In Japanese, how come there are two different ways to say four and seven?

Question

Ok so, I know that there are two different ways to count - counting objects, and counting the numbers themselves, like ichi ni san... etc.

When it comes to the second kind, how come there are different ways to say four and seven, and when do you know how to use each one?

I've always counted like this:

ichi, ni, san, s**+, go, roku, NANA, hachi, kyu, ju

But my friend teaches judo, and they say SHICHI for seven, but keep the four as s**+. Also, someone else I know counts the four as YON... I don't really understand!! Is there a rule for these numbers? Is it yon or s**+, and nana or shichi??

Answer 1

"Yon" and "nana" is the "casual" form... and "s**+" and "shichi" is the official / written form

some words mandates you to use one or the other.

ex:   4 oclock...  it's yo ji... never s**+ ji

       4th grader    yo nen sei ....  never  s**+ nen sei  etc...

same thing with seven.

      7 oclock...  always shichi ji,  never nana ji

      7th grader...    shichi nen sei    never nana nen sei  etc...

Basically, one of the written/formal form, and the other's the casual spoken form (with exceptions of course), but those generally are the rules.  

there's only a couple exceptions which don't follow the rules, like in any language, you just have to memorize them

good luck

Answer 2

Japanese can be superstitious and s**+ and shichi are both words that also sound like words related to death. s**+ = death and shichi = point of death so sometimes they prefer to say yon instead of s**+ and nana instead of shichi.

Generally you can use either one, but there are some instances where you only use s**+/shichi. These are for dates, times, and things like that. But for numbers I think yon and nana are more common after you go past ten (before ten and you can use either).

Answer 3

you can use both in daily life.

about judo

shichi and s**+ are sound sharp and nana and yon are sound soft.

so s**+ and shichi are better for sports, you know.

Answer 4

My friend told me that the number four is also the word for death.  So it would stand to reason that they might have another word for it. It's also considered bad luck. I can't tell you what is correct however. Sorry.