I started learning japanese 5 days ago. Very nice to see this website exists! I am very confused… - Feed Post by rinogg
I started learning japanese 5 days ago. Very nice to see this website exists! I am very confused by how you count stuff in japanese lol
posted by rinogg
Comments 7
If I remember correctly, different items are counted with different suffixes. For example, with tatami mats, you would say 一条, I think. With books (or long thin objects) you wold replace 条 with 本. If it's just general counting objects, you would add つ to the number, however they're pronounced differently. I'm still learning, so this might not be accurate. Mog will probably answer.
This is one of the toughest aspects about the Japanese language. English is much easier (just the number). In the Japanese language, it is either いっこ、いっぴき、いっかかん、いっかげつ、etc. I usually associate these with examples like one ball, one bird, one day, one month when I study these counting variations.
Actually, 本 as a counter is used for long, thin things, such as pencils. For books, you actually use the counter 冊(さつ). Ironically, I'm generally good with counters, but the いる/ある will always mix me up. It's so sad, I can have daily conversations but when talking about people I still sometimes refer to them in the same way you would an object. Argh!
There are a ton of counters, but they're not all used equally. I'm an auditory learner, so I learned the counters I did from using only the generic ones, つ and 個. I listened carefully how the person whom I spoke with answered. Usually, she or he would respond with the current counter.- In that case, it doesn't necessarily help you learn the irregular ones, like 六本, does it?
- As I wrote, I learned what the counters are from using the generic ones. I learned when buying an umbrella I should use 本 or 膳 for chopsticks, for example. I didn't mean I learned how to say 6本 just by listening. I looked that up myself although it's not impossible. If I had to buy 6 items, I would've gotten it. Though, I think it's quite clear early on that 1, 3, 6, 8, and 10 sometimes have different pronunciations.
Thank you for all your lovely advice! I didn't expect so many people to comment. I am currently taking it easy otherwise I'll get scared away or feel bad for not understanding everything at once. I have looked into wikipedia on how the counters work and I just need to learn them by heart I presume...There doesn't appear to be a logical way on how they happen. I will focus my efforts on fully learning hiragana (almost there) and then katakana. But kanji scares me :D
