Basic counters
They are the first three numbers for each counter. Click the links to learn each counter up to 10.
- counting general items: ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ
- counting small objects: いっこ、にこ、さんこ
- counting people: ひとり、ふたり、さんにん
- counting long, cylindrical items: いっぽん、にほん、さんぼん
- counting small animals: いっぴき、にひき、さんびき
- counting large animals: いっとう、にとう、さんとう
- counting glasses, cups and bowls: いっぱい、にはい、さんばい
- counting thin, flat items: いちまい、にまい、さんまい
- counting books and magazines: いっさつ、にさつ、さんさつ
- counting machinery: いちだい、にだい、さんだい
- counting floors in buildings: いっかい、にかい、さんかい
- counting houses and shops: いっけん、にけん、さんけん
- counting nights to stay: いっぱく、にはく、さんぱく
- saying someone’s age: いっさい、にさい、さんさい
How to count
Say whatever you count first, then the counter.
For example, if you want to say two bananas, that is バナナふたつ in Japanese.
バナナ is banana and ふたつ is ‘two’.
