When you count something in English, maybe it isn’t too hard.

That’s because the rules are not complicated.

However, when you count in Japanese, it might be harder because the way you count changes depending on what you are counting.

There also are a number of complicated rules.

For instance, one dog, two dogs, three dogs is いぬがいっぴき、いぬがにひき、いぬがさんびき.

However, one person, two people, three people is ひとり、ふたり、さんにん.

In this article, I’m going to teach you Japanese counters.

things

When we count things, we use こ(ko).

こ is useful a one because you can count almost anything with こ.

Pronunciation rules:

こ(ko) is k sound.

When we use k sound counter, we add っ to 1, 6, 8 and 10.

いっこ(ikko)
にこ
さんこ
よんこ
ごこ
ろっこ(rokko)
ななこ
はちこ or(はっこ(hakko))
きゅうこ
10じゅっこ(zyukko)or(じっこ)

Practice

りんごが なんこ ありますか。(How many apples are there?)

Answer

ろっこ。

animals

When we count bugs or small animals that we can hold, we use ひき (hiki).

For example, いぬが 2ひき います。 There are two dogs.

There is a pronunciation rule.

ひき(hiki) is h sound.

When we use h sound counter, 1, 6, 8 and 10 changes to っp sound.

いっぴき (ippiki)
にひき
さんびき (sanbiki)
よんひき
ごひき
ろっぴき(roppiki)
ななひき
はっぴき (happiki) or はちひき
きゅうひき
10じゅっぴき(zyuppiki)or(じっぴき)

Practice

いぬが なんひき いますか。(How many dogs are there?)

Answer

はっぴき or はちひき。

liquid in a cup

When we count liquid in a cup, we use はい (hai).

For instance, ビールを 2はい のんだ。 I drank two cups of beer.

はい (hai) is h sound, so 1,6, 8, 10 changes to っぱい.

いっぱい (ippai)
にはい
さんばい (sanbai)
よんはい
ごはい
ろっぱい(roppai)
ななはい
はっぱい (happai)
きゅうはい
10じゅっぱい(zyuppai)or(じっぱい)

Practice

ジュースが なんはい ありますか。(How many cups of Juice are there?)

Answer

はっぱい。

books

When we count books, we use さつ (satsu).

さつ (satsu) is s sound and when we use s sound counters, we add っ to 1, 8 and 10.

いっさつ (issatsu)
にさつ
さんさつ
よんさつ
ごさつ
ろくさつ
ななさつ
はっさつ (hassatsu) or はちさつ
きゅうさつ
10じゅっさつ(zyussatsu)or(じっさつ)

Practice

ほんが なんさつ ありますか。(How many books are there?)

Answer

いっさつ。

people

When we count people, we use にん (nin).

However, one person and two people are very special, ひとり、ふたり.

Also, 4にん isn’t よんにん.

4にん is よにん.

If I write よんにん in English alphabet, it is yonnin.

The first n sound will drop and it becomes よにん.

(yonnin→yonin)

ひとり (hitori)
ふたり (futari)
さんにん
よにん
ごにん
ろくにん
ななにん
はちにん
きゅうにん
10じゅうにん

Practice

おとこのこは なんにん いますか。(How many boys are there?)

Answer

ふたり

If you’d like to learn more Japanese, please feel free to contact me.

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