- 7 lessons
- 0 quizzes
- 96 week duration
Lesson 5: Basic Counters
In this lesson, I will teach you nine basic counters: 一つ、二つ、三つ、四つ、五つ、六つ、七つ、八つ and 九つ.
Meanings and Readings:
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| 一つ | ひとつ | one (counter) |
| 二つ | ふたつ | two (counter) |
| 三つ | みっつ | three (counter) |
| 四つ | よっつ | four (counter) |
| 五つ | いつつ | five (counter) |
| 六つ | むっつ | six (counter) |
| 七つ | ななつ | seven (counter) |
| 八つ | やっつ | eight (counter) |
| 九つ | ここのつ | nine (counter) |
Pronunciation Patterns:
- These are the native Japanese numbers (和語) rather than Chinese-derived numbers (漢語)
- All end with つ which indicates “things” or “items”
- The small つ (っ) indicates a brief pause
Example Sentences:
| りんごを一つ買いました。 I bought one apple. Ringo o hitotsu kaimashita. 箱に本が二つ入っています。 There are two books in the box. Hako ni hon ga futatsu haitte imasu. 子供が三つお菓子を食べました。 The child ate three sweets. Kodomo ga mittsu okashi o tabemashita. テーブルの上にコップが四つあります。 There are four cups on the table. Tēburu no ue ni koppu ga yottsu arimasu. ケーキを五つ買いました。 I bought five cakes. Kēki o itsutsu kaimashita. 箱に卵が六つ入っています。 There are six eggs in the box. Hako ni tamago ga muttsu haitte imasu. 子供が七つキャンディを食べました。 The child ate seven candies. Kodomo ga nanatsu kyandi o tabemashita. テーブルの上にりんごが八つあります。 There are eight apples on the table. Tēburu no ue ni ringo ga yattsu arimasu. パーティーでクッキーを九つ作りました。 I made nine cookies for the party. Pātī de kukkī o kokonotsu tsukurimashita. |
Mini Quiz:
Test Your Understanding! Answers are at the end of this lesson.
| 1.How do you say “three things” in Japanese? a) さんつ (santsu) b) みっつ (mittsu) c) さんばい (sanbai) 2.Complete the sentence: テーブルにコップが______あります。 There are four cups on the table. a) ひとつ (hitotsu) b) よっつ (yottsu) c) ふたつ (futatsu) 3.True or False: The word 六つ is pronounced ろくつ (rokutsu). |
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Don’t confuse these with Chinese-derived numbers (いち、に、さん)
- These counters only go up to 9 (ここのつ) – for 10+ objects, use the Chinese-derived numbers
Cultural Note:
These counters represent the complete native Japanese counting system (1-9) that predates Chinese influence. They’re used for counting general objects when no specific counter is required. The system stops at 9 because the native Japanese numbering system originally didn’t have a concept of zero or place value, which was introduced with Chinese numbers.
Remember the kanji in this lesson easily:
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(Answers: 1. b, 2. b, 3. False.)