Counters

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Counters

We learned very early on how to count in Japanese. We learned the numbers, but technically, we haven't learned how to count things. 

Counting in Japanese is one of the hardest things to do, because we use counters. Counters are small words and counters change depending on what you count.

We are not going to learn all of them, because there are a lot (there is even a counter for how to count wells!) so, we will at least see the most used ones.

Some of the counters are easier than others, such as かい (階) to count floors.

Other are... well, you will see.

The first one we should learn is the counter for people, にん (人). にん means person, so this does not change in any way.

Remember that some numbers are irregular, so be careful with that.

*ひとり - one person

*ふたり - two people

さんにん - three people

*よにん - four people

ごにん - five people

ろくにん - six people

しちにん - seven people

はちにん - eight people

きゅうにん - nine people

じゅうにん - ten people

じゅういちにん - eleven people

and so forth...

For animals, we will use the counter ひき (匹).

*いっぴき - one animal

にひき - two animals

*さんびき - three animals

*よひき - four animals

ごひく - five animals

*ろっぴき - six animals

しちひき - seven animals

*はっぴき - eight animals

きゅうひき - nine animals

*じゅっぴき - ten animals

*ひゃっぴき - 100 animals

*せんびき - 1000 animals

*いちまんびき - 10 000 animals

and so forth...

So, if you want to count sheep in your sleep, you would use this counter!

For small objects or round objects, we use the counter こ (個). This is also used for clouds, empty containers, typhoons, planets and bacteria.

*いっこ

にこ

さんこ

よんこ

ごこ

ろくこ

しちこ

はちこ

きゅうこ

じゅうこ

じゅういっこ

and so forth...

For long objects, such as pen, bottles and chopsticks, we use the counter ほん (本). Even though ほん(本) means book, this is not the counter for books.

*いっぽん

にほん

*さんぼん

*よほん

ごほん

*ろっぽん

しちほん

*はっぽん

きゅうほん

*じゅっぽん

じゅういっぽん

and so forth...

For books, we will use the counter さつ (冊).

*いっさつ

にさつ

さんさつ

よんさつ

ごさつ

ろくさつ

しちさつ

はちさつ

きゅうさつ

じゅうさつ

じゅういっさつ

and so forth...

For flat objects, like cards and tickets, we use the counter まい (枚).

*いっまい

にまい

さんまい

よんまい

ごまい

ろくまい

しちまい

はちまい

きゅうまい

じゅうまい

and so forth...

For floors, we will use the counter かい (階).

*いっかい

にかい

さんかい

よかい

ごかい

ろくかい

しちかい

はちかい

きゅうかい

じゅうかい

and so forth...

For times, we will also use かい (回), but the kanji will be different. That is why I am putting the kanji next to them.

For machines, such as computers, cars and others, we will use the counter だい (台).

*いっだい

にだい

さんだい

よんだい

ごだい

ろくだい

しちだい

はちだい

きゅうだい

じゅうだい

and so forth...

For shoes, socks, skates, anything related to feet, we use the counter そく (促).

*いっそく

にそく

*さんぞく

*よそく

ごそく

ろくそく

しちそく

はちそく

きゅうそく

じゅうそく

and so forth...

A general counter exists, if something you are counting doesn't fall into any category. You can count pretty much anything with this, except people, money and time.

ひとつ - one

ふたつ - two

みつ - three

よつ - four

いつつ - five

むっつ - six 

ななつ - seven

やっつ - eight 

ここのつ - nine

とう - ten

From then on, you use the usual number, until you have reached 100, 1000 and 10 000.

To count the days of the month and months

To count days in general, like in 'two days' 'four days' etc, we use にち (日).

いちにち

ににち

さんにち

よんにち

ごにち

ろくにち

しちにち

はちにち

きゅうにち

じゅうにち

and so forth.

To count days as in the days of the month (first of April, for instance), we use か (日).

*ついたち - first day of the month

ふつか - second day of the month

みっか - third day of the month

よっか - fourth day of the month

いつか - fifth day of the month

むいか - sixth day of the month

なのか - seventh day of the month

ようか - eighth day of the month

ここのか - ninth day of the month

とうか - tenth day if the month

From ten on, we use にち.

The twentieth day will be はつか.

For months, we use かげつ.

*いっかげつ

にかげつ

さんかげつ

よんかげつ

ごかげつ

ろっかげつ

ななかげつ

はちかげつ

きゅうかげつ

じゅうかげつ

じゅういっかげつ

じゅうにかげつ

and so forth...

To count the years, we use the counter ねん (年), which means 'year'.

いちねん

にねん

さんねん

*よねん

ごねん

ろくねん

ななねん

はちねん

きゅうねん

じゅうねん

and so forth...

To say 'during' as in 'during three years' we add かん.

いちねんかん

にねんかん

さんねんかん

Here are some other counters:

For birds or rabbits: わ (羽)

Small things that flutter, like snow or petals: ひら

For maps: ほ

For fish scales: りん

For warriors on horseback: き

For fish and crustaceans: び

For nights at hotel: はく

For piles, usually of food: もり

There are over 300 counters I believe in Japanese so, we won't be able to learn them all!

Now, how do we put them to use?

If you want to say that you have two cats and one dog, for instance, you will say...

I have two cats and one dog.

ねこがにひきといぬがいっぴきいます。

Neko ga nihiki to inu ga ippiki imasu.

I want three cups.

カップがみつほしいです。

Kappu ga mitsu hoshii desu.

I bought two pens and one eraser.

ペンをにほんとけしゴムをいっこかいました。

Pen o nihon to keshigomu o ikko kaimashita.

How many do you wanna buy?

いくつかいたいの？

Ikutsu kaitai no?

I want to buy three pairs. (Talking about shoes or socks)

さんぞくかいたい。

Sanzoku kaitai.

It would be much easier if Japanese could count like in English! But one nice thing is that even without the name of the thing you are counting, the counter will tell us what object you could be counting. If you say out loud to yourself いっこ、にこ、さんこ... we know you are counting small round things, but we do not know the details.

Like I said, there are over 300 counters, but we can't learn them all. I am sure you can find a list of all of them, if you really want to learn them all. I am sure not everyone knows them all and this is why we have a general counter for other things we might not know which category they belong in.

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You have completed lesson 22!

レッシュン22ができた！