Questions tagged [counters]
助数詞. Suffixes attached to numbers to indicate what is being counted. In linguistics, these are sometimes called 'classifiers'. The combination of a number plus a classifier forms a type of 'quantifier', and the movement of quantifiers into other parts of the sentence is called 'quantifier float'.
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143 views
What is the counter for kingdoms?
I'm trying to write that a person is a citizen of two kingdoms, one earthly, one spiritual. What is the counter for kingdom? (王国). Also, what is the best website to find a list of counters? I've found ...
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2answers
284 views
Why are phone calls cylindrical?
何本か重要な電話をかけ、...
He made several important phone calls and ...
Originally part of this question but separated due to popular? demand.
Why is the counter 本 used in reference to phone calls?
5
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1answer
157 views
Different ways to say several
何本か重要な電話をかけ、...
He made several important phone calls and ...
As I puzzled about why phone calls might use the counter 本 (see this question) I wondered more generally about how to say several.
Is ...
-2
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2answers
139 views
What is the correct counter to translate 'One Piece'?
I was wondering whether the anime is actually called that way because it is hard to convey this meaning in japanese with a single word. For those who are not aware, One Piece is the greatest treasure ...
8
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2answers
204 views
Confusing use of ずつ
このバスの会社によると、東京では１週間に３日、昼と夜の２回ずつ走る予定で、予約が必要です。
According to the company that runs these buses, they plan to run the Tokyo bus three times a week, twice each in the afternoon and evening. A ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
＃回に＃度: probability or sequence?
In a game manual, there is a description of a rare item that sometimes appears instead of a regular one. The rule determining when this rare item appears is this:
16回に１度、Ｘのかわりに出現。
In an earlier ...
3
votes
2answers
139 views
Do unit words belong to a word or a specific object?
I recently though about words that have multiple forms as real objects. For example a ticket can be a paper slip, or an email receipt.
Does the way of counting them change based on what it is, or ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views
Are Japanese counters an adoption from the Chinese language?
The Japanese language uses counters to count different kinds of items, animals as well as people such as 一本 to count a long cylindric object or 二枚 two count flat objects (in thi case two flat objects)....
4
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1answer
178 views
What is the term used for a baby's age at birth?
Is a babies age determined by date of conception or date of birth? What is the term used for determining the age? A Japanese friend told me that a pregnancy is 10 months. I have always used tanjoubi ...
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vote
1answer
148 views
What do you treat as an animate and inanimate object when counting?
In Japanese animate and inanimate objects are treated differently.
For people:
the verb exist いる is used
the generic counter (一{ひと}つ, 二{ふた}つ, 三{みっ}つ, ...) cannot be used
the specific counter (一{ひと}人{...
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votes
1answer
116 views
How do you express time duration when mixing time units?
When you want to express a passage of time mixing time units like days, hours, and minutes is it best to use for example 間 once at the end to show duration, or should words showing duration be used ...
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2answers
373 views
How to say “The other sister” and “I don't have any brothers”
Can someone explain to me how to say the other (younger) sister when talking about family? I have to younger sister and want to discuss their professions, like in
One sister is a... and the other ...
6
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1answer
400 views
When to use the counter word mei 名 over nin 人?
Beginner here. When would you use the counter word 名 over 人?
I read online that 名 is used for formal situations, and literally every website gave counting customers as the example (as in, asking how ...
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vote
1answer
726 views
Reading and translation for “1日目”, “2日目”, “3日目”, etc
I have a list referring to days of classes that reads this way:
1日目 - Ichinichime - Day 1
2日目 - Futsukame - Day 2
3日目 - Mikkame - Day 3
4日目 - Yokkame - Day 4
5日目 - Itsukame - Day 5
And so on (until ...
6
votes
3answers
771 views
名 vs 人 for counting people?
We were asking for seats at a restaurant in Kyoto and were unsure whether to ask for nimei or futari. Which would be more appropriate? What are the distinctions in usage between these two counters?
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1answer
161 views
What's the meaning of “十力所”
I'm currently reading 極主夫道 and I'm not sure I understand "十力所". Do you have any ideas? Is it 10 powerful people of the office or something else? Thank you!
9
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1answer
187 views
Did つ (助数詞) actually mean の?
There are quite a few examples were tsu actually means no.
まつ毛・睫毛・睫 matsuge actually comes from 目の毛 me no ke (ma is another pronunciation for 目 me)
沖つ宮 okitsumiya（aslo written 沖津宮, but, as Meikyou ...
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vote
1answer
67 views
What does ２世帯５人 mean in this sentence?
盛岡市によりますと、午後７時半現在、２世帯５人が近くの児童センターで一夜を明かす予定だということです。
Is it 2 families that have no link composed of a total of 5 persons or a normal family(3 or 4 members) + the grandparent(s) (1 or 2 member(s)) ?
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3answers
947 views
What is the counter for languages
I've looked this up in a few different dictionaries and the only word I got was 「か国語」written in a few different ways. but all of them contain 「国語」which I have come to understand means national ...
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1answer
58 views
Are counters for houses used in addresses?
I have a question about how to translate sentences like "the person from the eight", in the sense of "the person who lives in the house number 8". Is a counter preferred/needed in this situation? If ...
6
votes
1answer
233 views
Why the same counter word is used for cups and octopuses?
Me and my fellow coworker have been discussing the article on Japanese counter words and this particular case has caught our attention:
[Pronunciation]はい hai, ぱい pai, ばい bai; [Spelling]杯, [Use] ...
6
votes
2answers
180 views
Counters + inherently plural items
Suppose I want to ask for two pairs of chopsticks for myself and someone I'm with.
Does お箸【はし】を二【ふた】つください mean I'm asking for two chopsticks or two sets of chopsticks? (Also, am I using the right ...
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2answers
168 views
is お死枚 a pun on 四枚?
So I was watching Hunter x Hunter episode 142, and at one point one of the characters is about to shoot a bunch of coins at the other, and he asks 君に渡すのは
何枚でしょう, which is correctly translated as "how ...
2
votes
3answers
162 views
Counting objects modified by relative clauses
I found this sentence:
２人が亡くなっているのが見つかりました。
Two people were found dead.
and thought the structure was a bit strange. If I had to say this I would have tried:
亡くなっている人が2人見つかりました。
Sentences ...
5
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1answer
698 views
How do you count train stations?
What would be the counter for train stations?
For example, "two more stops" would be 後駅を二つ...?
It seems a bit unnatural.
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2answers
186 views
Doesn't ～ニン（人）as a suffix imply that it is a counter of people
I was looking to some examples of the use of 人 and I found this one in Jisho.org
http://jisho.org/search/人
２００人{にん}の人{ひと}が昨年コレラで死んだ。
Two hundred people died of cholera last year.
With furigana ...
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1answer
104 views
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1answer
312 views
How to count the word 言葉?
So if I'm trying to say "I found more than 50 unfamiliar words" how would I count words?
My attempt: 意味の分からない言葉を50回も初めて見た。
As you can see, I counted how many times I saw an unfamiliar word, rather ...
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votes
2answers
761 views
Numbering pages (ex. PAGE ONE)
Although it might seem a tad pointless, I am trying to number pages in a document without using Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2 etc.). I would like the reading to similar to "PAGE ONE" or "FIRST PAGE." I'm ...
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votes
1answer
278 views
Can a particle attach to a counter?
I saw this answer to a recent question which contained the sentence:
私は猫二匹がいます
Is it okay to put the particle が after the counter. It seems strange to me. I would have expected:
私(に)は猫が二匹います
...
9
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2answers
389 views
Counter followed by 隣
Referring to items at a mask selling stall:
じいさんはうさぎの二個隣にあるドラえもんを指さした。
The man pointed at the ドラえもん figure ??? next to the rabbit
I'm confused about what 二個隣 means. Does it mean that the ドラえもん ...
2
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1answer
105 views
Can だ/だった be omitted before conjuctive が?
On the results of measuring the amount of plastic found in a sample of 31 fish:
その結果、９匹の体の中から大きさが５ｍｍ以下のプラスチックが平均で１．１個見つかりました。
The result (was that) from 9 fish the size was at least 5mm of ...
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2answers
189 views
How does one know when to use ～ふん or ～ぷん when telling time in Japanese?
I'm wondering if there are any linguistic reasons or rules that can be applied to find out which to use, or do I just need to memorize them individually?
6
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1answer
264 views
一部屋一部屋 Meaning and reading
I'm having some trouble with the following sentence:
一部屋一部屋が大きいのだろう、部屋のドアの間隔が広かった。
What's the meaning of the double "一部屋"? I think it's supposed to be each/every room, but I'm not sure. Also, is ...
6
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2answers
883 views
How to ask for X yen worth of something?
I think more or less everything is in the title, say I'd like to buy 1000 yen of carrots, would:
人参の1000円分お願いします
Be correct ?
9
votes
1answer
2k views
How to read 24-hour clock format
There are a lot of topics on forums in what case Japanese people use 24-hour clock format. But I have never seen how it should be pronounced. It's not hard to say something like 8:05. This is common ...
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2answers
169 views
数詞も suitable location
How should I determine which place I need to locate 「数詞{すうし} + も」? From my text book example:
1: 毎年何百枚も年賀状を出します
数詞も is now located in front of the noun 年賀状.
2: 卵を六つも食べた
Now 数詞も is located in ...
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1answer
576 views
More complicated examples of allotting items with ずつ
ずつ can be used when talking about allotting/diving things evenly (e.g. 飴を2つずつあげる), or having equal numbers of different things (e.g. ネギマとレバーを2本ずつ下さい).
But what about cases where multiple things are ...
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2answers
111 views
Could 十角形、九角形、七角形 be read as デカゴン、ノナゴン、ヘパタゴン？
As per dic.yahoo.co.jp the following four geometric figures seem to be read as (ateji / gairaigo) 十角形、九角形、七角形、十二角形 (decagon, nonagon, heptagon, dodecagon). As per the same dictionary, all the other ...
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1answer
1k views
mittsu vs san - what's the difference and what are these two forms called?
I am trying to learn the numbers and I see there are two different translations for the number 3 (and other numbers). When should I use one and when should I use the other? Is there a name for the ...
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2answers
623 views
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2answers
134 views
幾人も or 一杯? Kanji or hiragana?
I am writing the following sentence:
サン・パウロに日本人がいっぱいいるから。。。よかったですね！
And I'd like to know if 幾人も could be a more respectful/more natural replacement for 一杯, and whether I should be using kanji.
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2answers
307 views
What's the difference between 度 and 回? [duplicate]
Both are counters for occurrences. Would they be interchangeable in the following sentence?
パリ行きの電車は一日に二回出発します。
2
votes
2answers
237 views
How to count with rare counters
How do you pronounce "1–10 + some counter"? I have seen lists of common counters, but they may not contain less common counters, such as ～話 or ～膳.
How do I know how to count with rare counters?
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1answer
210 views
How would you say “please give me 10 of this”?
for example, これを一つください is please give me 10 of this.
then how should I say if it were 10, 11, 12, and more...?
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vote
2answers
303 views
counters for weight?
After looking online, I found a counter supposedly for grams: 匁(monme). Is this right? Also, would I just use it with the noun + particle + counter + verb form? Like 食べ物の一千匁をもって来る.
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1answer
159 views
Can I use だけ and しか with amounts?
When I was learning how to use だけ and しか, I was told that だけ and しか both means "only". But the latter requires the verb to be in the negative form.
For example:
あの人だけが好きだ。
I only like that ...
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votes
2answers
169 views
Why is 1st floor written as ikkai いっかい?
Should it not be い かい as I thought the counter for floors was -kai ?
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3answers
153 views
Counters 本 and 話 within the context of anime production (need sakuga fans' insight)
We know 話 can be used as a counter for, including but not limited to, anime franchise episodes. But if I understand it right, 話 refers to an episode as a completed, ready-for-consumption work.
That ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
てもいい + a counter?
I still can't get my head around how I am supposed to place the counters.
According to my textbook (which of course may have oversimplified some things), there are two possibilities: counter + の + ...
