Counters › 階
階 (kai) — counting floors of a building
Which floor something is on. The ground floor is 一階 (いっかい) in Japan — there is no British-style “ground floor / first floor” split.
How to count with 階, 1 to 10
| # | Reading | Romaji | Written |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっかい | ikkai | 1階 |
| 2 | にかい | nikai | 2階 |
| 3 | さんがい | sangai | 3階 |
| 4 | よんかい | yonkai | 4階 |
| 5 | ごかい | gokai | 5階 |
| 6 | ろっかい | rokkai | 6階 |
| 7 | ななかい | nanakai | 7階 |
| 8 | はっかい | hakkai | 8階 |
| 9 | きゅうかい | kyuukai | 9階 |
| 10 | じゅっかい | jukkai | 10階 |
🔊 Tap any reading to hear it spoken.
Watch out
三階 is usually さんがい, though さんかい is also heard. Everything else follows the plain か行 pattern.
In a sentence
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 五階に行きます | ごかいにいきます gokainiikimasu | I am going to the fifth floor. |
| 本屋は三階です | ほんやはさんがいです honyahasangaidesu | The bookshop is on the third floor. |
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
- 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