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March 28, 2024
Important Counters in Japanese

JLPT N5 Grammar: Counters in Japanese

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Counters

 ABOUT: 

■  Japanese is full of counters. These helper words give information about the nature of the thing you are counting. Flat objects, people, small animals, etc have a counter.

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Generic Counter: Japanese does allow for counting up to 10 using the kun readings of the numbers. This can be used for counting most things.

Number

Kanji

Pronunciation

1

一(ひと)つ

2

二(ふた)つ

3

三(みっ)つ

4

四(よっ)つ

5

五(いつ)つ

6

六(むっ)つ

7

七(なな)つ

8

八(やっ)つ

9

九(ここの)つ

10

十(とお)

How many?

いくつ

For more on numbers, see here.

Take a quiz on those numbers, but be careful! The "wrong" answers are pretty tricky. Learn them well since they are so useful. 

Incorrect Answers:
     EXAMPLES: 

    二(ふた)つありました。
    There were two of them.

    リンゴを一(ひと)つお願(ねが)いします。
    Please give me one apple.

     HOW TO USE: 

    As we mentioned earlier, using counters gives us information about the objects we are counting.

    • 人(にん) counter for people
    • 歳(さい) counter for ages of people and animals; this is also written as 才; this is fairly regular except for age 20 which is はたち.
    • 個(こ) counter for small or round objects [fruits; eggs]
    • 本(ほん) counter for long, cylindrical objects [bottles; pencils; chopsticks]
    • 枚(まい) counter for flat, thin objects [sheets of paper; stamps; plates; shirts]
    • 匹(ひき) counter for small animals [cats; dogs; fish—usually up to the size of a dog. For larger animals, 頭(とう) is used.]
    • 冊(さつ) counter for books

    There are many, many more, but these are of the most useful.

    Review the chart below and pay special attention to the underlined irregular pronunciations.

    Header

    人

    People

    歳・才

    Age

    個

    General Articles

    本

    Long, Cylinder Objects

    1

    ひとり

    いっさい

    いっこ

    いっぽん

    2

    ふたり

    にさい

    にこ

    にほん

    3

    さんにん

    さんさい

    さんこ

    さんぼん

    4

    よにん

    よんさい

    よんこ

    よんほん

    5

    ごにん

    ごさい

    ごこ

    ごほん

    6

    ろくにん

    ろくさい

    ろっこ

    ろっぽん

    7

    しちにん

    ななにん

    ななさい

    ななこ

    ななほん

    8

    はちにん

    はっさい

    はっこ

    はちこ

    はちほん

    9

    きゅうにん

    くにん

    きゅうさい

    きゅうこ

    きゅうほん

    10

    じゅうにん

    じゅうっさい(とお)

    じゅっこ

    じゅうっぽん

    Header

    枚

    Sheets of Paper

    匹

    Small Animals

    冊

    Books

    1

    いちまい

    いっぴき

    いっさつ

    2

    にまい

    にひき

    にさつ

    3

    さんまい

    さんびき

    さんさつ

    4

    よんまい

    よんひき

    よんさつ

    5

    ごまい

    ごひき

    ごさつ

    6

    ろくまい

    ろっぴき

    ろくさつ

    7

    ななまい

    ななひき

    しちひき

    ななさつ

    8

    はひまい

    はっぴき

    はっさつ

    9

    きゅうまい

    きゅうひき

    きゅうさつ

    10

    じゅうまい

    じゅっぴき)

    じゅっさつ

    ■ To ask, how many, simply add 何 before the counter: 何人(なんにん) how many people?; 何枚(なんまい) how many sheets (of paper)?

    何人(なんにん)

    何枚(なんまい)

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    Finally, take a short quiz to see if you can separate these core counters.

    Want more practice? Makoto+ Members, click here to practice using counters. Practice makes perfect!

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