ppp098.pdf

5-minute Japanese Class by Hitomi Hirayama

The other day, I went to a sushi restaurant, sat at the counter for the first

time and ordered maguro sushi . When it arrived, there were two pieces on

my plate, not the one I thought I'd ordered. When I said I had only ordered

one, the sushi chef just smiled and said, "I know." I ordered some more

sushi , but it always came in pairs. I became full quite quickly, which was a

pity because I wanted to try a larger variety. How should I count sushi ?

Nigiri sushi dates back to the Edo period. In those days, sushi was sold

at food stalls and was large so people could more easily hold it with their fingers.

But when restaurants later began to sell the delicacy, the sushi was reduced to half

the size to make it easier to eat. This probably is why sushi always comes in pairs.

We use " kan " to count sushi. There are various explanations for this, but none of

them can be verified.

For you to be able to remember counters more easily, I have sorted them according to pronunciation.

★ Quiz: One thing can be counted in different ways depending on

its condition. How many can you get right?

★ S pronunciation group : Pronunciations of 1, 8, 10 change.

1 ( is +_ )

͍ͬ

2 ( ni )

3 ( san )

͞Μ

4 ( yon )

ΑΜ

5 ( go )

6 ( roku )

Ζ͘

7 ( nana )

ͳͳ

8 ( has +_ )

はっ

9 ( ky - )

͖Ύ͏

10 ( jus +_)

じゅっ

1) a living fish ( ) → a plate or pile of fish for sale ( ) → a piece of fish ( )

2) an unused postcard ( ) → a postcard with a message and posted ( )

3) a living squid ( ) → after being caught / sold at a shop ( ) → dried ( )

_ 歳 ( sai ): age; _ 社 ( sha ): company; _食 ( shoku ): meal; _ 勝 ( sho - ): win; _ 足 ( soku ): pair of shoes and socks (Exception: three pairs of shoes

→ san-zoku ) e.g., 歳 ( sai ) is sai, ni-sai, san-sai ..., has sai..., jus sai

Answers:

1 ) ̍ඖ ippiki ˠ Ұࢁ hito-yama ˠ Ұ੾Ε hito-kire

̎) ̍ຕ ichi-mai ˠ Ұ௨ itts - ̏) ̍ඖ ippiki ˠ Ұഋ ippai ˠ Ұຕ ichi-mai

★ T pronunciation group : Pronunciations of 1, 8, 10 change.

1 ( it +_ )

いっ

2 ( ni )

3 ( san )

͞Μ

4 ( yon )

ΑΜ

5 ( go )

6 ( roku )

Ζ͘

7 ( nana )

ͳͳ

8 ( hat +_ )

はっ

9 ( ky - )

きゅう

10 ( jut +_)

じゅっ

★ Exercises : Insert the correct word.

_ 頭 ( t - ): big creature; _ 通 ( tsu - ): letter, resume; _ 等 ( t - ): rank; _ 点 ( ten ): score, cloths, items

e.g., 点 ( ten ) it ten, ni-ten, san-ten ..., hat ten/hachi-ten..., jut ten

1) 相撲取りは１日に ( ）しか食べない。

sum - tori wa ichi-nichi ni ( ) shika tabenai

Sumo wrestlers have only two meals a day.

★ K pronunciation group : Pronunciations of 1, 6, 8, 10 change.

2) 旅館は（）２日で1５０００（円）でした。

ryokan wa ( ) futsuka de ichi man go sen en deshita

The ryokan cost me ˇ15,000 per night.

1 ( ik +_ )

いっ

2 ( ni )

3 ( san )

͞Μ

4 ( yon )

ΑΜ

5 ( go )

6 ( rok +_ )

ろっ

7 ( nana )

ͳͳ

8 ( hak +_ )

͸ͬ

9 ( ky - )

͖Ύ͏

10 ( juk +_)

じゅっ

_ 回 ( kai ): time; _ 階 ( kai ) : floor; _ カ国 ( kakoku ) : country; _ カ所 ( kasho ): place; _ 件 ( ken ): data, case, accident; _ 期 ( ki ) : period;

_ 級 ( ky - ): rank e.g., 回 ( kai ) ik kai, ni-kai, san-kai ..., rok kai, hak kai/hachi-kai..., juk kai

Note: Some counters are used to count similar objects. But their usages differ, depending on the objects or occasions.

e.g., 回 ( kai ) and 度 ( do ) (counters for number of times)

回 ( kai ) can be used for something repeated many times: " nankai mo tabeta " (I tried it many times).

度 ( do ) can be used for something happening only once or twice. It also is used to emphasize the number of times: " ichido dake tabeta " (I ate only once).

3) 就活で面接を（）受けて（）受かった。

sh - katsu de mensetsu o ( ) ukete ( ) ukatta

When I was hunting for a job, I passed four of my 15 interviews.

4) テストで（　　）間違えた。

test de ( ) machigaeta

I made six mistakes in the exam.

★ H pronunciation group : Pronunciations of 1, 3, ６, 8, 10 and counters change.

5) 今週は映画を（　　　）見た。

konsh - wa - ga o ( ) mita

I watched three films this year.

1 ( ip +_ )

いっ

2 ( ni )

3 ( sanb + )

さん

4 ( yon )

ΑΜ

5 ( go )

6 ( rop + )

Ζͬ

7 ( nana )

ͳͳ

8 ( hap + )

はっ

9 ( ky - )

きゅう

10 ( jup + )

じゅっ

6) advertisement : よりどり ( ）で１０００円！

yoridori ( ) de sen en!

ˇ1,000 for any 3 items

_ 本 ( hon/bon/pon ): something thin and long. It's used to count movies, because they are usually long.

_ 杯 ( hai/bai/pai ): a glass of, a cup of. It's also used to count squids or octopuses; _ 匹 ( hiki/biki/piki ): small creature;＿票 ( hy - /by - /pyo - ): vote