十二
じゅうに
hepburn juuni
twelve, 12
Part of speech · numeral
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 十二月は冬の始まりです。December is the start of winter.
- 一年は十二か月です。A year has twelve months.
Collocations
十二 (juuni, 12)十二月 (juunigatsu, December)十二支 (juunishi, zodiac)ダース (daasu, dozen)十二か月 (juunikagetsu, 12 months)
Mnemonic
Juuni (十二) = 10 + 2 = 12. Cluster: juunigatsu (December, archaically shiwasu), juunishi (twelve zodiac — rat / ox / tiger / rabbit / dragon / snake / horse / sheep / monkey / rooster / dog / boar), juunijikan-sei (12-hour clock, AM/PM). East Asian zodiac is shared with Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam (Vietnam swaps rabbit for cat). One's zodiac animal identifies the birth year — Japanese nengajou (New Year cards) feature zodiac illustrations by default. Daasu (loan from English "dozen") covers 12-unit bundles like enpitsu 12-pon (12 pencils).
Quick check
Which zodiac animal does Vietnam replace?