Hello Everyone,

In today’s lesson we are going to discuss about Japanese counter words (counters) and classifiers: what they are and how to use them. Let’s go!

Classifiers?

Classifiers: What’s that?

You have to understand that in Japan, like in some other countries, almost every object, fact or being enters into a class, a category, and that when counting instances of these objects, facts or beings, Japanese people refer to the corresponding number of elements of that category.

Well… not that clear at first sight. Let’s take an example.

In English, when you want 3 apples from a merchant, you simply say: “I want 3 apples, please.”

In Japanese, you cannot copy the same pattern. You have first to know that an apple is considered as a small round object 個 (こ) [ko], and to ask for “3 apples” you have to ask for “apples, 3 small and round objects”.

If you still a bit unclear, look at the following example: “1 glass of orange juice.”. A glass in Japanese is a category in itself, 杯 (はい,ぱい,ばい) [hai, pai or bai according to the figure that precedes] and to say “1 glass of orange juice.” you will say:

I hope this is clearer now, but if it isn’t to not hesitate to ask for some clarifications.

Counters?

The notion of counters is more easy to get. Counters can be seen as some unit of measure, like meters, feet, gallons. For instance, to give your age, you will use the counter for years of age: 歳 (さい) [sai], like you use year(s) in English. “I am 23 years old.”:

Counters & Classifiers

Now, lets discover a few classifiers and counters.

人, the classifier for persons

何人	なん　にん	nan nini	How many persons?
一人	ひとり	hitori	1 person
二人	ふたり	futari	2 persons
三人	さんにん	san nin	3 persons
四人	よにん	yonin	4 persons
五人	ごにん	go nin	5 persons
六人	ろくにん	roku nin	6 persons
七人	しちにん	shichi nin	7 persons
八人	はちにん	hachi nin	8 persons
九人	きゅうにん	kyu~ nin	9 persons
十人	じゅうにん	ju~ nin	10 persons
…	…	…	…

匹, the classifier for small animals, insects and demons

何匹	なんびき	nanbiki	How many small animals
一匹	いっぴき	ippiki	1 small animal
二匹	に　ひき	ni hiki	2 small animals
三匹	さんびき	sanbiki	3 small animals
四匹	よん　ひき	yon hiki	4 small animals
五匹	ご　ひき	go hiki	5 small animals
六匹	ろっぴき	roppiki	6 small animals
七匹	なな　ひき	nana hiki	7 small animals
八匹	はっぴき	happiki	8 small animals
九匹	きゅう　ひき	kyu~ hiki	9 small animals
十匹	じゅう　ひき	ju~ hiki	10 small animals
…	…	…	…
百匹	ひゃっぴき	hyappiki	100 small animals
…	…	…	…
千匹	せんびき	senbiki	1,000 small animals
…	…	…	…
万匹	まんびき	manbiki	10,000 small animals
…	…	…	…

台, the classifier for manufactured objects (cars, dishwashers, bicycles…)

何台	なん　だい	nan dai	How many manufactured objects
一台	いち　だい	ichi dai	1 manufactured object
二台	に　だい	ni dai	2 manufactured objects
三台	さん　だい	san dai	3 manufactured objects
…	…	…	…

回, the counter for occurences/number of times

何回	なん　かい	nan kai	How many occurences/times?
一回	いっかい	ikkai	1 occurence / once
二回	に　かい	ni kai	2 occurences / twice
三回	さん　かい	san kai	3 occurences / 3 times
四回	よん　かい	yon kai	4 occurences / 4 times
五回	ご　かい	go kai	5 occurences / 5 times
六回	ろっかい	rokkai	6 occurences / 6 times
七回	なな　かい	nana kai	7 occurences / 7 times
八回	はっかい	hakkai	8 occurences / 8 times
九回	きゅう　かい	kyu~ kai	9 occurences / 9 times
十回	じゅっかい	jukkai	10 occurences / 10 times
…	…	…	…
百回	ひゃっかい	hyakkai	100 occurences / 100 times
…	…	…	…

本, the classifier for long thin objects (bottles, rivers, pencil, necktie…) and also many other elements (telephone calls, points in sport…)

何本	なんぼん	nanbon	How many long and thin objects
一本	いっぽん	ippon	1 long and thin object
二本	に　ほん	ni hon	2 long and thin objects
三本	さんぼん	sanbon	3 long and thin objects
四本	よん　ほん	yon hon	4 long and thin objects
五本	ご　ほん	go hon	5 long and thin objects
六本	ろっぽん	roppon	6 long and thin objects
七本	なな　ほん	nana hon	7 long and thin objects
八本	はっぽん	happon	8 long and thin objects
九本	きゅう　ほん	kyu~ hon	9 long and thin objects
十本	じゅう　ほん	ju~ hon	10 long and thin objects
…	…	…	…
百本	ひゃっぽん	hyappon	100 long and thin objects
…	…	…	…
千本	せんぼん	senbon	1,000 long and thin objects
…	…	…	…
万本	まんぼん	manbon	10,000 long and thin objects
…	…	…	…

枚, the classifier for flat objects (sheets of paper, photos, plates, clothes…)

何枚	なん　まい	nan mai	How many flat objects
一枚	いち　まい	ichi mai	1 flat object
二枚	に　まい	ni mai	2 flat objects
三枚	さん　まい	san mai	3 flat objects
…	…	…	…

Some other counters we have encountered in our previous lessons:

Counter	Unit	Lesson
侍	hours	Refer to What time is it?
分	minutes
秒	seconds
年	years	Years
月	months	Months
曜日	days of week	Days of week
日	days of month	Days of month
歳/才	years of age	How old are you?

How many…?

As you may have noticed above, to ask about a number of objects, fact or being, just use the question word  何 (なん) [nan] / what / followed by the counter or classifier corresponding to the object, fact or being.

For instance:

/ How many persons are you? /

And what if I don’t know the counter/classifier for an object or being?

There may come some times when you do not know the classifier for an object or being, or where you may get lost between the different classifiers. Happily, there exists in Japanese a general purpose classifier, that can be used for every object or being: つ [tsu]. You may remember seing it in our lesson on numbers as it is being used when counting using Japanese numbers.

For instance if you don’t know the classifier glasses and you want 1 beer you will say:

Exercise

Translate the following sentences:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is for today. I will provide you with a large list of counters in a future lesson. In the meantime you can have a look here (and you will understand why knowing about ・つ is a good thing ^^).

As always, do not hesitate to comment, like and share!

Stéphane

Links

When looking for a counter, you can refer to the following website which lists all the applicable counters and classifiers for many different items:

http://www.benricho.org/kazu/a.html

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