Reading
Meaning
How to write
Japanese counters
Counting in Japanese isn't as straightforward as in English.
In Japanese, to count things, events or actions you need to use special words called counters. The Japanese numerals cannot be used directly with a noun.. 1
There are too many counters and you need to use a different one depending on what you want to count. Using the wrong counter is grammatically incorrect. If you are counting people, you must use the people counter, etc. Sometimes, it is acceptable to use a more generic counter when a less commonly used counter applies. 2
Most common counters
Japanese | Use |
---|---|
人 | To count the number of people |
本 | To count long, cylindrical objects such as bottles or chopsticks |
枚 | To count thin objects such as paper or shirts |
冊 | To count bound objects usually books |
匹 | To count small animals like cats or dogs |
歳 | To count the age of a living creatures such as people |
個 | To count small (often round) objects |
回 | To count number of times |
ヶ所 | To count number of locations |
つ | To count any generic object that has a rare or no counter |
Counting from 1 to 10
- Special readings appear in bold font.
View Wikipedia: Japanese counter word for a comprehensive list of Japanese counters.
See also: JapanDict: Numbers ↩
Information for this article extracted from the great Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese: Numbers and counting under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License. ↩
Kanji in this word
Collocations and expressions using 人
Extended information
- JMDict ID: 1366410
- JMdictDB entry
- Short URL: https://jpdct.com/FNmK
- Appears in the "Ichimango goi bunruishuu", Senmon Kyouiku Publishing, Tokyo, 1998.
人
Reading
Meaning
How to write
Kanji in this word
Collocations and expressions using 人
Extended information
- JMDict ID: 1580640
- JMdictDB entry
- Short URL: https://jpdct.com/GB5g
- Appears in the "Ichimango goi bunruishuu", Senmon Kyouiku Publishing, Tokyo, 1998.
Example sentences
- Japanese sentence
- 人は意識のある生き物だ。Loading...
- Sentence analysis
- Meaning
- Japanese sentence
- 人がなんと言おうと僕は君の味方だ。Loading...
- Sentence analysis
- Meaning
- Japanese sentence
- 確かに彼はハンサムでないが、人がよい。Loading...
- Sentence analysis
- Meaning
- Japanese sentence
- この人は画家だ!Loading...
- Sentence analysis
- Meaning
Reading
Meaning
How to write
Kanji in this word
Collocations and expressions using 人
Extended information
- JMDict ID: 2149890
- JMdictDB entry
- Short URL: https://jpdct.com/IM4C
- Appears in the "Ichimango goi bunruishuu", Senmon Kyouiku Publishing, Tokyo, 1998.
Example sentences
- Japanese sentence
- 200人の人が昨年コレラで死んだ。Loading...
- Sentence analysis
- Meaning
人
Tags
- suffix
- suffix #suf
Reading
- とto