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'.
182
questions
4
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1answer
520 views
Leaving away the 目 suffix for ordinal numbers
I've seen 「1ページ」 refer to "page 1" of e.g. a book. Wouldn't this technically mean "one page" and 「１ページ目」 be correct for "page 1"?
Is leaving away the 目 when referring to ...
0
votes
2answers
155 views
Minna no nihongo wago counting
おはよう,
In lesson 11 of minna no nihongo:
Counting is always done in wago. It seems when I look online, kango is used for nearly all the example counters in minna no nihongo.
Is minna no nihongo just ...
2
votes
0answers
102 views
Units for stock indexes
When reading Japanese financial news, I found that different units were used for different stock indexes. For example, ドル／セント was used for Dow Jones Industrial Average, while ポイント was used for NASDAQ ...
6
votes
0answers
127 views
Counters and their placements with nouns
I have been practicing writing recently where I use counters, but I keep getting corrected by native speakers on there usage.
For example I write
3個のりんごを食べたいです。
I want to eat 3 apples.
But I keep ...
1
vote
2answers
101 views
二百十日 is read as にひゃくとおか. What about 百十日 or 三百十日? [duplicate]
十日 is read as とおか and 二十日 is read as はつか.
二百十日 is read as にひゃくとおか (not にひゃくじゅうにち) and 二百二十日 is read as にひゃくはつか.
三十日 is read as さんじゅうにち or みそか, 四十日 is read as しじゅうにち or よそか, 五十日 (50 days/50th day) is ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views
What's the difference between the -banme and -ban counters?
I found these two sentences in RosettaStone
kochira no sanbanme no seki desu
kanojo wa hachiban no seki ni suwatte imasu
Why is the first one not "sanban" and the second one not "...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
List number of family members with counters
I learnt that to say:
I have two younger brothers and one younger sister?
in Japanese, I can use:
弟と妹が二人います。 (Otōto to imōto ga futari imasu).
The grammar structure is the following:
Noun + ...
2
votes
0answers
75 views
Why can “39” be pronounced as 「ミク」？ [duplicate]
I was recently listening to someone talk about a game called “初音ミク Project DIVA MEGA39’s”. The English localization is changed to “MEGAMIX”.
They actually noted that 3 and 9 can be pronounced as ミ ...
1
vote
1answer
304 views
Counter word for (western) chess pieces
If you were counting pieces in chess, say, one, two, three pawns, how would you do that in Japanese? Would you use ほん hon, ぽん pon, ぼん bon 本?
I am not sure whether this makes a difference: by counting ...
2
votes
2answers
574 views
How does one express uncertainty when describing numbers e.g. 170-odd cases
I found myself stuttering when I tried to tell my boss that I had finished sending a-hundred-some-odd emails yesterday.
I've ask a similar question on HiNative a long time ago, and here I quote the ...
9
votes
1answer
892 views
Meaning of 見る in 「１日から２日は見て」
In this JLPT N1 listening practice transcript, a manager at a company is talking to his employee:
じゃ、お客様には、私の方からお詫びの電話を入れておくから。番号はこのメモの通りでいいんだよね。君は今すぐ管理部に連絡して、同じ商品の在庫があるか聞いてみて。...
1
vote
1answer
113 views
What is independent form of numeral 10?
An old Dover grammar-book of Japanese shows it to be to (it has no kana but I assume it's と), but Wikipedia shows to̅ (とお). Which one is correct?
5
votes
1answer
536 views
The meaning of 四五町ほど(隔たる)
While reading Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's "In a Grove," I came across the sentence; 「山科の駅路からは、四五町ほど隔たって居りましょう。」山科 I understand to be a place and everything else is understandable for me other than 四五町. ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Syntactic Properties of “Bare Numerals”: 「一」in「其の一」
I am currently attempting to research the syntax of nominal classifiers (i.e. "counter" words like 「〜台」and 「〜個」) and wanted to look for references to the irregular phenomenon of "bare" numerals: ...
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1answer
490 views
What is the counter for kanji characters?
I want to count the number of kanji characters in a word. What is the counter for characters? I am thinking that the term mai would be used as they are written on paper.
0
votes
1answer
94 views
How do I count pieces of Halloween candy of different shapes?
I know that a bag of candy is counted as fukuro. Are the pieces counted differently based on the shape, long, thick, square, round, triangular, or is everything ko?
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vote
1answer
233 views
Are Japanese counters the same when viewing items online?
As an example, I read three books online, would the counter 冊 still be used? I know that counters are based on size and shape of physical items, do the same rules apply when reading a book online?
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votes
1answer
389 views
Would the same counter be used to order a slice of pizza and a whole one?
When I order a pizza, would I use ichimai 一枚 to order a slice or the whole thing? Thank you.
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2answers
235 views
/h/ sound changing in some Japanese counters
I just noticed that the quantifying words that have an initial sound as /h/ such as 本、匹、分
For example: 本 hon
/h/ becomes /p/ : 1,6,8,10
/h/ becomes /b/ : 3,?? and ん sound before /b/ becomes /m/ (is ...
5
votes
1answer
157 views
What is the difference between 「女性一人」 and 「一人の女性」?
So far, I've learnt that a quantity (number + counter) can be attached to a noun to quantify it by using の:
一人の女性。One woman.
However, I came across a sentence in my textbook where the noun an the ...
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vote
2answers
167 views
what does 人の mean?
I'm learning Japanese and using busuu. A native speaker corrected my exercise but I dont understand what the green corrections mean. They teach me vocab and not much grammar. Please help!
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votes
2answers
948 views
第 [dai-] vs 目 [-me] in forming ordinal numbers
As I understand fo now 第 [dai-] and 目 [-me] both turn 5 to fifth.
五匹の犬 [go-hiki no inu] five dogs
五匹目の犬 [go-hiki-me no inu] the fifth dog
Here everything is clear.
Articles and books say you ...
2
votes
2answers
249 views
五十音: 50-sounder vs 50 sounds
五十音 [gojzu: on] litteraly "50-sounder" (hiragana nickname)
五十 [gojzu:] 50
音 [on] sound
My question is about counters in Japanese language.
At the dictionary it is said, that 音 is counter for ...
2
votes
1answer
453 views
Using 何 with the general counter ~つ
Is there a way to use 何 with the general counter ~つ to ask "how many..." in the same vein as in sentences like "何歳ですか。" or "本は何冊買いましたか。"?
If not, how do you ask something like "How many ideas do you ...
12
votes
1answer
776 views
Can the 歳 counter be used for architecture, furniture etc to tell its age?
While I understand that the 歳 counter is used to indicate ages of people and animals, I was wondering if it could be used to also talk about ages of inanimate things like architecture or furniture.
...
10
votes
1answer
886 views
How many things? AとBがふたつ
「その上{うえ}には熱帯魚{ねったいぎょ}の水槽{すいそう}と何{なに}かのトロフィーがふたつのっている。」
This is a quote from "The wind-up bird and Tuesday's Women." How many fish tanks are there? How many trophies?
6
votes
1answer
641 views
How to pronounce 1ターン?
I've seen the phrase 1ターン1度 "once per turn" used in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card game, so it seems like ターン is a legit counter. But I'm not sure how to pronounce it. From what I've googled so far, some people ...
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votes
2answers
197 views
Counters for animals: 匹 vs 頭: roughly how big is “big” and how small is “small”?
I find the distinction between 匹 and 頭 is rather tricky, because it is based on the size of the animal in question, and size is very relative and varies greatly among animals, even within the same ...
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votes
2answers
173 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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votes
2answers
327 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
votes
1answer
449 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 ...
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votes
2answers
993 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 ...
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votes
2answers
284 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
78 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
148 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
212 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)....
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votes
1answer
795 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
327 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
163 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
951 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 ...
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votes
1answer
1k 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
3k 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 ...
8
votes
3answers
2k 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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votes
1answer
196 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!
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votes
1answer
270 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
75 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
1k 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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vote
1answer
62 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
392 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] ...
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votes
2answers
197 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 ...
