Lesson Fifteen: Numbers 2
Way back in lesson II I told you that numbers weren’t too useful without counters to show how the numbers are used. Now I’m going to tell you more about counters. Remember, counters go after the number to tell what is being counted! Before we covered えん(en) “yen counter” and ねん(nen) “year counter.”
The counters we covered before were easy. This is because all we had to do was put the number in front and the counter afterwards. Most types of counter use a different way of pronouncing the numbers!
There are hundreds of different counters! So I won’t be covering them all. Instead, I’m going to cover just one counter, the one for general use. You can get away with using this counter for most purposes.
This counter end with こ (ko). Here are the first five numbers using this counter.
one object | ikko | いっこ |
two objects | niko | にこ |
three objects | sanko | さんこ |
four objects | yonko | よんこ |
five objects | goko | ごこ |
Some of the numbers don’t sound the same as they usually do, right? This is because it’s using a different reading for the kanji of the numbers. This will make more sense when we cover kanji. There’s no harm in letting you know what’s coming, right?
Here are the other numbers, up to ten.
six objects | rokko | ろっこ |
seven objects | nanako | ななこ |
eight objects | hachiko | はちこ |
nine objects | kyuuko | きゅうこ |
ten objects | jukko | じゅっこ |
Time to get some practice in!
GAME: Word Search
Let’s try using these in sentences. To connect them to what you are talking about, use a の (no).
ten apples | jukko no ringo | じゅっこのりんご |
six chairs | rokko no isu | ろっこのいす |
Don’t forget to try using these in sentences, and you should be able to write all of these in hiragana by now. Practice, practice, practice!
Let’s do another game to help you with your mastery.
GAME: Multiple Choice
Okay, now that we’ve got counters covered let’s get going on some larger numbers. Next time!
