In Japanese, counter words or counters (助数詞, josūshi) are measure words used with numbers to count things, actions, and events. Counters are added directly after numbers.[1] There are numerous counters, and different counters are used depending on the kind or shape of nouns that are being described.[1]
In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below).[2] For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one could say either:
二
ni
two
匹
hiki
small-animal-MW
の
no
POSS
犬
inu
dog
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming POSS means "possessive marker";
assuming MW means "measure word";
犬
inu
dog
二
ni
two
匹
hiki
small-animal-MW
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming MW means "measure word";
but just pasting 二 and 犬 together in either order is ungrammatical. Here 二 ni is the number "two", 匹 hiki is the counter for small animals, の no is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the " 's" in "John's dog"), and 犬 inu is the word "dog".
Counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: 何 nan or, less commonly, 幾 iku, can both be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example:
何
nan
some
名
mei
people-MW
様
sama
honored-ones
"some guests"
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming MW means "measure word";
何
nan
what
名
mei
people-MW
様
sama
honored-ones
？
?
Q
"how many guests?"
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming Q means "question word";
assuming MW means "measure word";
Some nouns prefer 幾 iku, as in:
Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in "two pieces of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers. So while "two pieces of paper" translates fairly directly as:
紙
kami
paper
二
ni
two
枚
mai
flat-MW
"two pieces of paper"
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming MW means "measure word";
"two green pieces of paper" must be rendered as 緑の紙二枚 midori no kami ni-mai, akin to "two pieces of green paper".
Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity.
パン
pan
bread
一斤
ikkin
one-loaf
"one loaf of bread"
パン
pan
bread
一枚
ichimai
one-flat-MW
"one slice of bread"
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming MW means "measure word";
There are numerous counters, and depending on the kind or shape of nouns the number is describing, different counters are used.[1]
Grammatically, counter words can appear either before or after the noun they count. They generally occur after the noun (following particles), and if used before the noun, they emphasize the quantity; this is a common mistake for English learners of Japanese. For example:
ビール
bīru
beer
を
o
OBJ
二本
nihon
two-long-thin-MW
飲んだ
nonda
drank
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming MW means "measure word";
In contrast:
二本
nihon
two-long-thin-MW
の
no
POSS
ビール
bīru
beer
を
o
OBJ
飲んだ
nonda
drank
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming POSS means "possessive marker";
assuming MW means "measure word";
would only be appropriate when emphasizing the number as in responding with "[I] drank two bottles of beer" to "How many beers did you drink?".