousand)
1000,0000 = 千万 (ie. one thousand ten-thousand)
1,0000,0000 = 一億 (ie. one hundred-million)
10,0000,0000 = 十億 (ie. ten hundred-million)
etc.
Now, you rarely are going to see numbers this high, realistically. However, the 十万 ‐ 千万 range is pretty common for cars, salaries, etc. which can become an even bigger pain when you try to relate it back to your home currency.
Oh, I dunno - given the yen-to-dollars exchange rate tends to be in the ballpark of 100:1, you just need to drop a zero from the 万, and then reduce the leading power of ten by one. So, for example, 百万円 becomes 十千ドル. 
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.