Japanese counter word

In Japanese, counter words or counters (josūshi 助数詞) are used along with numbers to count things, actions, and events.

In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below). For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one could say 二匹の犬 ni-hiki no inu (literally "two small-animal-count POSSESSIVE dog"), or 犬二匹 inu ni-hiki (literally "dog two small-animal-count"), but just pasting 二 and 犬 together in either order is wrong. Here 二 ni is the number "two", 匹 hiki is the counter for small animals, の no is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the "'s" in "John's dog"), and 犬 inu is the word "dog".

These counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: 何 nan or, less commonly, 幾 iku can be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example, "some guests" can be translated as 何名様 nan-mei sama (lit. "some-people-count honored-ones"), and "how many guests?" as 何名様? nan-mei sama ka (lit. "some-people-count honored-ones QUESTION"). Some nouns prefer 幾 iku, as in 幾晩? iku-ban ka "how many nights?" and 幾日も行っていた iku-nichi mo itte ita "I was gone for many days."

Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in "two pieces of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers. So while "two pieces of paper" translates fairly directly as 紙二枚 kami ni-mai (lit. "paper two flat-count"), phrases like "two green pieces of paper" have to be reworked one way or another: the naive attempt 二緑枚 ni-midori-mai is not legal Japanese for "two green pieces". Other interpretations of the English phrase are possible (such as "the greenest two pieces of paper"), but supposing only "two pieces of green paper" is meant, then 緑の紙二枚 midori no kami ni-mai is correct.

Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity. In English, one can say "one loaf of bread" or "one slice of bread". In Japanese, the equivalents would be パン一斤 pan ikkin (lit. "bread one-loaf") and パン一枚 pan ichimai (lit. "bread one-flat-count").

Grammatically, counter words can appear either before or after the noun they count. They generally occur after the noun (following particles), and if used before the noun, they emphasize the quantity; this is a common mistake in English learners of Japanese. For example, to say "[I] drank two bottles of beer", the order is ビールを二本飲んだ bīru o nihon nonda (lit. "beer OBJECT two-long-thin-count drank"). In contrast, 二本のビールを飲んだ nihon no bīru o nonda (lit. "two-long-thin-count POSSESSIVE beer OBJECT drank") would only be appropriate when emphasizing the number as in responding with "[I] drank two bottles of beer" to "How many beers did you drink?".

Substitution of counters

In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number. In this sense, virtually all Japanese nouns are mass nouns. This grammatical feature can result in situations where one is unable to express the number of a particular object in a syntactically correct way because one does not know, or cannot remember, the appropriate counting word. With quantities from one to ten, this problem can often be sidestepped by using the traditional numbers (see below), which can quantify many nouns without help. For example, "four apples" is りんご四個 ringo yonko where 個 ko is the counter, but can also be expressed, using the traditional numeral four, as りんご四つ ringo yottsu. These traditional numerals cannot be used to count all nouns, however; some, including nouns for people and animals, require a proper counter.

Some of the more common counters may substitute for less common ones. For example, 匹 hiki (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally correct counter, 頭 tō, when speaking of larger animals such as horses. This yields a range of possible counters, with differing degrees of usage and acceptability – for example, when ordering kushikatsu (fried skewers), one may order them as 二串 futa-kushi (two skewers), 二本 ni-hon (two sticks), or 二つ futa-tsu (two items), in decreasing order of precision.

Counters may be intentionally misused for humorous, sarcastic, or insulting effects. For example, one might say 男一匹 Otoko ippiki ("I am a man [like an animal]..."). Using 匹 hiki, the counter for animals, humorously suggests that the person intend to act against massive obstacles with some animal spirits.

Table of the traditional numerals

Numeral	Japanese	Pronunciation (romaji)	Writing (hiragana)
1	一つ	hitotsu	ひとつ
2	二つ	futatsu	ふたつ
3	三つ	mittsu	みっつ
4	四つ	yottsu	よっつ
5	五つ	itsutsu	いつつ
6	六つ	muttsu	むっつ
7	七つ	nanatsu	ななつ
8	八つ	yattsu	やっつ
9	九つ	kokonotsu	ここのつ
10	十	tō	とお

Common counters by category

This is a selective list of some of the more commonly used counting words.

Pronunciation	Japanese	Use
People and Things
ぶ bu	部	Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
だい dai	台	Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances
はい hai, ぱい pai, ばい bai	杯	Cups and glasses of drink, spoonsful; cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang)
ひき hiki, ぴき piki, びき biki	匹	Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (demons/ogres)
ほん hon, ぽん pon, ぼん bon	本	Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone calls, train or bus routes, movies (see also: tsūwa), points or bounds in sports events. Although 本 also means "book", the counter for books is satsu.
かい kai, がい gai	階	Number of floors, stories
こ ko	個, 箇, 个, or ヶ	General measurement word, used when there is no specific counter. Implies that the item is small and/or round. 個 is also used for military units.
まい mai	枚	Thin, flat objects: sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku)
めい mei	名	People (polite) (名 means "name")
めん men	面	Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts
にん nin	人	People (but see table of exceptions below)
り ri	り or 人	People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり)
さつ satsu	冊	Books
つ tsu	つ	General-purpose counter, used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一つ ("one thing"), 二つ ("two things"), 三つ ("three things"), etc.
わ wa	話	Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.
Time, Calendar, etc.
びょう byō	秒	Seconds
ふん fun, ぷん pun	分	Minutes
がつ gatsu, also つき tsuki	月	Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)
はく haku, ぱく paku	泊	Nights of a stay
じ ji	時	Hours of the day
じかん jikan	時間	Hour-long periods
か ka	日	Day of the month
かげつ kagetsu	ヶ月, 箇月	Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇 is normally abbreviated using a small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese. Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ & ケ can also be seen, although only か is similarly frequent.
ねん nen	年	Years, school years (grades); not years of age
にち nichi	日	Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)
さい sai	歳 (or 才)	Years of age (才 is used informally as a shorthand)
しゅう shū	週	Weeks
Extent, Frequency, etc.
ばい bai	倍	Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"
ばん ban	番	Position, turn, sports matches
ど do, also たび tabi	度	Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai).
じょう jō	畳	Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also read tatami and is the same one used for the mats. The room size of a washitsu in Japan is given as a number of mats, for example 4½ jō
かい kai	回	Occurrences, number of times (see also: do)

Extended list of counters

This list also includes some counters and usages that are rarely used or not widely known; other words can also be used as counters more sporadically.

Pronunciation	Japanese	Use
ば ba	場	Scene of a play
ばい bai	倍	Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"
ばん ban	晩	Nights (see also: ya)
ばん ban	番	Position, platform for a train line, turn, sports matches
び bi	尾	Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say hiki instead)
ぶ bu	部	Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
ぶん bun	文	Sentences
びょう byō	秒	Seconds
びょうし byōshi	拍子	Musical beats
ちゃく chaku	着	Suits of clothing (see also: mai)
ちょう chō	挺	Guns, sticks of ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins
ちょう chō	丁	Tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols, cakes of tofu, town blocks, servings at a restaurant
ちょう chō	町	Town blocks
だい dai	代	Generations, historical periods, reigns
だい dai	台	Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances
だん dan	段	levels, ranks, steps (of stairs).
だんらく danraku	段落	Paragraphs
ど do, also たび tabi	度	Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai).
ふで fude	筆	Sequences of letters or drawings that you write or draw without removing your pen off the paper. Not to be confused with "hitsu" (筆) below.
ふく fuku, ぷく puku	服	Bowls of matcha (powdered green tea); packets or doses of powdered medicine; puffs (of, e.g., a cigarette); rests or breaks
ふく fuku, ぷく puku	幅	Hanging scrolls (kakejiku)
ふん fun, ぷん pun	分	Minutes
ふり furi	振	Swords
がっきゅう gakkyū	学級	Classes (in pre-university education)
がつ gatsu, also つき tsuki	月	Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)
ご go	語	Words
ごん gon, also こと koto	言	Words
ぐ gu	具	Suits of armour, sets of furniture
ぎょう gyō	行	Lines of text
はく haku	泊	Nights of a stay
はい hai, ぱい pai, ばい bai	杯	Cups and glasses of drink, spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang)
はい hai	敗	Losses (sports bouts)
はこ hako	箱	Boxes
はり hari	張	Umbrellas, parasols, tents
はしら hashira	柱	gods, memorial tablets
はつ hatsu, ぱつ patsu	発	Gunshots, bullets, aerial fireworks; orgasms, sex acts
ひき hiki, ぴき piki	匹	Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (ogres)
ひん hin, ぴん pin	品	Parts of a meal, courses (see also: shina)
ひつ hitsu, ぴつ pitsu	筆	Pieces of land
ほ ho, ぽ po	歩	Number of (foot)steps
ほん hon, ぽん pon, ぼん bon	本	Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone calls (see also: tsūwa), train or bus routes, movies, home runs, points or bounds in sports events. Although 本 also means "book", the counter for books is satsu.
ひょう hyō, ぴょう pyō	票	Votes
じ ji	字	Letters, kanji, kana
じ ji	児	Children. As in "father of two (children)", etc.
じ ji	時	Hours of the day
じかん jikan	時間	Hour-long periods
じょう jō	畳	Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also read tatami and is the same one used for the mats. The room size of a washitsu in Japan is given as a number of mats, for example 4½ yo jō han
じょう jō	錠	Pills/capsules
じょう jō	条	Articles of law, thin objects, rays or streams of light, streaks of smoke or lightning
か ka	日	Day of the month
か ka	架	Frames
か ka	課	Lessons
かぶ kabu	株	Stocks; nursery trees
かげつ kagetsu	ヶ月, 箇月	Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇 is normally abbreviated using a small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese. Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ & ケ can also be seen, although only か is similarly frequent.
かい kai	回	Occurrences, number of times (see also: do)
かい kai, がい gai	階	Number of floors, storeys
かこく kakoku	ヶ国, 箇国	Countries
かこくご kakokugo	ヶ国語, 箇国語	(National) languages
かく kaku	画	Strokes in kanji
かん kan	貫	Pieces of nigiri-zushi
かん kan	艦	Warships
けいとう keitou	系統	Bus routes
けん ken	件	Abstract matters and cases
けん ken, げん gen	軒	Houses
き ki	機	Aircraft, machines
き ki	基	Graves, wreaths, CPUs, reactors, elevators, dams
きん kin	斤	Loaves of bread
きれ kire	切れ	Slices (of bread, cake, sashimi etc.)
こ ko	個, 箇, 个, or ヶ	General measure word, used when there is no specific counter. 個 is also used for military units.
こ ko	戸	Houses (戸 means "door")
こう kō	校	Schools
こう kō	稿	Drafts of a manuscript
こう kō	行	Banks
こま koma	齣, コマ	Frames, panels. 齣 is virtually unused nowadays.
こん kon	献	shots (of drink)
く ku	区	Sections, city districts
く ku	句	Haiku, senryū
くち kuchi	口	(Bank) accounts, donations (口 means "opening" or "entrance")
くみ kumi	組	Groups, a pair of people (twins, a husband and a wife, dancers, etc.)
くらす kurasu	クラス	School classes
きゃく kyaku	脚	Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses
きゃく kyaku	客	Pairs of cup and saucer
きょく kyoku	曲	Pieces of music
きょく kyoku	局	Board game matches (chess, igo, shogi, mahjong); radio stations, television stations
まい mai	枚	Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku)
まき maki or かん kan	巻	Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book
まく maku	幕	Theatrical acts
めい mei	名	People (polite) (名 means "name")
めん men	面	Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts
もん mon	門	Cannons
もん mon	問	Questions
ねん nen	年	Years, school years (grades); not years of age
にち nichi	日	Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)
にん nin	人	People (but see table of exceptions below)
にんまえ ninmae	人前	Food portions (without exceptions, unlike nin above)
おり ori	折	Boxes made of folded paper (compare to hako above, which refers to boxes in general)
ぺーじ pēji	ページ, 頁	Pages
れい rei	例	Cases, Examples
れい rei	礼	Bows during worship at a shrine
り ri	り or 人	People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり).
りん rin	輪	Wheels, Flowers
りょう ryō	両	Railway cars
さい sai	才 or 歳	Years of age
さお sao	棹	Chests of drawers, flags
さつ satsu	冊	Books
せき seki	席	Seats, Rakugo shows, (drinking) parties
せき seki	隻	Ships, half of a pair (e.g., half of a folding screen), item carried in a bundle (fish, birds, arrows etc.)
しな shina	品	Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin)
しゃ sha	社	used for businesses, i.e. 会社
しき shiki	式	Sets of things, such as documents or furniture
しょう shō	勝	Wins (sports bouts)
しゅ shu	首	Tanka
しゅう shū	週	Weeks
しゅるい shurui or しゅ shu	種類 or 種	Kinds, species
そく soku	足	Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks, stockings, tabi
たば taba	束	bundles (of banknotes), bunches (of flowers, vegetables), sheaves
たい tai	体	Images, statues, person's remains, dolls
たわら tawara	俵	Bags of rice
てき teki	滴	Drops of liquid
てん ten	点	Points, dots, pieces of a set
とう tō	頭	Large animals, cattle, elephants, whales, dolphins, butterflies (頭 means "head")
とき toki	時	Time periods, a sixth of either day or night (in the traditional, obsolete way of telling time). See also: jikan
とおり tōri	通り	Combinations, puzzle solutions
つ tsu	つ	Used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一つ, 二つ, 三つ etc.
つう tsū	通	Letters
つぼ tsubo	坪	Commonly used unit of area equal to 3.3 square metres.
つぶ tsubu	粒	Almonds, grain
つうわ tsūwa	通話	Telephone calls (see also: hon)
わ wa, ば ba, ぱ pa	羽	Birds, rabbits 羽 means "feather" or "wing."
わ wa	把	Bundles
わ wa	話	Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.
や ya	夜	Nights (see also: ban)
ぜん zen	膳	Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice

Euphonic changes

Systematic changes occur when particular numbers precede counters that begin with certain phonemes. For example, 一 ichi + 回 kai → 一回 ikkai, 六 roku + 匹 hiki → 六匹 roppiki. The details are listed in the table below.

These changes are followed fairly consistently but exceptions and variations between speakers do exist. Where variations are common, more than one alternative is listed.

Jū is replaced by either ju- or ji- (じゅっ/じっ) followed by a doubled consonant before the voiceless consonants as shown in the table. Ji- is the older form, but it has been replaced by ju- in the speech of recent generations.

Numeral	k- (か きゃ etc.)	s/sh- (さ しゃ etc.)	t/ch- (た ちゃ etc.)	h- (は ひ へ ほ ひゃ ひゅ ひょ)	f- (ふ)	p- (ぱ etc.)	w- (わ)
1 ichi	ikk- いっか	iss- いっさ	itt- いった	ipp- いっぱ	ipp- いっぷ	ipp- いっぱ
3 san				sanb- さんば	sanp- さんぷ		sanb- さんば
4 yon				yonh- よんは yonp- よんぱ	yonf- よんふ yonp- よんぷ		yow- よわ yonw- よんわ yonb- よんば
6 roku	rokk- ろっか			ropp- ろっぱ	ropp- ろっぷ	ropp- ろっぱ	rokuw- ろくわ ropp- ろっぱ
8 hachi	hakk- はっか	hass- はっさ	hatt- はった	happ- はっぱ	happ- はっぷ	happ- はっぱ	happ- はっぱ hachiw- はちわ
10 jū	jikk- じっか jukk- じゅっか	jiss- じっさ juss- じゅっさ	jitt- じった jutt- じゅった	jipp- じっぱ jupp- じゅっぱ	jipp- じっぷ jupp- じゅっぷ	jipp- じっぱ jupp- じゅっぱ	jipp- じっぱ
100 hyaku	hyakk- ひゃっか			hyapp- ひゃっぱ	hyapp- ひゃっぷ	hyapp- ひゃっぱ
1000 sen				senb- せんば	senp- せんぷ
10000 man				manb- まんば	manp- まんぷ
何 nan				nanb- なんば	nanp- なんぷ

Exceptions

The traditional numbers are used by and for young children to give their ages, instead of using the age counter 歳 (or 才) sai.

Some counters, notably 日 nichi and 人 nin, use the traditional numerals for some numbers as shown in the table below. Other uses of traditional numbers are usually restricted to certain phrases, such as 一月 hitotsuki and 二月 futatsuki (one and two months respectively), 一言 hitokoto (a single word) and 一度 hitotabi (once).

Sometimes common numbers that have a derived meaning are written using different kanji. For example, hitori (alone) is written 独り, and futatabi (once more, another time) is normally written 再び instead of 二度. The counter for months kagetsu (derived from kanji 箇月) is commonly written ヶ月.

Nana and shichi are alternatives for 7, yon and shi are alternatives for 4, and kyū and ku are alternatives for 9. In those three pairs of options, nana, yon and kyū respectively are more commonly used. Some counters, however, notably 人 nin (people), 月 gatsu (month of the year), 日 ka/nichi (day of the month, days), 時 ji (time of day) and 時間 jikan (hours) take certain alternatives only. These are shown in the table below.

While 回 kai (occurrences) and 銭 sen (0.01 yen, now rarely used) follow the euphonic changes listed above, homophones 階 kai (storeys/floors) and 千 sen (1000) are slightly different as shown below, although these differences are not followed by all speakers. Thus 三階 ("third floor") can be read either sankai or sangai, while 三回 ("three times") can only be read sankai.

Numeral	日 nichi	人 nin	月 gatsu	時 ji	時間 jikan	階 kai	百 hyaku	千 sen	歳 sai
1	tsuitachi*	hitori				ikkai		issen
2	futsuka	futari
3	mikka					sangai	sanbyaku	sanzen
4	yokka	yonin***	shigatsu	yoji	yojikan
5	itsuka
6	muika						roppyaku
7	nanoka	shichinin	shichigatsu	shichiji	shichijikan
8	yōka						happyaku	hassen
9	kokonoka		kugatsu	kuji	kujikan
10	tōka
14	jūyokka	jūyonin			jūyojikan
20	hatsuka								hatachi
24	nijūyokka	nijūyonin			nijūyojikan
何 nan		**				nangai		nanzen

* But when counting number of days rather than days of the month, ichinichi is used. Ippi is also heard.

** Both 幾人 ikunin and 何人 nannin are used to mean "how many people".

*** In remote rural areas (e.g. Northern Honshū and Eastern Hokkaido) older speakers might use yottari.

Ordinal numbers

In general, the counter words mentioned above are cardinal numbers, in that they indicate quantity. To transform a counter word into an ordinal number that denotes position in a sequence, 目 me is added to the end of the counter. Thus "one time" would be translated as 一回 ikkai, whereas "the first time" would be translated as 一回目 ikkaime.

This rule is inconsistent, however, as counters without the me suffix are often used interchangeably with cardinal and ordinal meanings. For example, 三階 sangai can mean both "three floors" and "third floor."

Periods of time

To express a period of time one may add 間 kan to the following words: 秒 byō, 分 fun, 時 ji, 日 nichi (and its irregular readings aside from tsuitachi), 週 shū, ヶ月 kagetsu and 年 nen. Usage varies depending on the word, though. For example, omitting kan in the case of 時間 jikan would be a mistake, whereas shūkan and shū are both in frequent use. In addition, kagetsukan is rarely heard due to essentially being superfluous, the ka already functioning to express the length.

See also

• Japanese units
• Measure words
• Chinese classifier

External links

• About.com - Counters
• A list of numeral counters with ichi/hito set indicated.
• A large list of counters
• A lesson about counters