Lesson 3: Numbers, Money & Shopping

___ wa ikura desu ka. — “How much is ___?”

ikura — how much — drops into the question slot you already know from nan and dare. But to do anything with the answer, you need the numbers. Here’s the entire set — ten digits and four size words. Repeat each one; rhythm matters more than speed.

ichi ni san yon

yon is your only word for 4 in this course. (You may hear shi — recognize it, don’t copy it.)

go roku nana

nana is your only word for 7. (Its twin shichi appears exactly once in this course — as part of “7 o’clock,” much later.)

hachi kyuu

kyuu is your only word for 9. (Same deal: ku exists, but only inside “9 o’clock.”)

juu zero

Ten to nineteen is free: juu-ichi, juu-ni… Twenty, thirty…: digit + juu (ni-juu, san-juu). You already know more numbers than you think.

hyaku sen man

Japanese groups big numbers by ten thousands, not thousands — man is the unit your hotel bill comes in. For a traveler, the skill is sizing: hearing whether a price lives in the hundreds (hyaku), thousands (sen), or ten-thousands (man).

en

en — yen. Prices end in it. Now, the frame in action:

Holding the thing up as you ask is a complete, polite sentence-plus-context. This works at every register, stall, and counter in Japan.

Kore wa ikura desu ka.

The full frame — point + kore when the thing isn’t in your hand.

Hyaku-en desu.

Answers come back as number + en + desu.

Gohyaku-en desu.

go + hyaku — digits stack onto the size words.

Sen-en desu.

A real-world honesty note: compound prices mutate their sounds (300 is sanbyaku, 800 is happyaku, 8,000 is hassen). Don’t learn the mutations. Catch the leading digit and the size word for the ballpark — and remember every register in Japan displays the exact total. You never have to say a price; you only have to survive hearing one.

Sen-en desu ka.

The Lesson 2 echo-check, now guarding your wallet: repeat the price back with ka and watch for the nod.

The hard Japanese idea (skipped): Japanese counts different shapes of things with different suffixes — flat things, long things, machines, floors… The MiniCore move: three memorized “things” words, and beyond that, a plain number plus your pointing finger. Natives resolve it instantly.

Kore, hitotsu kudasai.

hitotsu — one (thing). Point, say how many, kudasai. Konbini snack counters run on this sentence.

Futatsu, onegaishimasu.

futatsu — two (things).

Mittsu desu.

mittsu — three (things). These three are memorized wholes, not a pattern — and they’re where the memorizing stops.

Yon. Kore, kudasai.

Beyond three: plain number + point. Slightly blunt, perfectly understood, endlessly reusable.

Ikutsu desu ka.

ikutsu — how many (things). You’ll hear it asked of you at counters; answer with the chunks above.

Kore dake, kudasai.

dake — only/just — snaps directly onto any noun or counting word, no grammar required.

Hitotsu dake, onegaishimasu.

dake also keeps your register modest — “just one” always sounds politely restrained, never curt.

The hard English idea: “It’s not expensive.” Japanese adjectives conjugate to negate — and this course never conjugates anything. The MiniCore move: say the opposite word instead. Meet your first two antonym pairs:

Takai desu.

takai — expensive. Adjective + desu — the frames you own already handle adjectives.

Yasui desu.

yasui — cheap. “Not expensive”? You just said it — yasui desu. That’s the whole move.

Takai desu ka.

ka works on adjectives too, of course.

Iie, yasui desu.

And there’s the antonym move answering a question: no -kunai, no grammar — just the other pole.

The hard English idea: “This one is cheaper.” No comparative forms in this course either. The MiniCore move: state both poles and let the listener connect them.

Kore, yasui desu. Are, takai desu.

Two plain sentences do the work of a comparison — and each one is a frame you already own.

Kore, ookii desu. Sore, chiisai desu. Sore o kudasai.

ookii — big — and chiisai — small: your second antonym pair. Enumerate, then choose. This three-beat pattern (compare, compare, buy) is a complete shopping strategy.

konbini — convenience store (you’ve been able to pronounce it since Lesson 0; now it’s yours).

Mise wa are desu.

mise — shop, any shop.

Okane, douzo.

okane — money — riding on Lesson 1’s douzo.

Fukuro, onegaishimasu.

fukuro — bag. For when you want one before being asked.

Genkin desu.

genkin — cash. The naming frame answers the payment question.

Kaado desu.

kaado — card. Same frame, other answer.

Haraimasu.

haraimasu — (I’ll) pay — your first verb. Notice the shape: it ends in -masu, the polite verb ending, and it’s a complete sentence alone (the subject drops, as always). Every verb in this course arrives pre-assembled in this shape — the system behind it unfolds in Lessons 4 and 6.

Otsuri, doumo.

otsuri — change. (Count it if you like — it will be exact. And never leave it behind: remember, no tipping.)

Old friend, new context: with ikura desu ka in front of it, this is now a complete price-checked purchase.

Kaado, ii desu ka.

Ask before the register dance. Memorize it whole — the little ii (“good/okay”) gets its own machinery in Lesson 5, and this exact pattern becomes a full frame in Lesson 7.

Miru dake desu.

The standard polite deflection when staff hover. There’s dake again — “just looking.” Deploy with a smile; they’ll leave you to browse.

mochikaeri de — takeout. The answer to the for-here-or-to-go question.

Koko de onegaishimasu.

Its partner — eating in. (koko means “here”; its whole word-family arrives in Lesson 4. Until then this is a memorized chunk.)