Lesson 11 of 24
How Many Posters?
about 14 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Ask how many of something is needed and answer with the right counter.
Words this lesson teaches
- まい
- counter for flat things — paper, posters, plates
- にん
- counter for people
- ほん
- counter for long things — bottles, pens
- こ
- counter for small general objects
- いくつ
- how many (general)
- いります
- is needed
- ぜんぶで
- in total
- ぐらい
- about, approximately
- たくさん
- a lot, many
- すうじ
- a figure, a number
- ラベル
- label
What it explains
Japanese counts by what kind of thing it is
You cannot say three of something without saying what shape of something it is. 枚 for flat things, 本 for long things, 人 for people, 個 for small objects that fit no better category. English does a little of this — two sheets of paper, three head of cattle — but Japanese does it always. ひとつ and ふたつ from Foundations remain the escape hatch when you are stuck.
何 + counter to ask how many
何枚, 何人, 何本 — the counter tells the listener what you are counting before they answer. Note the readings shift: なんまい, なんにん, なんぼん. Those sound changes are regular enough to absorb by hearing them, and not worth memorising as a table.
全部で and ぐらい
全部で 6人です — six in total. ぐらい after a number makes it approximate: 30枚ぐらい, about thirty. Adding ぐらい is how you answer honestly when you do not have an exact figure, which is a better answer than たくさん when someone is filling in a budget.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.
