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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Would the same counter be used for 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?
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/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 ...
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1answer
117 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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2answers
156 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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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 ...
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votes
2answers
212 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 ...
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votes
1answer
319 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 ...
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1answer
693 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.
...
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1answer
825 views
How many things? AとBがふたつ
その上には熱帯魚の水槽と何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?
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1answer
626 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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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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2answers
158 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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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?
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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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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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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 ...
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1answer
76 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 ...
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votes
2answers
143 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 ...
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votes
1answer
165 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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1answer
224 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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1answer
194 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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1answer
122 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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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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1answer
646 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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1answer
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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 ...
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votes
3answers
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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
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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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1answer
214 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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71 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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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
60 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 ...
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1answer
272 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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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
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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 ...
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3answers
164 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 ...
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1answer
869 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
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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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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
995 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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1answer
328 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
...
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2answers
394 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 ...
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1answer
113 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
207 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?
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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 ...
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890 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 ?
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1answer
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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
670 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
115 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 ...
