九(きゅう)

きゅう
number
nine
1. nine
The number nine. Like four, nine has two readings: きゅう and く. きゅう is more common because く sounds like 苦(く) (suffering), making it somewhat inauspicious.
九(きゅう)時(じ)に寝(ね)ます。
I go to bed at nine o'clock.
くじ is also used
九(きゅう)月(がつ)から学校(がっこう)が始(はじ)まります。
School starts in September.
一(いち)から九(きゅう)まで数(かぞ)えてください。
Please count from one to nine.
私(わたし)は毎日(まいにち)朝(あさ)九(く)時(じ)から夕方(ゆうがた)六(ろく)時(じ)まで仕事(しごと)をしています。
I work from nine in the morning to six in the evening every day.
九(く)時(じ) uses the く reading
九(きゅう)月(がつ)になると夜(よる)が涼(すず)しくなってきます。夏(なつ)の暑(あつ)さが終(お)わって、過(す)ごしやすい季節(きせつ)になるので、散歩(さんぽ)するのが好(す)きです。
When September comes, the nights start to get cooler. The summer heat ends and it becomes a comfortable season, so I like taking walks.

九(きゅう) has two on'yomi readings: きゅう and く. Both are valid, but く can sound like 苦(く) (suffering), so きゅう is often preferred.

READINGS BY CONTEXT:

  • 九(く)時(じ): nine o'clock (く is standard here)
  • 九月(くがつ): September (く reading)
  • 九(きゅう)百(ひゃく): nine hundred (きゅう)
  • 九(ここの)つ: nine (native Japanese counter)

SUPERSTITION:
Like 四(し) (which sounds like 死(し), death), 九(く) is considered somewhat unlucky because it sounds like 苦(く) (suffering). Hospital rooms and hotel floors sometimes skip the number 9.

RELATED:

  • 十九(じゅうく)/十九(じゅうきゅう): nineteen (both readings used)
  • 九九(くく): multiplication table
basic
Added 2026.1.7 21:11 · Revised 2026.3.27 4:36
00500/00728_kyuu