Counters › 杯
杯 (hai) — counting cupfuls and glassfuls
Drinks by the container: a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a bowl of rice. It counts the contents, not the cup.
How to count with 杯, 1 to 10
| # | Reading | Romaji | Written |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっぱい | ippai | 1杯 |
| 2 | にはい | nihai | 2杯 |
| 3 | さんばい | sanbai | 3杯 |
| 4 | よんはい | yonhai | 4杯 |
| 5 | ごはい | gohai | 5杯 |
| 6 | ろっぱい | roppai | 6杯 |
| 7 | ななはい | nanahai | 7杯 |
| 8 | はっぱい | happai | 8杯 |
| 9 | きゅうはい | kyuuhai | 9杯 |
| 10 | じゅっぱい | juppai | 10杯 |
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Watch out
Same pattern as 本: いっぱい, さんばい, ろっぱい. Note that 一杯 (いっぱい) is also the word for “full”, so context matters.
In a sentence
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| コーヒーを二杯飲んだ | コーヒーをにはいのんだ ko-hi-wonihainonda | I drank two cups of coffee. |
| ご飯を三杯食べた | ごはんをさんばいたべた gohanwosanbaitabeta | I ate three bowls of rice. |
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
- 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)
- 番 (ban) — order and rank
- 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
- 件 (ken) — cases and matters
- 度 (do) — degrees and occasions
- 割 (wari) — tenths (10%)
- 点 (ten) — points and items
- 秒 (byou) — seconds
- 曲 (kyoku) — songs and pieces of music
- 隻 (seki) — ships
- 発 (hatsu) — shots and rounds
- 章 (shou) — chapters
- 巻 (kan) — volumes of a series
- 番目 (banme) — nth in a sequence
- 席 (seki) — seats
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