Japanese/Grammar/Counters

Japanese counter word Most Japanese nouns do not have plural forms. Instead, when indicating a specific number or amount of a noun, the noun is followed by a counter (助数詞, じょすうし). There are a large number of these counters, each referring to a particular kind of thing to count. For example when referring to four books: 四 よん 冊 さつ の 本 ほん Four volumes genitive marker book Counters can also be used in adverbial or nominal manner. "There are four books there" can be either of the following: Adverbial あそこに本が四冊あります。 Nominal あそこに四冊の本があります。 content Japanese/Numbers For the most part, two numbering systems are used: the numbers derived from Chinese (いち, に, さん, etc.) and the native Japanese counting words (ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, etc.). Common counters Some of the most common & basic counters: 人 (にん) For counting people. One person, "一人", is "ひとり" and two, "二人", is "ふたり", using the native Japanese (kunyomi) words for counting. From there on, the Chinese derived (onyomi) numbers are used, so "三人" is read "さんにん", "四人" is read "よにん" and so on. There is a related counter, 名 (めい). 枚 (まい) For counting flat objects (e.g. sheets of paper, plates, clothes). Examples: いちまい、にまい、さんまい、よんまい、... 本 (ほん) For counting long slender objects, such as bottles or pencils. This counter, like most, uses the Chinese derived numbers straight through. But the 'h' sound (as in hon mutates into a 'b' or 'p' depending on what is put in front of it. Examples: いっぽん、にほん、さんぼん、よんほん、ごほん、ろっぽん、ななほん、はっぽん、きゅうほん、じゅっぽん etc. 分 (ふん) For counting minutes. This counter uses Chinese derived numbers, and with quite a few irregularities a bit similar to "本". Examples: いっぷん、にふん、さんぷん、よんふん、ごふん、ろっぷん、ななふん、はっぷん、きゅうふん、じゅっぷん つ For counting generic things (basically anything that doesn't have a counter). This generic counter uses the Japanese native counters, up until ten, where the tsu is dropped, and Chinese derived numbers alone are used. Examples:ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ、よっつ、いつつ、むっつ、ななつ、やっつ、ここのつ、とお. Abstract counting Counter Japanese Reading Examples for 1, 2, ..., 10,Times (occurrences)回かいいっかい、にかい、...、じゅっかい、Numbers in a series番ばんいちばん、にばん、...、じゅうばん、Multiples ("X times as much")倍ばいいちばい、にばい、...、じゅうばい、 Living beings Counter Japanese Reading Examples for 1, 2, ..., 10,People人にんひとり、ふたり、さんにん(3)、...、じゅうにん、(Small) Animals匹ひきいっぴき、にひき、...、じゅっぴき、Large animals頭とういっとう、にとう、...、じゅっとう、Birds, rabbits羽わいちわ、にわ、...、じゅうわ、(Small) fish and shrimp尾びいちび、にび、...、じゅうび、 匹 is often used for animals generally, but in more careful use it is restricted to small animals, such as cats and dogs. Large animals notably include horses, cattle, and elephants, as well as whales and dolphins. Some kinds of animals have two or more counters. For example, "3 butterflies" can be translated into 3羽 or 3匹. Objects Counter Japanese Reading Examples for 1, 2, ..., 10,Objects個こいっこ、にこ、...、じゅっこ、Sheets (flat things)枚まいいちまい、にまい、...、じゅうまい、Long objects本ほんいっぽん、にほん、...、じゅっぽん、Cup-, glass-, bowl-, spoon-fuls杯はいいっぱい、にはい、...、じゅっぱい、Boxes, boxfuls箱はこひとはこ、ふたはこ、...、じゅっぱこ、Dishes皿さらひとさら、ふたさら、...、じゅっさら、Suits of clothing着ちゃくいっちゃく、にちゃく、...、じゅっちゃく、 Transportation Counter Japanese Reading Examples for 1, 2, ..., 10,Machines, cars台だいいちだい、にだい、...、じゅうだい、Boats艘そういっそう、にそう、...、じゅっそうShips隻せきいっせき、にせき、...、じゅっせき、Aircraft機きいっき、にき、...、じゅっき、 Groups or portions Counter Japanese Reading Examples for 1, 2, ..., 10,Parts (components)部ぶいちぶ、にぶ、...、じゅうぶ、Parts (partitions)分Note that this conincides with 分 in 1分, 2分, etc in written its forms. See also Japanese/Vocabulary/Time.ぶ/ぶんにぶん、さんぶん、...、Bundles束たばひとたば、ふたたば、...、じゅったば、Sets, pairs組くみひとくみ、ふたくみ、...、じゅっくみ、Pairs対ついいっつい、につい、...、じゅっつい、Pairs of footwear足そくいっそく、にそく、...、じゅっそく、Tenths (1/10)割わりいちわり、にわり、...、じゅうわりDiscount (tenths discounted)割引わりびきいちわりびき、にわりびき、...、じゅうわりびき See also Japanese/Vocabulary/Numbers Japanese/Vocabulary/Dates Japanese/Vocabulary/Units Resources Counter Dictionary Notes deep