Numbers, prices and times in JFT-Basic listening

Almost everyone learning Japanese can count to a thousand on paper. Far fewer can catch 680円 at the speed a shop assistant says it, while also following who is buying what.

Numbers are a large share of JFT-Basic listening: times, prices, dates, quantities, floors, platforms. They are worth practising separately, because knowing a number and hearing it are two different skills.

The sounds that change

The numbers themselves are simple. What catches people is that the sound changes when a number meets a counter.

Hundreds and thousands:

• 300 さんびゃく, 600 ろっぴゃく, 800 はっぴゃく
• 3,000 さんぜん, 8,000 はっせん
• 10,000 いちまん - not じゅうせん

Times:

• 4時 よじ, 7時 しちじ, 9時 くじ
• 1分 いっぷん, 3分 さんぷん, 10分 じゅっぷん
• 30分 can also be はん: 3時半 さんじはん

Dates:

• 4月 しがつ, 7月 しちがつ, 9月 くがつ
• 1日 ついたち, 8日 ようか, 14日 じゅうよっか, 20日 はつか

The pairs to drill are the ones that sound alike: しちじ (7:00) and いちじ (1:00), ようか (the 8th) and よっか (the 4th), and じゅうよっか and じゅうはちにち. Say them aloud until you hear the difference without thinking. The full set is in Japanese numbers, dates and times.

Prices: listen for the sum, not the number

Price questions rarely ask for a number you simply hear. They ask for one you have to work out.

An original example:

女：このパン、いくらですか。 男：一つ180円です。でも、きょうは三つで500円ですよ。 女：じゃあ、三つください。

How much does she pay? Not 180円, and not 540円. She pays 500円, because of the offer. Both wrong numbers are the kind that end up among the options.

Words that turn a price into a sum:

• 〜ずつ - each. 二つずつ: two of each.
• 〜で - for (a total). 三つで500円: three for 500 yen.
• 半額 - half price
• 〜円引き / 〜割引 - yen off / percent off
• 税込 - tax included

When you hear a price, hold it, and wait for the でも. The first price is often not the one the question wants.

Times: which one?

A clip with a time in it usually has two or three. A start and an end, an old time and a new time, a meeting time and the time to leave the house.

男：会議は2時からですが、準備がありますから、1時半に来てください。

When does the meeting start? 2時. When must you arrive? 1時半. The question on screen tells you which time you are listening for, so read it before the clip begins - what time it starts (何時から) and what time to come (何時に来ますか) are different questions.

Corrections: じゃなくて

Real speakers correct themselves, and the exam uses this on purpose.

あしたは3時に来てください。あ、すみません、3時じゃなくて4時です。

The answer is 4時. 3時 will certainly be an option, and it is the number you heard first and most clearly.

Correction signals to listen for:

• じゃなくて / ではなくて - not X but
• まちがえました - I made a mistake
• いえ、 or いや、 at the start of a sentence
• あ、すみません - often the start of a correction
• 正しくは - to be precise, correctly

Whenever you hear one of these, the next number replaces the last. Corrections are a form of change of plan, which has its own guide: changes of plan in listening.

Use the two plays

Every clip in our mocks plays twice, automatically, as in the real test. With numbers, that is a gift:

• First play: catch every number and jot each one down, with what it belongs to. At the test centre you are given something to write on.
• Second play: listen for the correction or the offer that decides which number is the answer.

A note like “180 / 3=500” is enough. You are not writing a transcript, just keeping the numbers apart.

How to practise

Listen to anything with numbers in it: Japanese supermarket adverts, weather forecasts, train announcements. Write down every number you hear, then check against a transcript if there is one. Ten minutes a day for two weeks makes a visible difference.

Then test it under exam conditions. Mock exam 4 (restaurant) is built around prices and orders, and mock exam 8 (transport and clinic) around times and appointments. The answer guides, such as the mock exam 4 answers, show which number each wrong option came from. For shopping words, see shops, prices and service Japanese.