Counters › 番
番 (ban) — counting order and rank
Position in a sequence: number three, platform two, the first one.
How to count with 番, 1 to 10
| # | Reading | Romaji | Written |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いちばん | ichiban | 1番 |
| 2 | にばん | niban | 2番 |
| 3 | さんばん | sanban | 3番 |
| 4 | よんばん | yonban | 4番 |
| 5 | ごばん | goban | 5番 |
| 6 | ろくばん | rokuban | 6番 |
| 7 | ななばん | nanaban | 7番 |
| 8 | はちばん | hachiban | 8番 |
| 9 | きゅうばん | kyuuban | 9番 |
| 10 | じゅうばん | juuban | 10番 |
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Watch out
一番 (いちばん) on its own means “the most / the best”, which is one of the most useful words in the language.
In a sentence
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 二番のホームです | にばんのホームです nibannoho-mudesu | It is platform two. |
| 一番好きな色は青です | いちばんすきないろはあおです ichibansukinairohaaodesu | My favourite colour is blue. |
The kanji
Other counters
- つ (tsu) — the all-purpose counter
- 人 (nin) — people
- 本 (hon) — long, thin things
- 枚 (mai) — flat, thin things
- 個 (ko) — small, roundish objects
- 匹 (hiki) — small animals
- 頭 (tou) — large animals
- 冊 (satsu) — books and bound volumes
- 台 (dai) — machines and vehicles
- 杯 (hai) — cupfuls and glassfuls
- 階 (kai) — floors of a building
- 回 (kai) — times / occurrences
- 歳 (sai) — age in years
- 軒 (ken) — houses and shops
- 足 (soku) — pairs of footwear
- 着 (chaku) — suits and outfits
- 通 (tsuu) — letters and documents
- 名 (mei) — people (formal)
- 分 (fun) — minutes
- 時 (ji) — o'clock
- 年 (nen) — years
- ヶ月 (kagetsu) — months (duration)
- 週間 (shuukan) — weeks
- 泊 (haku) — nights of a stay
- 日 (nichi) — days and dates