These are the main counters for animals that you will use. Watashi wa niwa no niwatori ga tatakatte iru no o mimashita. Karera wa mori no naka de yonwa no washi o hokaku shimashita. Please see the table below for the variations. こ (ko) is also a counter that changes the pronunciation of the number preceding it. The こ (ko) counter is very useful to remember, so make it one of the first ones you learn. This is mostly used to count small objects such as pieces of fruit, but is very versatile and can be used for an enormous range of things. こ (ko) counterįirst of all, the most basic Japanese counter for objects that you can use is こ (ko | 個). However, most of the time, it’s simply a matter of remembering the correct counter as they all follow a similar pattern. There are counters for small, long objects, large machines, and flat and thin objects. There are many different Japanese counters for objects. Objects may actually be one of the most numerous kinds of counters. Watashitachi wa ramen hitotsu, sushi futatsu, kora mittsu o chuumon shimashita. We ordered one ramen, two sushi, and three colas. The typical order is to use the noun or object + particle + Japanese counter word + verb. Japanese nouns require you to always have a counter with them. However, I’m going to give a few examples of how they differ. You’ll need to learn more about counting systems to fully understand them. It’s not required to be used in Native Japanese. Japanese counters structureĪll the counters are only used with the Sino-Japanese counting system. This is the general rule however, a number of counters can change the pronunciation of the preceding number in different ways, so we’ll include tables in this article when this is the case to show the difference. As long as you already know how to count using Japanese numbers, it’s simply a matter of attaching the counter to a number.įor example: まい (mai | 枚) is used to count for flat objects such as sheets of paper would be 1 = いちまい (ichi-mai), 2 = にまい (ni-mai), 3 = さんまい (san-mai), and so on. Thankfully, despite there being a large number of counters, they are generally used the same way. How to use Japanese counters in sentences? However, it is important to learn a few so you won’t be confused when a store clerk asks you how many bags you need, for example. There are roughly 500 Japanese counters! But don’t worry, and many Japanese counters are not used very often, so you don’t need to remember all of them. The answer to this question can be a little intimidating. However, it’s recommended that Japanese learners learn the Sino-Japanese counting method first.Ĭheck out our article about Japanese Numbers to learn more about this. The difference between the two is Sino-Japanese is of Chinese origin, whereas Native Japanese is of Japanese origin. In the Japanese language, there are two different counting systems, which are the Sino-Japanese counting system and the Native Japanese counting system. Counters aren’t independent words they’re indicators of the type of object you’re counting, so they should always be next to a number. The Japanese word for “counters” is じょすうし (josuushi | 助数詞 ). We’ll go over each of these basic Japanese counters in more detail below! Counters in Japanese
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