Kana Sprints
Lesson 11 of 12
Kana Sprint 11 — counting out loud
about 6 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Read the numbers one to ten written in kana.
- Read ひとつ to とお, and spot the three readings a counter changes.
Words this lesson teaches
- ひとつ
- one thing
- ふたつ
- two things
- いっぽん
- one long thing — a bottle, an umbrella, a pen
- いっぱい
- one cupful — one coffee, one glass
- ください
- please give me
- じゅう
- ten
What it explains
Two rows, and when each one is used
いち に さん counts numbers; ひとつ ふたつ みっつ counts things you can point at. A price is いち; a pastry is ひとつ. When a shop assistant asks how many, ふたつ ください is always safe, and it stays safe long after you have learned the specific counters.
Why いっぽん is not いちほん
Japanese avoids the awkward join between ち and ほ by shortening the number and hardening the counter. It happens at one, three, six, eight and ten, and mostly with counters starting in h. Nobody memorises a table for this: you learn いっぽん, さんぼん and いっぱい as words, and the rest follows by ear.