How do you read simple arithmetic equations in Japanese?

Question

My dictionary (EN → JP) suggests to translate "Three multiplied by four is twelve" as

3 × 4 = 12

without giving a hint as to how to read this in Japanese.

How do you read simple arithmetic equations (involving only +, –, × and ÷) like the one above in Japanese?

Related: How to say 24 divided by 8 equals 3 and How to use イコール to compare things? How is it different from 同じ?. — istrasci, Aug 15 '13 at 14:19
It seems fitting that I add: fractions are read in reverse order to common U.S. English. 3/4, Three over four is read, 四分の三. 4 parts 3, or more appropriately translated "of 4 parts there are 3." — mwjohnson, Aug 30 '13 at 09:42

ssb · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-21T07:22:38.600

25

+: 足{た}す
-: 引{ひ}く
/: 割{わ}る
*: 掛{か}ける

And you just say the terms normally in order. So your example of 3 * 4 = 12 would be ３かける４は１２. Note that = becomes は, similar to how we use "is" in English. As @blutorange mentioned, you can use イコール to mean "equals," however in most situations you'll be good using は.

You learn these things quickly when listening to students recite their 九九{くく}.

For some bonus terminology, you can refer to exponents by using #乗{じょう}, so like ２の二乗は４ or ２の３乗は８. Similarly you can refer to roots with #乗根{じょうこん} (although as @jovanni points out it's normal to use 平方根{へいほうこん} for square roots).

edited Aug 21 '13 at 07:22

answered Aug 15 '13 at 08:29

ssb

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The 九九 in Japanese is usually learnt with a very different reading, though. E.g. 3*3=9 is さざんがく. – Earthliŋ Aug 15 '13 at 11:26
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interesting. the kids i've heard have just been saying ~かける~は～ – ssb Aug 15 '13 at 11:40
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Especially in math (classes) and with equations such as x+3=7, the "=" sign is also read イコール("equal(s)"). – blutorange Aug 15 '13 at 12:09
2乗根 is rarely used. use [平方]{へいほう}[根]{こん} instead. – jovanni Aug 21 '13 at 06:35
@jovanni thank you! sorry I forgot to mention that. – ssb Aug 21 '13 at 06:39

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 15 '13 at 08:29

You can read the arithmetic operators as follows:

　　　+　　　たす　　　　（足す）
　　　-　　　ひく　　　　（引く）
　　　×　　　かける　　　（掛ける）
　　　÷　　　わる　　　　（割る）

In place of the equals sign, you'd most likely use a particle such as は, much as we might say "three times four is twelve" in English to make a complete sentence out of it. Your example looks like this:

　　３　　　×　　　４　＝　１２
　　さん、かける、よんは、じゅうに

As an aside, if you want fancy math symbols like × and ÷ instead of * and /, you can type かける and わる to get them. (On this computer, I can also get them by typing すうがく, which has lots of math symbols, and きごう, which has all sorts of symbols.) — , Aug 21 '13 at 07:47

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:18

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I would like to offer one more alternative, that of using になります at the end of this sentence. This is more formal and less common than just leaving it out.

3 × 4 = 12

さんかけるよんはじゅうにになります。

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:18

Community

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answered Aug 21 '13 at 14:39

yadokari

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Please correct me if it is never said this way. – yadokari Aug 21 '13 at 14:40
I think となります is also used. – istrasci Aug 21 '13 at 15:03
I think である　and　なり should be listed as well, but I am not 100% on their usage--just rephrasing a previous sawa answer. – yadokari Aug 21 '13 at 16:28
So "san kakeru yon wa juuni daeru" would be considered okay, but not, say... "san kakeru yon wa juuni desu"...? – Eliseo D'Annunzio Mar 01 '18 at 04:02
Curious, there is no numeral in native Japanese? Everybody seems to write Arabic numerals. – hola Jan 05 '22 at 13:49

How do you read simple arithmetic equations in Japanese?

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