Counters › 人
人 (nin) — counting people
The counter for people. The first two are completely irregular and are among the first words every learner meets.
How to count with 人, 1 to 10
| # | Reading | Romaji | Written |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ひとり | hitori | 1人 |
| 2 | ふたり | futari | 2人 |
| 3 | さんにん | sannin | 3人 |
| 4 | よにん | yonin | 4人 |
| 5 | ごにん | gonin | 5人 |
| 6 | ろくにん | rokunin | 6人 |
| 7 | ななにん | nananin | 7人 |
| 8 | はちにん | hachinin | 8人 |
| 9 | きゅうにん | kyuunin | 9人 |
| 10 | じゅうにん | juunin | 10人 |
🔊 Tap any reading to hear it spoken.
Watch out
一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり) use the native numbers; from three on it is regular. 四人 is よにん, never よんにん. 七人 can be しちにん or ななにん.
In a sentence
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家族は四人です | かぞくはよにんです kazokuhayonindesu | There are four people in my family. |
| 一人で行きます | ひとりでいきます hitorideikimasu | I am going by myself. |
The kanji
Other counters
- つ (tsu) — the all-purpose counter
- 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
- 巻 (kan) — volumes of a series
- 番目 (banme) — nth in a sequence
- 席 (seki) — seats
All counters and the sound-change rules → · Practise these readings in the counter quiz →
