Japanese word

数千

Pronunciation

Romajisūsen

毎年数千人がこの祭りに来ます。mai toshi sū sen nin ga ko no matsu ri ni ki ma su

Several thousand people come to this festival every year.

この図書館には、数千冊の本が並んでいます。ko no to sho kan ni wa sū sen satsu no hon ga nara n de i ma su

This library has several thousand books on its shelves.

Expresses an approximate quantity in the thousands without stating an exact number.

何千nanzen: An unspecified number of thousands, often used when the exact number is unknown or questioned.

千を単位とするおおよその数で、二千から九千程度の数。sen o tan i to su ru ō yo so no kazu de ni sen ka ra kyū sen tei do no kazu

The compound 数千 (sūsen) joins 数 (sū, "several") with 千 (sen, "thousand"), and its meaning follows directly from these two parts.

数千 (sūsen) generally presents a rough quantity as known or estimated, while 何千 (nanzen) often appears when the exact number is unknown or being questioned.