How do you count in Japanese?

What is the rule for counting in Japanese?

When counting people in Japanese, you use the counter ~人 (nin) for 3 or more people. What is this? For one person, you say ひとり (hitori), and for two people you say ふたり (futari). Any number after that is the Sino-Japanese number system followed by ~人, such as 三人 (sannin, “three people”).

How do you cout in Japanese?

To count to ten in Japanese, say ichi (pronounced "each") for one, ni ("knee") for two, san ("sahn") for three, shi ("she") for four, and go ("goh") for five. Then, say rok ("loh-koo") for six, shichi ("she-tchee") for seven, hachi ("ha-tchi") for eight, kyuu ("kyoo") for nine, and juu ("joo") for ten.

Is it easy to count numbers in Japanese?

Japanese numbers are fairly simple. It advances on a base-ten system, so you'll be able to use the numbers by learning 1 to 10 and then learning expressions for the digits such as 10, 100 and 1,000. In writing, number names used in Japanese use the same Chinese numerals — and even follow its grouping system by 10,000.

Is it yon or shi?

As noted above, yon (4) and nana (7) are preferred to shi and shichi. It is purported that this is because shi is also the reading of the word death (死), which makes it an unlucky reading (see tetraphobia); while shichi may sound too similar to ichi (1), shi or hachi (8).

How to Count in Japanese?

Is 7 Nana or Shichi?

Nana is the most common reading of 7, however shichi is often acceptable, for example when naming months.

What are the 7 Japanese counters?

The biggest and most important counter that uses wago is the general counter for "things". It uses wago all the way through "ten things." They are １つ (ひとつ), ２つ (ふたつ), ３つ (みっつ), ４つ (よっつ), ５つ (いつつ), ６つ (むっつ), ７つ (ななつ), ８つ (やっつ), ９つ (ここのつ), １０ (とお).

How do you count balls in Japanese?

“Ko” can be used to count small objects — for example, apples, small balls, or eggs. Counting these items would sound like this: “ikko” (1), “niko” (2), “sanko” (3), “yonko” (4), “goko” (5), “rokko” (6), “nanako” (7), “hakko” (8), “kyuuko” (9), and “jukko” (10).

How do you count Japanese chopsticks?

Although 揃い is the correct way of counting chopsticks, but actually very rare people use it. We mostly use it in articles and books, but when it comes to talking, it sounds very strict. We mostly count chopsticks with 本(hon). In a restaurant we prefer to ask for it as: 箸を二つ（三つ、四つ）もらいますか？

How do you say zero in Japanese?

First of all, the Japanese word 零 (rei) is actually the native word for “zero” in the language.

What number is Nana in Japanese?

Oh, yeah...Japanese has multiple words for the same number! Seven can be either "nana" or "shichi", for example.

What is ichi in Japanese?

No. 1: The character ichi (一, one) is a frequent component in Japanese words. Here it is used to advertise Dydo's new "Top of the World" canned coffee. | PETER BACKHAUS.

Why are there different ways to count in Japanese?

Counting just doesn't work like that in Japanese. Remember—Japanese has no real plural/singular endings, so it's not going to be the same as the English system anyway. So how do you count objects in Japanese? Japanese uses special counting words, which come in different categories according to what you are counting.

How do you count a pencil in Japanese?

Long and thin objects like pencils, bottles, chopsticks, umbrellas, rivers, train tracks or roads have their own Japanese counter: ~本 (hon). When counting these long and thin objects in Japanese, all the numbers end in -hon, except 3 – which ends in -bon – and the numbers 1, 6, 8 and 10 which end in -pon.

How do Japanese count years?

Regular years, as units of time, are counted with 年. The Japanese counter 年 (ねん/nen) is the counter for "years." In addition to this, it's used as an ordinal number (not a number you count, but a number that shows the ordering of something) for school years.

How do you count eggs in Japanese?

You can use the Japanese counter 個 (こ – ko) to count a wide variety of things such as apples, eggs, and other small compact objects. The Japanese word for the one (small compact object) is １個 (いっこ – ikko).

How do you count birds in Japanese?

In most cases, the Japanese counter 羽 (わ/wa) counts something that's easy to identify: birds. The kanji 羽 means "wings," and while all birds have wings, 羽 is also used to count a few non-bird exceptions, including bats and rabbits.

How do Japanese count plates?

If you want to count individual pieces of food on the plate, you'll want to use 品 (しな). You can use 皿 to count laboratory dishes as well (like the ones that grow bacteria). For one and two plates, use the wago reading (ひとさら、ふたさら). Three can be either (みさら or さんさら).

How do Japanese count animals?

Generally, the counter 匹 (hiki) is used for counting small animals, such as cats and dogs. However, not all animals are counted using 匹. Rabbits and birds are counted using a different counter, 羽 (wa).

How do you say 1 2 3 in Japanese?

Is KU a kyu or 9?

Seven and nine, I have learned that seven is shichi and that nine is ku. But I also know that seven is nana, and nine is kyu, actually I cannot remember ever hearing anyone use shichi and ku. So basically my questions are, why there is more then one word for those numbers in particular and when to use which form.