5.3. USING NUMBERS 269
We can also use on its own, for such obvious things as:”If (you) add 20 yen, that’ll make it (a) round (number).”Where is a nice liĴle word meaning ’exact’ or ’precise’. In
this sentence, it is interpreted as ”round number”, because in the context
of numbers, a precise number corresponds to a ’clean’ number, which can
either be a round number, or a number without a decimal fraction.
Subtraction
For subtraction,
instead of is used:
”300 minus 53 is 247.”Division
Division in Japanese is done in the same way as in western math, but the
phrasing is somewhat confusing if you don’t pay aĴention: in western
math, the number that results from 3 × 1/7 is pronounced ”three seventh”.
In Japanese, this ’factor, then denominator’ order is the reverse, so instead
of saying ”three seventh”, in Japanese you say ”seventh’s three”:
literally: ”three seventh-parts”
”3/7”
This uses the genitive to link , 3, as genitively belonging to
, 1/7th.
One thing to note here is that in this use, is pronounced ,
and this is the reason why the counter series for minutes has an oddity for
three, where becomes instead of :
”Three minutes””A third””One third”