Japanese Counters: A Beginner's Guide with Chart
Japanese counters are short words you add to a number when you count things. Instead of saying "two pens", Japanese says something closer to "two long-thin-things of pen". The counter you choose depends on the shape or type of thing, such as 枚 (mai) for flat things or 本 (hon) for long, thin things. For most everyday objects, the つ (tsu) series works as a safe fallback.
Why does Japanese use counters?
English already does this a little. We say "two sheets of paper" or "three slices of bread", because we cannot say "two papers" in that sense. Japanese does the same thing for almost everything you count.
The number and the counter join together into one word. So 二 (ni, two) plus 枚 (mai, flat things) becomes 二枚 (nimai, two flat things). Most Japanese nouns have no plural form, so the counter is what tells you how many.
What is the tsu counter for general things?
The つ series is the first set to learn. It uses traditional Japanese numbers, not the ichi, ni, san you may already know, and it works for many objects when you are not sure of the right counter. It goes up to ten.
| Number | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ひとつ | hitotsu |
| 2 | ふたつ | futatsu |
| 3 | みっつ | mittsu |
| 4 | よっつ | yottsu |
| 5 | いつつ | itsutsu |
| 6 | むっつ | muttsu |
| 7 | ななつ | nanatsu |
| 8 | やっつ | yattsu |
| 9 | ここのつ | kokonotsu |
| 10 | とお | tō |
Notice that 10 has no つ at the end. These numbers are handy in shops, where you can point and ask for one or two.
How do you count people in Japanese?
People have their own counter, 人 (nin). The first two numbers are special and worth learning as whole words.
- 一人 (hitori, one person)
- 二人 (futari, two people)
- 三人 (sannin, three people)
- 四人 (yonin, four people)
From three upwards, the pattern is regular: number plus nin. Note that four people is yonin, with one n in the middle. Restaurant staff often ask how many people are in your group.
Which Japanese counters should beginners learn first?
There are many counters, but a handful cover most of daily life. Here is a short chart to start with.
| Counter | Used for | One | Three |
|---|---|---|---|
| 枚 (mai) | flat things: paper, shirts, tickets | 一枚 (ichimai) | 三枚 (sanmai) |
| 本 (hon) | long, thin things: pens, bottles, umbrellas | 一本 (ippon) | 三本 (sanbon) |
| 匹 (hiki) | small animals: cats, dogs, fish | 一匹 (ippiki) | 三匹 (sanbiki) |
| 個 (ko) | small objects: apples, eggs, sweets | 一個 (ikko) | 三個 (sanko) |
| 冊 (satsu) | books and notebooks | 一冊 (issatsu) | 三冊 (sansatsu) |
| 台 (dai) | machines: cars, computers, bikes | 一台 (ichidai) | 三台 (sandai) |
Some numbers change sound when they meet certain counters. With 1, 6, 8 and 10, the end of the number is often swapped for a doubled consonant: 一本 (ippon), 六本 (roppon), 八本 (happon, also hachihon) and 十本 (juppon). With 3, an h sound can soften to b, as in 三本 (sanbon) and 三匹 (sanbiki). Two is usually regular, so two long things is 二本 (nihon), and two small animals is 二匹 (nihiki).
You do not need to memorise every change at once. Learn the counter with a few real examples, and the sounds will start to feel natural. For everyday nouns to practise counting with, see our JLPT N5 vocabulary list.
Where does the counter go in a sentence?
The usual place is after the thing and its particle, just before the verb.
りんごを ふたつ ください。
Ringo o futatsu kudasai.
Two apples, please.
猫が 二匹 います。
Neko ga nihiki imasu.
There are two cats.
Here を (o) marks the apples you want and が (ga) marks the cats that exist. The counter sits on its own, with no particle. For more on polite requests with ください, see how to say please in Japanese, and for the wider picture of word order, read our guide to Japanese sentence structure.
How LanguaCards helps
Counters stick best when you hear them in real words. In LanguaCards, every Japanese card has audio and romaji, so you can hear the difference between ippon and sanbon. Timed reviews return each word to you just before it starts to fade, and our guide to JLPT N5 vocabulary shows how to fit counters into your study.