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learning_japanese2018-01-13 12:27 pm
lusentoj) wrote in learning_japanese2018-01-13 12:27 pm
Entry tags:
Counting Things
We'll ignore basic counting (1, 2, 3...) and focus on how to count actual items in this post. When Japanese started borrowing half their language from Chinese, they also borrowed the Chinese counting system that says stuff like "2 lettuce heads" (not 2 lettuces), "2 milk cartons" (not 2 milks), "2 paper pages/leafs" (not 2 papers or 2 looseleafs), "2 airplane machines" (not 2 airplanes).
There's not actually all that many "counters" in daily use, and the ones that aren't also get messed up by Japanese people. New concepts will go by different counters until people've decided on a good one, ex. in the 60-70's "robots" might be "2 robot bodies" (体) but nowadays it's "2 robot machines" (台). Which one you use can also change according to your thoughts on the subject, as in you can call a huge monster either a "huge monster" or a "little critter". Generally speaking, the rarer counters appear more often in 1950's-and-before writing.
A note about counters: Japanese people will understand you no matter HOW badly you mess up which one to use (my wife said ふた にち instead of ふた つ ひ, ふっか or に にち and people still understood). You can also use none at all and just pause where a counter should be instead ("3... 犬" instead of "3匹犬"), and they'll understand that.
Here's the ones I've encountered while learning Japanese. Later on I'll try to add photo examples where you can actually see the counters used:
通 つう: # of letters/envelopes (used on post office receipts when you pay for shipping an envelope: 30.0g 1通 ¥190).
発 ぱつ： # of bullet shots (ex. his body was hit by countless bullets = 何発も)
字 じ： # of letters, as in "write an essay of 500 letters/characters".
語 ご： # of individual languages, dialects or vocabulary words. like "this is a compound word made up of 3 individual words (3語)".
年 ねん： # of years (30年 = 30 years)
歳、才 さい： # of years old (30歳 = 30 years old). 才 is often used when 歳 would be too difficult to read because the font's too small, ex. on bus cards.
ヶ 箇 カ か: # of individual (really old words). used for months (一ヶ月 いっ か げつ＝１ month), days (三日 みっ か= 3 days), countries or country languages (一カ国、一カ国語), specific places as in "i broke my bone in 3 places" (3箇所). which kanji you use is up to the writer but 箇 is the oldest form.
個 こ: # of "packagings" or misc items at the grocery store
尾 び: # of individual shrimp in the free-weight section of the grocery store. to understand this, know that what's usually sold is huge shrimp that literally looks like just a long tail with a head.
品 ぴん: # of items at most shops, ex. the 100 yen shop. since the cost of every item is the same at such shops, workers there literally count your items as they scan them "いっぴん、にぴん、さんぴん" etc.
点 てん: # of items or points. "items" is usually at a clothing or futon shop (ex. 3点1000円 = 3 shirts for 1000 yen), "points" are often seen on tests (30 out of 100 points) and grocery store "point cards".
足 そく： # of pairs of socks, leggings, stockings, tights (shoes can be this but usually use 靴 instead). "3足1000円 = 3 pairs of socks for 1,000 yen". in shops you'll also see 点 used instead of 足.
枚 まい: # of layers or things that can be stacked on top of each other (ex. 3枚 = wearing 3 shirts on top of each other). this includes stuff like pancakes and photos.
札 さつ： # of bills (paper money). this is the same kanji for "scrap of paper, tag, ofuda (paper demon ward)" so maybe those use this too.
台 だい: # of mechanical things (machines, robots, electrical appliances, apparatus). ex. pachinko machines, vending machines, cars. weapons or huge machines like airplanes tend to use 機 instead.
体 たい: # of bodies, but i think it sometimes means "whole/main items" as well (ex. update your 3DS's "main software").
匹 ひき、ぴき: # of critters. pokemon, dogs, even humans (when said by an alien or something).
機 き: # of weaponry, or of huge/military machines, ex. airplanes.
本 ほん、ぽん: # of individual things shaped vaguely like a stick (=longer than it is wide). pencils, chalk, sausages, cigarettes, bottles, pieces of string, strands of hair, sweet potatoes, legs, fingers, milk cartons etc. the kanji shows stuff made out of/coming from a tree 木 bundled together 一. remember that a lot of modern bottles are the same shape as a sweet potato, they just have a "neck".
束 たば： # of bundles, ex. a bundle of carrots. you also have to bundle up your paper recycling (in Sendai). the kanji literally shows sticks bundled together by a ribbon.
巻 かん： # of book volumes in a series (thus typically used for manga, ex. "volume #2 is now on sale"). the kanji means "roll" (as in sushi roll) and it's like you have to "unroll the plot" of a book series by reading multiple books.
冊 さつ： # of notebooks or copies of a book (ex. I bought 2 copies of the same book). the kanji literally shows 3 books bundled together with a piece of string.
杯 はい、ぱい： # of container-fulls. typically used for bowls of ramen, glasses of beer etc. as in "i'll have one more bowl". 乾杯 "cheers!", used when making a toast, has 杯 at the end.
泊 はく： # of sleepover nights (ex. how many nights tourists are staying at a hotel). kanji is from 泊まる "to sleep/stay over".
子 こ： # of children or (i think) baby animals, as in "he has 3 kids/puppies".
人 にん： # of humans (ex. 50 people were there)
名 めい： # of humans in polite language (ex. "3 customers"
間 かん： # of timespans (三時間 for 3 hours, 一週間 for 1 week)
間 ま: # of spaces or rooms (3間, 3 rooms/spaces). i think this is used for a SPECIFIC type of room so it doesn't show up so much, but i'm not sure.
話 わ： # of TV episodes. i think this is also used for # of telephone calls and general conversations but i'm not sure.
分 ふん、ぷん: # of minutes
分 ぶん： # of parts or sections. this one isn't actually used that much as a counter i think.
秒 びょう： # of seconds.
章 しょう： # of chapters or sections in a book
文 ぶん： # of individual sentences (ex. write a paragraph using 5 or more sentences)
ページ： used to list page numbers (3ページ = page 3), NOT to list number of pages (3枚 = 3 pages). the older word for this is "頭 かしら" but you'll basically never see that anymore.
行 ぎょう： # of lines of text on a page (3ページ4行, page 3 line 4). you'll basically only ever see this when teachers or classmates tell someone to "start reading aloud from line x on page y".
画 かく: # of drawing lines, ex. "the kanji 大 is drawn with 3 lines".
コーピー: # of photocopies, ex. "make 3 photocopies of this worksheet". 枚 can also be used instead.
輪 りん: # of decorational flowers (ex. when flowers are in a vase or on a hair ornament). the kanji usage might be because the petals dry out and all that's really left is the middle part (輪).
答 とう： # of answers. used for "test questions" (30答 = a 30-answer test = 30 question-test)
There's not actually all that many "counters" in daily use, and the ones that aren't also get messed up by Japanese people. New concepts will go by different counters until people've decided on a good one, ex. in the 60-70's "robots" might be "2 robot bodies" (体) but nowadays it's "2 robot machines" (台). Which one you use can also change according to your thoughts on the subject, as in you can call a huge monster either a "huge monster" or a "little critter". Generally speaking, the rarer counters appear more often in 1950's-and-before writing.
A note about counters: Japanese people will understand you no matter HOW badly you mess up which one to use (my wife said ふた にち instead of ふた つ ひ, ふっか or に にち and people still understood). You can also use none at all and just pause where a counter should be instead ("3... 犬" instead of "3匹犬"), and they'll understand that.
Here's the ones I've encountered while learning Japanese. Later on I'll try to add photo examples where you can actually see the counters used:
通 つう: # of letters/envelopes (used on post office receipts when you pay for shipping an envelope: 30.0g 1通 ¥190).
発 ぱつ： # of bullet shots (ex. his body was hit by countless bullets = 何発も)
字 じ： # of letters, as in "write an essay of 500 letters/characters".
語 ご： # of individual languages, dialects or vocabulary words. like "this is a compound word made up of 3 individual words (3語)".
年 ねん： # of years (30年 = 30 years)
歳、才 さい： # of years old (30歳 = 30 years old). 才 is often used when 歳 would be too difficult to read because the font's too small, ex. on bus cards.
ヶ 箇 カ か: # of individual (really old words). used for months (一ヶ月 いっ か げつ＝１ month), days (三日 みっ か= 3 days), countries or country languages (一カ国、一カ国語), specific places as in "i broke my bone in 3 places" (3箇所). which kanji you use is up to the writer but 箇 is the oldest form.
個 こ: # of "packagings" or misc items at the grocery store
尾 び: # of individual shrimp in the free-weight section of the grocery store. to understand this, know that what's usually sold is huge shrimp that literally looks like just a long tail with a head.
品 ぴん: # of items at most shops, ex. the 100 yen shop. since the cost of every item is the same at such shops, workers there literally count your items as they scan them "いっぴん、にぴん、さんぴん" etc.
点 てん: # of items or points. "items" is usually at a clothing or futon shop (ex. 3点1000円 = 3 shirts for 1000 yen), "points" are often seen on tests (30 out of 100 points) and grocery store "point cards".
足 そく： # of pairs of socks, leggings, stockings, tights (shoes can be this but usually use 靴 instead). "3足1000円 = 3 pairs of socks for 1,000 yen". in shops you'll also see 点 used instead of 足.
枚 まい: # of layers or things that can be stacked on top of each other (ex. 3枚 = wearing 3 shirts on top of each other). this includes stuff like pancakes and photos.
札 さつ： # of bills (paper money). this is the same kanji for "scrap of paper, tag, ofuda (paper demon ward)" so maybe those use this too.
台 だい: # of mechanical things (machines, robots, electrical appliances, apparatus). ex. pachinko machines, vending machines, cars. weapons or huge machines like airplanes tend to use 機 instead.
体 たい: # of bodies, but i think it sometimes means "whole/main items" as well (ex. update your 3DS's "main software").
匹 ひき、ぴき: # of critters. pokemon, dogs, even humans (when said by an alien or something).
機 き: # of weaponry, or of huge/military machines, ex. airplanes.
本 ほん、ぽん: # of individual things shaped vaguely like a stick (=longer than it is wide). pencils, chalk, sausages, cigarettes, bottles, pieces of string, strands of hair, sweet potatoes, legs, fingers, milk cartons etc. the kanji shows stuff made out of/coming from a tree 木 bundled together 一. remember that a lot of modern bottles are the same shape as a sweet potato, they just have a "neck".
束 たば： # of bundles, ex. a bundle of carrots. you also have to bundle up your paper recycling (in Sendai). the kanji literally shows sticks bundled together by a ribbon.
巻 かん： # of book volumes in a series (thus typically used for manga, ex. "volume #2 is now on sale"). the kanji means "roll" (as in sushi roll) and it's like you have to "unroll the plot" of a book series by reading multiple books.
冊 さつ： # of notebooks or copies of a book (ex. I bought 2 copies of the same book). the kanji literally shows 3 books bundled together with a piece of string.
杯 はい、ぱい： # of container-fulls. typically used for bowls of ramen, glasses of beer etc. as in "i'll have one more bowl". 乾杯 "cheers!", used when making a toast, has 杯 at the end.
泊 はく： # of sleepover nights (ex. how many nights tourists are staying at a hotel). kanji is from 泊まる "to sleep/stay over".
子 こ： # of children or (i think) baby animals, as in "he has 3 kids/puppies".
人 にん： # of humans (ex. 50 people were there)
名 めい： # of humans in polite language (ex. "3 customers"
間 かん： # of timespans (三時間 for 3 hours, 一週間 for 1 week)
間 ま: # of spaces or rooms (3間, 3 rooms/spaces). i think this is used for a SPECIFIC type of room so it doesn't show up so much, but i'm not sure.
話 わ： # of TV episodes. i think this is also used for # of telephone calls and general conversations but i'm not sure.
分 ふん、ぷん: # of minutes
分 ぶん： # of parts or sections. this one isn't actually used that much as a counter i think.
秒 びょう： # of seconds.
章 しょう： # of chapters or sections in a book
文 ぶん： # of individual sentences (ex. write a paragraph using 5 or more sentences)
ページ： used to list page numbers (3ページ = page 3), NOT to list number of pages (3枚 = 3 pages). the older word for this is "頭 かしら" but you'll basically never see that anymore.
行 ぎょう： # of lines of text on a page (3ページ4行, page 3 line 4). you'll basically only ever see this when teachers or classmates tell someone to "start reading aloud from line x on page y".
画 かく: # of drawing lines, ex. "the kanji 大 is drawn with 3 lines".
コーピー: # of photocopies, ex. "make 3 photocopies of this worksheet". 枚 can also be used instead.
輪 りん: # of decorational flowers (ex. when flowers are in a vase or on a hair ornament). the kanji usage might be because the petals dry out and all that's really left is the middle part (輪).
答 とう： # of answers. used for "test questions" (30答 = a 30-answer test = 30 question-test)