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Counting in Japanese: One Word: Counters
Counting in Japanese: One Word: Counters
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COUNTING IN JAPANESE
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Basic Counting
1-10
Counting 1-10 all on its own is pretty basic. Its good to memorize these before you go
into learning the other counters, as youll notice a lot of similarities between 1-10 and all
the counters!
romaji
meaning
ichi
one
ni
two
san
three
shi/yon
four
go
five
roku
six
shichi/nana
seven
hachi
eight
ku/kyuu
nine
juu
ten
romaji
meaning
tsuitachi
the 1st
futsuka
the 2nd
mikka
the 3rd
yokka
the 4th
itsuka
the 5th
muika
the 6th
nanoka
the 7th
youka
the 8th
kokonoka
the 9th
tooka
the 10th
juu-ichi-nichi
the 11th
Hours / Time
1-10
Hours are pretty easy, you just add the number before ji, which means hour in
this context. There are a few exceptions, though, so take an extra hard look at 4, 7, and 9!
romaji
meaning
ichi-ji
1 oclock
ni-ji
2 oclock
san-ji
3 oclock
yo-ji
4 oclock
go-ji
5 oclock
roku-ji
6 oclock
shichi-ji
7 oclock
hachi-ji
8 oclock
ku-ji
9 oclock
juu-ji
10 oclock
Minutes / Time
1-10
For minutes, the counter is a little more difficult than hours. If you learn the first ten,
you can use the same patterns to know how to say 11 (minutes) on. You just have to
memorize which ones end with pun, and which one end with bun. Get to it!
romaji
meaning
ippun
1 minute
nifun
2 minutes
sanpun
3 minutes
yonpun
4 minutes
gofun
5 minutes
roppun
6 minutes
nanafun
7 minutes
happun
8 minutes
kyuufun
9 minutes
juppun
10 minutes
romaji
meaning
issai
1 year old
nisai
2 years old
sansai
3 years old
yonsai
4 years old
gosai
5 years old
rokusai
6 years old
nanasai
7 years old
hassai
8 years old
kyuusai
9 years old
juusai
10 years old
hatachi
20 years old
People
1-10
If you want to count the amount of people, you would use this counter. How many
people are here? Oh, 3-nin! Check out the first two, they are especially strange.
romaji
meaning
hitori
1 person
futari
2 people
sannin
3 people
yonin
4 people
gonin
5 people
rokunin
6 people
shichinin
7 people
hachinin
8 people
kyuunin
9 people
juunin
10 people
romaji
meaning
ippon
1 LCO
nihon
2 LCO
sanbon
3 LCO
yonhon
4 LCO
gohon
5 LCO
roppon
6 LCO
nanahon
7 LCO
happon
8 LCO
kyuuhon
9 LCO
juppon
10 LCO
romaji
meaning
ichimai
1 FTO
nimai
2 FTO
sanmai
3 FTO
yonmai
4 FTO
gomai
5 FTO
rokumai
6 FTO
nanamai
7 FTO
hachimai
8 FTO
kyuumai
9 FTO
juumai
10 FTO
10
Bound Objects
1-10
Usually these will be things like books, magazines, etc. Im not sure if an e-book
would count though... hmmm.
romaji
meaning
issatsu
1 BO
nisatsu
2 BO
sansatsu
3 BO
yonsatsu
4 BO
gosatsu
5 BO
rokusatsu
6 BO
nanasatsu
7 BO
hassatsu
8 BO
kyuusatsu
9 BO
jussatsu
10 BO
11
Small Animals
1-10
Did you know you have to use a special counter for counting small animals (though
birds have their own counter, which is wa). Big animals, on the other hand, are tou.
Small animals included in this list are insects, fish, cats, dogs, etc. So yes, a tofugu is a
hiki! One exception is rabbits, which get the bird counter...because of their ears.
romaji
meaning
ippiki
1 animals
nihiki
2 animals
sanbiki
3 animals
yonhiki
4 animals
gohiki
5 animals
roppiki
6 animals
nanahiki
7 animals
happiki
8 animals
kyuuhiki
9 animals
juppiki
10 animals
12
Number of Times
1-10
How many times have you read this? How many times did you hit him? How many
times did you run around the track? All these questions and more are answered using this
counter. Another option is to use the counter do, but well be covering kai today.
romaji
meaning
ikkai
1 time
nikai
2 times
sankai
3 times
yonkai
4 times
gokai
5 times
rokkai
6 times
nanakai
7 times
hakkai
8 times
kyuukai
9 times
jukkai
10 times
13
romaji
meaning
ikko
1 SCO
niko
2 SCO
sanko
3 SCO
yonko
4 SCO
goko
5 SCO
rokko
6 SCO
nanako
7 SCO
hakko
8 SCO
kyuuko
9 SCO
jukko
10 SCO
14
1-10
Even though it seems like theres counters for everything, thankfully there is a way to
count things that dont have counters (or things that have such rare and ridiculous
counters that Japanese people dont bother learning them).
romaji
meaning
hitotsu
futatsu
mittsu
yottsu
itsutsu
muttsu
nanatsu
yattsu
kokonotsu
10
too
10
Theres so much more besides the ones I mentioned. Heres a list of ones you wont see as often
Pronunciation
Japanese
Use
ba
Scene of a play
bai
ban
ban
Sports matches
bi
bu
Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say
hiki instead)
Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
bun
Sentences
by
Seconds
byshi
Musical beats
chaku
ch
15
ch
ch
Town blocks
dai
dai
danraku
fuku, puku
fuku, puku
fun, pun
Minutes
furi
Swords
gakky
gatsu, also
tsuki
go
Words
gu
gy
Lines of text
ku
Haiku, senry
16
Pronunciation
Japanese
Use
kuchi
kumi
kurasu
kyaku
kyaku
kyoku
Pieces of music
kyoku
mai
maki or kan
maku
Theatrical acts
mei
men
mon
mon
Questions
nen
nichi
nin
ninmae
pji
Pages
rei
rin
Wheels, Flowers
ry
Railway cars
sai
or
Years of age
sao
satsu
Books
seki
seki
Ships
shina
sha
17
Pronunciation
Japanese
Use
shiki
sh
shu
Tankas
sh
Weeks
shurui or shu
or
Kinds, species
soku
tai
tawara
Bags of rice
teki
Drops of liquid
ten
Points, dots
tri
ts
Letters
tswa
toki
tsubo
wa
wa
"wing".
Bundles
ya
zen
18