5.2. COUNTERS 235
5.2 Counters
As mentioned, counters can be split into specific and general counter cat-
egories. Specific counters are for instance unit counters such as for time
or distance, and general counters are used for categorical items such as
’bound objects’ or ’pieces of [something]’. Rather than just using these two
categories, we also include a list of common numerical orders, which act
as counters too. This list is followed by the counters split up into four cat-
egories: general article counters, counters for living things, counters for
occurrences, and time related unit counters.
In addition to counters, a list of adverbs used forquantificationis
included in this chapter. While strictly speaking these are not counters,
they are used when you need to quantify actions without being able to rely
on a counter (such as ”I read books often”, where a numerical statement is
impossible to give).
5.2.1 Numerical counters
- 100 (A hundred)
As mentioned in the section on counting, the orders in Japanese are tech-
nically counters too, with their own set of pronunciations:
( )
( )Note that isn’t used unless it needs to be stressed that it’s one
hundred, rather than some other factor of a hundred. Also note that quite
obviously ”ten hundred” doesn’t exist. Instead this is , 1000.
- 1000 (A thousand)
The counter for a thousand has an irregular pronunciation for 3, and the
question counter:
( )
( )