Lesson 22 · about 5 minutes

Counting things and people

hitotsu · futatsu · mittsu · yottsu · itsutsu · muttsu · nanatsu · yattsu · kokonotsu · too · hitori · futari

ひとつ・ふたつ・みっつ・よっつ・いつつ・むっつ・ななつ・やっつ・ここのつ・とお・ひとり・ふたり

You'll learn the everyday way to count general things (1–10) and one or two people.

The words

RomajiJapaneseReadingMeaning
hitotsuひとつひとつ1
futatsuふたつふたつ2
mittsuみっつみっつ3
yottsuよっつよっつ4
itsutsuいつついつつ5
muttsuむっつむっつ6
nanatsuななつななつ7
yattsuやっつやっつ8
kokonotsuここのつここのつ9
tooとおとお10
hitoriひとりひとり1 person
futariふたりふたり2 people

How they differ

Use ひとつ〜とお when counting everyday items without a special counter yet — tickets to grab, dumplings, apples on a tray:

「ふたつ ください。」(futatsu kudasai): Two, please.

For people at a door or restaurant:

「ひとり です。」(hitori desu): One person. / Just me.

「ふたり です。」(futari desu): Two people.

How many?

Things: 「いくつ ですか?」(ikutsu desu ka?)

People: 「なんにん ですか?」(nan'nin desu ka?) — you'll hear this; for now answer with ひとり / ふたり when it's one or two.

This is survival counting, not every counter in Japanese. Cups, flat objects, and big numbers come later.

Things run on つ: ひとつ・ふたつ・みっつ…とお. People start special: ひとり · ふたり (not ひとつ / ふたつ for humans).

One line: things = つ, people = ひとり / ふたり.

Next: Location nouns: まえ / うしろ / となり / うえ / した (mae / ushiro / tonari / ue / shita).

See it in a sentence

  1. hitotsu kudasai

    ひとつ ください。

    One, please. (polite)

  2. futatsu kudasai

    ふたつ ください。

    Two, please. (polite)

  3. mittsu desu

    みっつ です。

    Three (items). (polite)

  4. hitori desu

    ひとり です。

    One person. / Just me. (polite)

  5. futari desu

    ふたり です。

    Two people. (polite)

Watch out

ひとつ / ふたつ = 1 / 2 things · ひとり / ふたり = 1 / 2 people いち / に (Lesson 9) = abstract numbers / prices · ひとつ / ふたつ = counting items とお (too) = 10 things — not the particle と

Try it

  1. In your next story, find a つ-count (ひとつ〜とお) or ひとり / ふたり. Say the number out loud and say whether it counts things or people.

    Check against the lesson cluster and say it out loud.