Counters › 巻
巻 (kan) — counting volumes of a series
Volumes of manga, novels or an encyclopedia. Also used for rolls of sushi.
How to count with 巻, 1 to 10
| # | Reading | Romaji | Written |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっかん | ikkan | 1巻 |
| 2 | にかん | nikan | 2巻 |
| 3 | さんかん | sankan | 3巻 |
| 4 | よんかん | yonkan | 4巻 |
| 5 | ごかん | gokan | 5巻 |
| 6 | ろっかん | rokkan | 6巻 |
| 7 | ななかん | nanakan | 7巻 |
| 8 | はっかん | hakkan | 8巻 |
| 9 | きゅうかん | kyuukan | 9巻 |
| 10 | じゅっかん | jukkan | 10巻 |
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Watch out
冊 counts books as physical objects; 巻 counts them as numbered parts of a series. A ten-volume manga is 十巻 (じゅっかん).
In a sentence
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| この漫画は六巻まで出ている | このまんがはろっかんまででている konomangaharokkanmadedeteiru | This manga is out to volume six. |
| 一巻から読みたい | いっかんからよみたい ikkankarayomitai | I want to read from volume one. |
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)
- 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
- 番目 (banme) — nth in a sequence
- 席 (seki) — seats
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