About numbers, cardinal numbers and counting things

Japanese Language
1

Any suggestion or link about cardinal numbers and possibly also counters, I often confuse them …

For example 3rd day / 3 things, … I got it one finishes with ka the other finishes with tsu , but still confusing the initial part(s).

Than you

2

I think the painful truth is that these are best learned by brute force memorisation. There’s just too many exceptions to do otherwise imho, and it’s not a big set.

numbers from 1-10, 1-10 things, 1-10 days.

counting_japanese_v2
counting_japanese_v21828×980 97 KB

-edit- The table above is of my own making. @polv already caught an error which I corrected, but it’s just there to post ‘something’.
I originally posted tables from Learn Japanese Adventure, but they are copyrghted, so I removed the images and kept the link to Learn Japanese Adventure if you want more elaborate and authorative tables (see below).

3

Thanks :blush:

Yes. I agree, they must be learned in that way. At this stage it is clear. It’s the only way to progress.

4

I am sure 4 people would be 四人(よにん).

Anyway, よ and よん aren’t interchangeable, and require memorizing. Sometimes also く.

7 people can be both 七人(しちにん) and 七人(ななにん), but I am not sure whether there is difference in usage.

For the original question, I tend to remember ～つ and ～日(か) as data points, rather than counting sequentially. There are too many exceptions and sound shifts.

5

Good catch, I’ll post a revised version. It’s just something I made when learning them myself though. I found seeing the KUN / ON patterns useful. No doubt there’s better resources, but at least I could post it without copyright :smiley:

6

There is also Japanese counter word - Wikipedia which gives you all the details and more :face_holding_back_tears:

7

Yes, that is true. Too many exceptions, also, I have just found out there are different counters for flat items, cyclindrical, and small items.

However, I am not concerned by them right now.

Thank you for your suggestions.
:wink:

8

Yes, good advice.

Thank you :+1:

9

If you want an exhaustive list of counters there’s this article:

Luckily there aren’t that many you actually need to know to get by. Many counters are pretty obscure and you wouldn’t be faulted for not knowing them

10

I think it’s more important for now, to get used to uniqueness and picky rules (よ/よん/し, きゅう/く). Also, for dates か/にち. There is also じゅう/じゅっ/じっ, and it’s not even about counters.

ofc, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s still better to have more solid base, before getting into actual reading/listening, so that you get better sense of what’s more important.

11

Thanks a lot!