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Let’s learn Japanese with Ken Kaneki’s quote from Tokyo Ghoul (東京喰種トーキョーグール).

Video

Ken Kaneki’s Quote

Japanese: 1000引く7は？
Romaji: sen hiku nana wa?
English: What is 1000 minus 7?

Analysis

1000 (せん) is the number “a thousand”. In kanji, it’s written as this: 千. It can also be read as いっせん to emphasize that it’s ONE thousand. For example, when counting thousand-yen notes, you would say “いっせん（一千）、にせん（二千）、さんぜん（三千）…” , but the number itself is normally read as せん.

引く is a verb meaning “to pull” or “to subtract”. In mathematical contexts, it corresponds to the English preposition “minus”.

7（なな, 七） is the number “seven”. In kanji, it’s written as this: 七. In words like 7時 meaning “seven o’clock” and 7月 meaning “July”, it’s commonly read as しち, but in most other contexts, it’s usually read as なな.

“1000引く7” forms a noun phrase that represents the mathematical operation 1000 – 7 (a thousand minus seven), and は is the topic particle, marking this noun phrase as the topic of the sentence, but in mathematical contexts, it can function similarly to an equal sign.

This is an incomplete sentence, implicitly asking for the result of the calculation. So, it actually means “1000 minus 7 is…?”, but it’s understood as “What is 1000 minus 7?”, without needing to explicitly state the interrogative words like “何” meaning “what”or “いくつ” meaning “how many”.

Basically, in this scene, Kaneki is using a psychological technique on his captor, Jason, by asking him to count down from 1,000 by sevens. This requires mental focus and can help prevent losing consciousness during extreme stress. Ironically, Jason originally used this same method to torture Kaneki, so now that their roles have reversed, Kaneki is applying this technique to Jason.

[REVIEW1] 1000引く7は？

This structure allows you to express mathematical operations by combining numbers with the appropriate verbs, using は (wa) which functions similarly to an equal sign, and ending with a question mark to form a question.

It may seem grammatically unusual as it embeds a verb within a noun phrase, without particles or modifications. However, this construction is standard in mathematical contexts in Japanese, directly reading out the calculation (1000 – 7 = ?). In mathematics, these special sentence structures are accepted, even if they don’t follow normal grammar rules.

Let’s look at some example sentences using this structure:

100 + 50 = ?
100足す50は？ (ひゃく たす ごじゅう は？hyaku tasu gojū wa?)

15 × 3 = ?
15掛ける3は？ (じゅうご かける さん は？jūgo kakeru san wa?)

20 ÷ 4 = ?
20割る4は？ (にじゅう わる よん は？nijū waru yon wa?)

In these sentences, we use mathematical verbs, 足す meaning “to add”, かける meaning “to multiply”, and 割る meaning “to divide” in the same way as 引く meaning to “subtract”.

If you want to finish the sentence with the answer, simply remove the question mark and add the answer.

[REVIEW2] Noun + は？

The は particle, followed by a question mark, indicates that what precedes it is the topic of inquiry, while the rest of the sentence is omitted. This kind of omission occurs frequently in Japanese, reflecting Japan’s high-context culture, which often relies on non-verbal and implicit communication, so you often have to guess what’s being asked based on the context.

Examples

Mathematical Operation

Subtraction（引ひき算ざん）

【10 – 4 = 6】

10じゅう引ひく4よんは6ろく

jū hiku yon wa roku

【100 – 9 = 91】

100ひゃく引ひく9きゅうは91きゅうじゅういち

hyaku hiku kyū wa kyūjūichi

Addition（足たし算ざん）

【5 + 8 = 13】

5ご足たす8はちは13じゅうさん

go tasu hachi wa jūsan

【246 + 789 = 1035】

246にひゃくよんじゅうろく足たす789ななひゃくはちじゅうきゅうは1035せんさんじゅうご

nihyaku yonjū roku tasu nanahyaku hachijū kyū wa sen sanjū go

Multiplication（掛かけ算ざん）

【6 × 7 = 42】

6ろく掛かける7ななは42よんじゅうに

roku kakeru nana wa yonjū ni

【25 × 16 = 400】

25にじゅうご掛かける16じゅうろくは400よんひゃく

nijūgo kakeru jūroku wa yonhyaku

Division（割わり算ざん）

【12 ÷ 3 ＝ 4】

12じゅうに割わる3さんは4よん

jūni waru san wa yon

【43 ÷ 5 ＝ 8, R3】

43よんじゅうさん割わる5ごは8はち、余あまり3さん

yonjūsan waru go wa hachi, amari san

Noun + は？ (asking about the topic without providing a complete predicate)

Realizing that Mr. Yamada, who was here until just now, is no longer around

山田やまださんは？

yamada-san wa?

Where is Mr. Yamada?

While offering coffee to a friend

砂糖さとうは？

satō wa?

Do you want some sugar?

A: 肉にくと卵たまごはタンパク質しつを多おおく含ふくむんだよ。
B: 魚さかなは？

A: niku to tamago wa tanpakushitsu o ōku fukumu nda yo.
B: sakana wa?

A: Meat and eggs contain a lot of protein.
B: What about fish?

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