Have you ever wondered how do anime characters count things in Japanese? How do these Japanese numbers work and everything else? It all starts with ichi 一, ni 二, san 三, right? Or was it hitotsu 一つ, futatsu 二つ and mittsu 三つ？ What's the difference? Is there a difference?? What do these words really mean?! How do you even count in Japanese???
- Counting to 10 in Japanese
- Counting to 10 Things in Japanese
- What are Japanese Counters
- Using Counters
- Counting Items
- Counting Ordinals
- Counting People
- Counting Days
- Counting Long Cylindrical Objects
- Counting Occurrences
- Counting Floors
- Counting Drinks
- Counting Machines and Vehicles
- Counting Points
- Counting Shots
- Counting Small Animals
- Counting Large Animals
- Counting Other Things
Counting to 10 in Japanese
To begin with, let's see how you count all the numbers all the way to 10 in Japanese. That's pretty easy, take a look:
- ichi 一
- ni に
- san 三
- yon 四
shi 四 - go 五
- roku 六
- nana 七
shichi 七 - hachi 八
- kyuu 九
- juu 十
By the way, "to count" in Japanese is kazoeru 数える. A "number" is kazu 数. A digit is suuji 数字. And the study of "mathematics" is suugaku 数学.
This article is only about counting things, not about the numbers used to count. If you want to know more about the numbers, see the article about numbers in Japanese.
Counting Numbers vs. Counting Things
Anyway, now that you know how to count to 10 in Japanese you can start counting things, right?
Wrong!
What you have learned just now is how to count to 10... in numbers. Like when you say "one, two, three," etc. You don't count things in Japanese those words.
- futatsu yaranakereba naranai koto ga aru 二つやらなければならないことがある
There are two things I must do
In the example above, we have the word and number "two" in the translation, but there is no ni 二 in the Japanese version. This is because there futatsu 二つ has the meaning of "two things." I have counted the things I must do and they are futatsu 二つ, "two things."
This might sound confusing... because it is. But the basic idea is that you can't use the words for the number alone to count any sort of thing in Japanese. You can only use them to count the numbers themselves if you're playing peekaboo or counting down to the launch of a spaceship like in Utchuu Kyoudai 宇宙兄弟 (Space Brothers).
Counting to 10 things in Japanese
So, to count things in Japanese, up to 10, you must use these words:
- hitotsu 一つ
- futatsu 二つ
- mittsu 三つ
- yottsu 四つ
- itsutsu 五つ
- muttsu 六つ
- nanatsu 七つ
- yattsu 八つ
- kokonotsu 九つ
And... wait, we're one number short here? Where is 10? What happened to 10?!
Well. There is no 10. It ends in 9. There is no way to count 10 things in Japanese like this.
These are the most common, generic Japanese words used to count whatever... up to 9. Like, you go to a bakery, see bread, you can point to it and say kokonotsu kudasai 九つ下さい to mean "give me nine of these," but to say "give me 10 of these" you need something else.
You need to use counters.
What are Japanese Counters
The suffixes known as "counters" in Japanese, josuushi 助数詞, are the most confusing, mind-boggling bullshit you'll ever find learning the language and only exist to further your hate of the Japanese kanji.
Basically, to count a random kind of thing in Japanese, like bread for example, you don't say something simple like juu pan 十パン, which would be just the word for the number 10, juu 十, with the word for bread, pan パン.
No. That would be too easy.
Instead, you're supposed to use one of the dozens of counters in Japanese, each of which used only in a given situation to count only a one type of thing with certain, determined properties. Words which only exist to count stuff and nothing else. Words such as ko 個, which exists to count "articles" and "individual items" and is pretty much the most generic counter of all.
So to count "ten bread" in Japanese, you don't even use the word for "bread," you just say juuko 十個, and if it's a "bread," "egg" or even a fucking "brick" you're counting about depends on the context or the words used in the phrase. See:
- pan wo juuko kudasai パンを十個ください
Give me 10 bread. - tamago wo juuko kudasai 卵を十個ください
Give me 10 eggs. - renga wo juuko kudasai レンガを十個ください
Give me 10 bricks.
What's happening up there is that juuko 十個 only actually means 10 of something that's an article. It literally means only the number 10, except that it's counted something. So you're saying stuff like, "of bread, give me 10" or "of eggs, give me 10."
To say "10 bread" as a noun, you'd have to say juuko no pan 十個のパン for example.
- juuko no pan wo kudasai 十個のパンをください,
Give me 10 bread.
Counters Count Certain Things Only
By now you're probably thinking I exaggerated my hate for counters, aren't you? They look easy, don't they? Just throw a ko 個 at the end and be done with it, right? Ha ha. Of course not.
While you can use ko 個 for basically anything that's countable, you're supposed to use a more specific counter when talking about numbers of more specific things. And that's where shit hits the fan.
Take "swords", for example, katana 刀. And "fingers", yubi 指. And "cigars", tabako タバコ. Now, tell me, what do swords, fingers and cigars have in common?
...?
You don't know?
Well, according to the fucking Japanese language, they are all cylindrical objects. THEREFORE:
- tabako ippon タバコ一本
One cigar. - katana nihon 刀二本
Two swords. - yubi sanbon 指三本
Three fingers.
Yes. Believe it or not, these things are all counted with the hon 本 counter because the hon 本 counter counts things which are cylindrical. That is the only property that matters. It doesn't matter if it's a part of your body, a thing that can kill you quickly, or a thing that can kill you slowly, it's all counted the same way for that reason alone.
But wait! THERE IS MORE!!!
The word hon 本 is actually a word besides being a counter! It means "book." Now the question is: do you count hon 本 with the hon 本 counter? LOL OFC NOT. You count books with the satsu 冊 counter which is a counter for books, and for books specifically!!! That's the only way it would make sense, RIGHT??!?!?!?!??
Using Counters
Now a quick lesson about how to use the counters. Basically, just throw a number before them and that's about it. (see the article about numbers in Japanese if you don't know the numbers)
If you want to ask "how much X" or "how many X" that's also pretty easy:
- nan X desu ka? 何Xですか？
How many X?
The real problem most of the time, however, is knowing what IS the counter. So here are some of them, just in case.
Counting Items
The most generic counter we got is ko 個, which can count any generic individual item. When in doubt, use ko 個. You'll most likely be wrong, but what other option do you have?
- ikko 一個
One item. - ni ko 二個
Two items - san ko 三個
Three items. - juu ko 十個
Ten items. - hyakko 百個
One hundred items. - nanko desu ka? 何個ですか？
How many items?
Counting Ordinals
Next we have the counter me 目, which is the read the same as the word me 目, which means "eye." It pretty much turns a number into an ordinal.
- ichi me 1目
The first. - ni me 2目
The second. - san me 3目
The third. - yon me 4目
The fourth. - go me 5目
The fifth. - juu me 10目
The tenth. - hyaku me 100目
The hundredth. - nanme desu ka 何目ですか？
Which place/position?
This is mainly used to count things in a list, in an order or in a series. You can use it to say the first of a queue, the second from left to right, the third hokage, and so on. There is only one detail, however.
The prefix dai 第 has a similar use, except it can only be used in ordered series of things. It can't be used in questions like the other counters because it's not a counter so it wouldn't make sense.
- dai ichi 第一
The first. - dai ni 第二
The second. - dai san 第三
The third.
The difference between dai 第 and me 目 is that dai 第 is used in an objective way, like saying the name of certain things. Like "the second attack," dai ni kougeki 第二攻撃, "the third question", "the fourth clause of the contract states that blah blah blah." Meanwhile, me 目 is used like you looked, saw something was the first, second or third place of something, and then just said it.
Another thing is tha both can be used on top of other counters, keeping their nuances of course. For example, dai ni kai 第二回 is "THE second time," while ni kai me 二回目 is that "second time."
Counting People
The counter for people is nin 人, which is the same kanji for the word "person," hito 人.
- hitori 一人
One person. - futari 二人
Two people. - san nin 三人
Three people. - yon nin 四人
Four people. - go nin 五人
Five people - juu nin 十人
Ten people - hyaku nin 百人
Hundred people - nan nin desu ka? 何人ですか？
How many people?
Counting Days
Counting days is basically the most confusing thing ever amongst the most confusing thing ever that is counters.
This is because it often uses kun'yomi readings (like the generic tsu つ counter do) of the numbers together with a ka 日 suffix, except when it uses on'yomi like the rest of the counters do only with a nichi 日 suffix. So the words have pretty much no standard whatsoever.
Thankfully this is one of the few exceptions out there.
- ichinichi 一日
One day - futsuka 二日
Two days. - mikka 三日
Three days. - yokka 四日
Four days - itsuka 五日
Five days. - muika 六日
Six days. - nanoka 七日
Seven days. - youka 八日
Eight days. - kokonoka 九日
Nine days. - tooka 十日
Ten days. - nan nichi desu ka? 何日ですか？
How many days?
What day is it? (of the week, month)
So far so good... except that from then on we have stuff like juu yokka 十四日 and juu yon nichi 十四日, both of which are correct and mean "fourteen days."
Also, this counter can be used either to count a number of days or to says the day on the calendar.
Counting Long Cylindrical Objects
Once again, our old friend hon 本, which means "book," but can also be used to count fingers, swords, cigars, among others *cough* long cylindrical objects *cough*. Take note that the reading of counters starting with h is a bit tricky.
- ippon 一本
One long cylindrical object. - nihon 二本
Two long cylindrical objects. - sanbon 三本
Three long cylindrical objects. - yon hon 四本
Four long cylindrical objects. - go hon 五本
Five long cylindrical objects. - jippon 十本
Ten long cylindrical objects. - hyappon 百本
One hundred long cylindrical objects.. - nan bon desu ka? 何本ですか？
How many long cylindrical objects?
Counting Occurrences
The counter for occurrences is kai 回. It counts how many times something happened.
- ikkai 一回
Once. - ni kai 二回
Twice. - san kai 三回
Thrice. - yon kai 四回
Frice, I mean, four times. - go kai 五回
Five times. - juu kai 十回
Ten times. - hyakkai 百回
One hundred times. - nan kai desu ka? 何回ですか
How many times?
Counting Floors
The counter for floors of a building is kai 階, which, indeed, has the same reading as the counter kai 回 above which counts something completely different. That's Japanese for you.
- ikkai 一階
First floor. - ni kai 二階
Second floor. - san kai 三階
Third floor. - yon kai 四階
Fourth floor. - go kai 五階
Fifth floor. - juu kai 十階
Tenth floor. - hyakkai 百階
Hundredth floor. (this building is tall!) - nan kai desu ka? 何階ですか
Which floor?
Counting Drinks
The counter for drinks is hai 杯.
- ippai 一杯
One drink.
(also means "a lot") - ni hai 二杯
Two drinks. - san bai 三杯
Three drinks. - yon hai 四杯
Four drinks. - go hai 五杯
Five drinks. - juu hai 十杯
Ten drinks. - hyaku hai 百杯
One hundred drinks. (alcoholism is bad, okay?) - nan pai desu ka? 何杯ですか
How many drinks?
Counting Machines and Vehicles
The counter for machines and vehicles is dai 台. I'm going to use car in the list, but it works for refrigerators, ovens, and stuff like that too.
- ichi dai 一杯
One cars. - ni dai 二台
Two cars. - san dai 三台
Three cars. - yon dai 四台
Four cars. - go dai 五台
Five cars. - juu dai 十台
Ten cars. (wow!) - hyaku dai 百台
One hundred cars. (why?!) - nan dai desu ka? 何台ですか
How many cars?
Counting Points
The counter for points is ten 点. This is like your score on an exam, or how many points you got in a game.
- itten 一点
One point. - ni ten 二点
Two points. - san ten 三点
Three points. - yon ten 四点
Four points. - go ten 五点
Five points. - juu ten 十点
Ten points. - hyaku ten 百点
One hundred points. (perfect!!!) - nan ten desu ka? 何点ですか
How many points?
As an extra, manten 満点 means "full points," and it's used when you score all questions in a test, or get all 10's from judges, or whatever sort of perfect in the score you're talking about.
Counting Shots
The counter for shots, explosions, strikes and stuff like that is hatsu 発. You often hear this when there are guns being shot in an anime.
- ippatsu 一発
One shot. - ni hatsu 二発
Two shots. - san patsu 三発
Three shots. - yon hatsu 四発
Four shots. - go hatsu 五発
Five shots. - juu hatsu 十発
Ten shots. - hyappatsu 百発
One hundred shots. (but how many hits?) - nan patsu desu ka? 何発ですか？
How many shots?
Counting Small Animals
The counter for small animals is hiki 匹. This is only for small animals. Only small. And only animals. Except most animals are considered small, and except that in anime it can be used for small monsters and demons and whatever too. And sometimes used by non-humans to refer to small humans. Anyway, you get the idea. Small creatures.
- ippiki 一匹
One small animal. - ni hiki 二匹
Two small animals. - san biki 三匹
Three small animals. - yon hiki 四匹
Four small animals. - go hiki 五匹
Five small animals. - juu hiki 十匹
Ten small animals. - hyappiki 百匹
One hundred small animals. (fit in a single room) - nan biki desu ka? 何匹ですか？
How many small animals?
Counting Large Animals
If there is a counter for small animals then, obviously, there is one for large animals too.
The counter tou 頭, which has the same kanji as the word "head," atama 頭, is often used to count head...s... heads of cattle. Yeah. Ironically. But it works for pretty any large animal.
- ittou 一頭
One large animal. - ni tou 二頭
Two large animals. - san tou 三頭
Three large animals. - yon tou 四頭
Four large animals. - go tou 五頭
Five large animals. - juu tou 十頭
Ten large animals. - hyaku tou 百頭
One hundred large animals. (fit in a single arc) - nan tou desu ka? 何頭ですか？
How many large animals?
Counting Other Things
Did you think it was over? Well, this article is over. But the counters are not.
There are more counters than described here in the Japanese language, and while they may sound harmless, you shouldn't underestimate them. They'll show up when you least expect, causing the most damage, throwing you into confusion and the world into utter chaos.
Beware of the counters!!!