Counters: つ, 人 and 枚

～つ・～人・～枚 ~tsu, ~nin, ~mai Counters

Japanese counts with counter words: 三つ for things, 三人 for people, 三枚 for flat things. English uses plurals and words like "a sheet of".

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Counting
English links: plurals, countable and uncountable nouns, quantifiers

What it means

In Japanese you cannot put a number straight onto a noun. You add a counter, a small word that shows what kind of thing you count. People take 人, flat things such as paper and tickets take 枚, and general things take つ.

つ is the safe choice for small objects when you do not know the counter: ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, up to とお (ten). 人 has two odd readings: ひとり (one person) and ふたり (two people). From three it is regular: さんにん, よにん.

The number and counter usually come after the noun and its particle: りんごを三つ買いました. You will often hear this order, and I think it is the root of many English errors. There are many more counters, such as 本 for long things, 冊 for books and 台 for machines. Learn them with the noun.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Noun を + number + counter + verb noun o + number + counter + verb	りんごを三つ買います. The usual order: noun first, number after.
Number + counter + の + noun number + counter + no + noun	三人の学生. Three students. Also correct, a little more written.
ひとつ・ふたつ・みっつ hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu	General things, one to ten. After ten, use the plain number.
ひとり・ふたり・さんにん / いちまい・にまい hitori, futari, sannin / ichimai, nimai	人 for people (one and two are irregular). 枚 for flat things.

Examples

りんごを三つください。 ringo o mittsu kudasai. Three apples, please.
教室に学生が五人います。 kyoushitsu ni gakusei ga gonin imasu. There are five students in the classroom.
プリントを四十枚コピーしました。 purinto o yonjuumai kopii shimashita. I copied forty handouts.
兄弟が何人いますか。 kyoudai ga nannin imasu ka. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
一人で来ました。 hitori de kimashita. I came on my own.

How English says it

English has no counters for most nouns. It puts the number before the noun and adds a plural -s: three apples, five students. But the idea is not foreign. Uncountable nouns need a measure word: a sheet of paper, a cup of coffee, a piece of advice. These are English counters.

English also splits "how many" (countable: how many students) from "how much" (uncountable: how much money). Japanese uses いくつ or 何 + counter for both.

Why it can make English hard

Japanese nouns do not change for plural, so many students forget the -s: "two brother".
The number often comes after the noun in Japanese. Some learners keep that order: "I bought apples three".
枚 makes paper countable in Japanese, so students say "three papers" when they mean three sheets. "Papers" in English often means documents or newspapers.

Mistakes you will hear

I have two brother. I have two brothers. English marks the plural on the noun. Japanese does not.
I bought apples three. I bought three apples. The Japanese order, りんごを三つ. In English the number comes first.
Please give me three papers. Please give me three sheets of paper. 紙を三枚. "Sheet" does the job of 枚.
How many money do you have? How much money do you have? Money is uncountable in English, so it takes "much".

In the classroom

Run a classroom shop. Students order with "three apples", "a bottle of water", "two sheets of paper". Every order is a chance to hear the plural -s.
Make a chart that puts Japanese counters next to English measure words: 枚 and "sheet", 杯 and "cup" or "glass", 本 and "bottle". Students see that English has counters too, just fewer.
Drill "how many" and "how much" with real things on your desk. Hold them up and let students ask the question.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 切手を二＿買いました。 (I bought two stamps.)

Answer: 枚

Stamps are flat, so they take 枚.
2. Fill the gap: 子どもが＿＿＿います。 (I have two children.)

Answer: 二人 (ふたり)

People take 人, and two people is ふたり, not にん.
3. A student writes "There are student five in my club." Fix it.

Answer: There are five students in my club.

The number goes before the noun, and the noun takes plural -s.
4. Translate: コーヒーを二杯飲みました。

Answer: I drank two cups of coffee.

Coffee is uncountable in English, so "cup" does the job of the counter 杯.