{"id":8674,"date":"2025-07-01T22:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T13:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/?p=8674"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:42:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T13:42:04","slug":"how-to-count-things-in-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/?p=8674","title":{"rendered":"How to Count Things in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In Japanese, you <strong>can&#8217;t just put a number before a noun<\/strong> like in English.<br>You need a <strong>counter word<\/strong>, called a <strong>\u52a9\u6570\u8a5e (<em>jos\u016bshi<\/em>)<\/strong>, that matches the type of thing being counted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"rtoc-mokuji-wrapper\" class=\"rtoc-mokuji-content frame4 preset4 animation-fade rtoc_open default\" data-id=\"8674\" data-theme=\"AFFINGER Child\">\n\t\t\t<div id=\"rtoc-mokuji-title\" class=\" rtoc_center\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"rtoc_open_close rtoc_open\"><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>Contents<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div><ol class=\"rtoc-mokuji decimal_ol level-1\"><li class=\"rtoc-item\"><a href=\"#rtoc-1\">Basic Structure<\/a><\/li><li class=\"rtoc-item\"><a href=\"#rtoc-2\">\ud83e\uddf1 Common Categories of Japanese Counters<\/a><\/li><li class=\"rtoc-item\"><a href=\"#rtoc-3\">\ud83e\udde0 Irregular Readings (Be careful!)<\/a><\/li><li class=\"rtoc-item\"><a href=\"#rtoc-4\">\ud83d\udcd8 Examples<\/a><\/li><li class=\"rtoc-item\"><a href=\"#rtoc-5\">\ud83d\udcda Tips for Learners<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div><h2 id=\"rtoc-1\"  class=\"wp-block-heading\">Basic Structure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Number] + [Counter] + \u306e + [Noun]<\/strong><br>Or<br><strong>[Noun] + [Number + Counter]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u4e09\u672c\u306e\u30da\u30f3<\/strong> (<em>san-bon no pen<\/em>) = Three pens<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u308a\u3093\u3054\u304c\u4e8c\u500b\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059<\/strong> (<em>ringo ga ni-ko arimasu<\/em>) = There are two apples<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"rtoc-2\"  class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\uddf1 Common Categories of Japanese Counters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are <strong>some of the most common counter types<\/strong>, with examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Counter<\/th><th>Use for<\/th><th>Example<\/th><th>Reading<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>\u4eba\uff08\u306b\u3093\uff09<\/td><td>People<\/td><td>3 people<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u306b\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u679a\uff08\u307e\u3044\uff09<\/td><td>Flat objects (paper, plates)<\/td><td>2 sheets<\/td><td>\u306b\u307e\u3044<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u672c\uff08\u307b\u3093\uff09<\/td><td>Long, cylindrical items (bottles, pens, trees)<\/td><td>4 pens<\/td><td>\u3088\u3093\u307b\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u5339\uff08\u3072\u304d\uff09<\/td><td>Small animals (cats, dogs, fish)<\/td><td>5 cats<\/td><td>\u3054\u3072\u304d<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u982d\uff08\u3068\u3046\uff09<\/td><td>Large animals (cows, horses)<\/td><td>2 horses<\/td><td>\u306b\u3068\u3046<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u518a\uff08\u3055\u3064\uff09<\/td><td>Books, notebooks<\/td><td>3 books<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u3055\u3064<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u53f0\uff08\u3060\u3044\uff09<\/td><td>Machines, vehicles (cars, TVs)<\/td><td>2 cars<\/td><td>\u306b\u3060\u3044<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u500b\uff08\u3053\uff09<\/td><td>Small general objects<\/td><td>1 apple<\/td><td>\u3044\u3063\u3053<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u676f\uff08\u306f\u3044\uff09<\/td><td>Cups\/glasses of drinks<\/td><td>2 cups<\/td><td>\u306b\u306f\u3044<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u56de\uff08\u304b\u3044\uff09<\/td><td>Occurrences\/times<\/td><td>1 time<\/td><td>\u3044\u3063\u304b\u3044<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u5206\uff08\u3075\u3093 \/ \u3077\u3093\uff09<\/td><td>Minutes<\/td><td>10 minutes<\/td><td>\u3058\u3085\u3063\u3077\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u5e74\uff08\u306d\u3093\uff09<\/td><td>Years<\/td><td>3 years<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u306d\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u65e5\uff08\u306b\u3061 \/ \u304b\uff09<\/td><td>Days<\/td><td>2 days<\/td><td>\u3075\u3064\u304b<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u6708\uff08\u304c\u3064\uff09<\/td><td>Months<\/td><td>January = 1\u6708<\/td><td>\u3044\u3061\u304c\u3064<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"rtoc-3\"  class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udde0 Irregular Readings (Be careful!)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some numbers + counters change pronunciation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Counter<\/th><th>1<\/th><th>3<\/th><th>6<\/th><th>8<\/th><th>10<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>\u672c<\/td><td>\u3044\u3063\u307d\u3093<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u307c\u3093<\/td><td>\u308d\u3063\u307d\u3093<\/td><td>\u306f\u3063\u307d\u3093<\/td><td>\u3058\u3085\u3063\u307d\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u5206<\/td><td>\u3044\u3063\u3077\u3093<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u3077\u3093<\/td><td>\u308d\u3063\u3077\u3093<\/td><td>\u306f\u3063\u3077\u3093<\/td><td>\u3058\u3085\u3063\u3077\u3093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u56de<\/td><td>\u3044\u3063\u304b\u3044<\/td><td>\u3055\u3093\u304b\u3044<\/td><td>\u308d\u3063\u304b\u3044<\/td><td>\u306f\u3063\u304b\u3044<\/td><td>\u3058\u3085\u3063\u304b\u3044<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is due to <strong>euphonic sound changes<\/strong> (\u97f3\u4fbf) in Japanese pronunciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"rtoc-4\"  class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcd8 Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Four books<\/strong> \u2192 \u672c\u304c<strong>\u56db\u518a<\/strong>\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059 (<em>hon ga yon-satsu arimasu<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Two glasses of juice<\/strong> \u2192 \u30b8\u30e5\u30fc\u30b9\u3092<strong>\u4e8c\u676f<\/strong>\u98f2\u307f\u307e\u3057\u305f (<em>j\u016bsu o ni-hai nomimashita<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seven people<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>\u4e03\u4eba<\/strong>\u3044\u307e\u3059 (<em>shichi-nin<\/em> or <em>nana-nin<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ten apples<\/strong> \u2192 \u308a\u3093\u3054\u3092<strong>\u5341\u500b<\/strong>\u8cb7\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f (<em>ringo o jukk\u014d kaimashita<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"rtoc-5\"  class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcda Tips for Learners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start with <strong>\u500b (\u3053)<\/strong> if you&#8217;re unsure \u2014 it\u2019s a general counter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Try learning <strong>by category<\/strong> (e.g. people, animals, objects).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Practice with everyday things: books, drinks, animals, time, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Would you like a printable chart or flashcards for practice? Or counters for time, age, or money? Let me know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Japanese, you can&#8217;t just put a number before a noun like in English.You need a counter word, call &#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beginner","category-japanese","category-qa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8675,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8674\/revisions\/8675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedom777.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}