3.3 Counter for Things
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3.3 Counter for Things
In Japanese, there are many ways to count objects.
Generally speaking, you take the number and then you add the counter. The counter shows what type of object you are counting.
Here are some examples of what types of counters exist in Japanese.
There are counters for:
Generally speaking, you take the number and then you add the counter. The counter shows what type of object you are counting.
Here are some examples of what types of counters exist in Japanese.
There are counters for:
- cups and glasses of drinks
- human beings
-
bound paper material like books, magazines and newspapers
-
pets
- small objects
- long cylindrical objects
- big objects like cars or trucks
- hours
- minutes
-
dates
~TSU
"TSU" is the counter used to show you are counting something that doesn't fall into any of the above categories.
|
Nihongo |
English |
| hitotsu | one |
| futatsu | two |
| mittsu* | three |
| yottsu* | four |
| itsutsu | five |
| muttsu* | six |
| nanatsu | seven |
| yattsu* | eight |
| kokonotsu | nine |
| too | ten |
As you can see, what comes before "TSU" is not based off the numbers we first learned (ichi, ni, san, etc.).
Many look similar to saying the dates of the month!
Many look similar to saying the dates of the month!
KIITE / LISTEN
Listen to the ~TSU list.
KURIKAESHITE / REPEAT
Repeat as you read along with the ~TSU list.
Double Consonants
Remember that when you see double consonants in Romaji, that means there is a stop of air in pronunciation right BEFORE the double consonant.
Practice the counters with double consonants below.
Practice the counters with double consonants below.
Mittsu = three
Watashi wa hiragana wo mittsu kakimasu. = I write three Hiragana.
Watashi wa hiragana wo mittsu kakimasu. = I write three Hiragana.
Yottsu = four
Watashi wa shitsumon ga yottsu arimasu. = I have four questions.
Watashi wa shitsumon ga yottsu arimasu. = I have four questions.
Muttsu = six
Isu wo muttsu kudasai. = Please give me six chairs.
Isu wo muttsu kudasai. = Please give me six chairs.
Yattsu = eight
Gomibako wo yattsu kudasai. = Please give me eight garbage cans.
Gomibako wo yattsu kudasai. = Please give me eight garbage cans.
Use the flashcards below to help familiarize yourself with the counter for things. Flip the card to switch between Japanese and English. Click the speaker icon to hear the audio.
Ikutsu ga arimasu ka. = How many are there?
Japanese families have to be very careful when sorting their garbage. Depending on where you live, there are bags that you buy at your local grocery store with the names of the prefectures (like our provinces), cities and blocks. Sometimes you even have to sign your garbage bag so they know who put the garbage there! That's why you can't make any mistakes when you sort your garbage!
This is a spot on the side of the road for families to bring their garbage to on the set days.
Japanese families have to be very careful when sorting their garbage. Depending on where you live, there are bags that you buy at your local grocery store with the names of the prefectures (like our provinces), cities and blocks. Sometimes you even have to sign your garbage bag so they know who put the garbage there! That's why you can't make any mistakes when you sort your garbage!
This is a spot on the side of the road for families to bring their garbage to on the set days.
There
are set days of the week, month and year when families have to put out
their plastics, their biodegradable waste, their large items like
furniture, their recyclables, their burnable waste, etc. Garbage bags
are in different colours to show what sort of waste is inside.
Why do you think Japanese people have to be so careful with their waste?
They don't have very much land for landfills!
In fact, a lot of garbage is used to CREATE man-made land on the outer edges of the islands! Sometimes this man-made land is weak in earthquakes, though. That's why most families try to find out first if the land their house is built on is actual land or if it was made from waste and other man-made materials.
Why do you think Japanese people have to be so careful with their waste?
They don't have very much land for landfills!
In fact, a lot of garbage is used to CREATE man-made land on the outer edges of the islands! Sometimes this man-made land is weak in earthquakes, though. That's why most families try to find out first if the land their house is built on is actual land or if it was made from waste and other man-made materials.