How to read temperature in Japanese

Numerals are easy to understand, so we often don’t think of the sound until we get asked to read it out loud.

The proper word for “decimal point” in Japanese is 小数点しょうすうてん but when it’s used in a number, we read it as just 点てん and temperature is normally measured with Celsius in Japan, so ℃ is usually just 度 ど. That makes it possible to read 36.3 ℃ in the picture above as 三十六さんじゅうろく点てん三さん度 ど, which is not wrong but …

Talking about 体温たいおん (body temperature)

If we are talking about a body temperature, most people will read it as 三十六さんじゅうろく度 ど三さん分ぶ. This 分ぶ (please note it’s read as ぶ, not ぶん) is the unit for one-tenth of 1.

Similar usage to this is:

レポートは九く分ぶ通どおりできあがっていた。The report was almost (literally 90%) finished.

Talking about 気温きおん (atmospheric temperature)

However, if we are talking about atmospheric temperature, it can be different. According to the article whose link is given below, a survey conducted in the year 2000 showed that 60% of the participants read it as 三十六さんじゅうろく度 ど三さん分ぶ and that most people who read it as 三十六さんじゅうろく点てん三さん度 どwere younger people. It could mean that these days, 23 years after the survey, more people prefer 三十六さんじゅうろく点てん三さん度 ど and the article mentions that some people claim that 三十六さんじゅうろく度 ど三さん分ぶ refers to a body temperature only and they feel uneasy when they hear 三十六さんじゅうろく度 ど三さん分ぶ being used for an atmospheric temperature.

Reference: https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/kotoba/kotobax3/pdf/075.pdf

By the way, a thermometer in general is called 温度おんど計けい but a thermometer for body temperatures is called 体温たいおん計けい.

Other Expression relating to Body Temperature

熱ねつ	fever, a body temperature higher than usual
熱ねつがある	to have a fever, to be feverish
熱ねつが出でる	(for a person) to become feverish, to run a temperature
平へい熱ねつ	the normal temperature
高こう熱ねつ	a high fever, a high temperature
熱ねつが下さがる	for a fever to go down
熱ねつを測はかる	to take one’s temperature

摂氏せっし and 華氏かし

Earlier I said ℃ is usually just 度 どbut if you want to emphasise “Celsius,” we use the word 摂氏せっし before the number (i.e. 摂氏せっし三十六さんじゅうろく点てん三さん度 ど ).

If it’s Fahrenheit, that would be 華氏かし三十六さんじゅうろく点てん三さん度 ど.

I hope you have found this article interesting!

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