Nihongo Nihongo
Minna No Nihongo Lesson 11 Grammar
1. Saying numbers
1) ひとつ、ふたつ、。。。とお。These words are usesd to count things up to ten. Eleven and higher are counted by using the numbers themseves.
2) Counter SuffixesWhen counting some sorts of things or expressing the quantity of things, counter suffixes are attached after the numbers.
- 一人 number of people except for one and two (ひとりandふたり are used for one and two. 4人 is readよにん
- 一枚 Number of thin or flat things such as paper, dishes, shirts, CDS, etc
- 一台 number of machines or vehicles likes cars and bicycles.
- 一回 times
- 一分 minutes
- 一時間 hours
- 一か月 weeks
- 一年 years
- 一日 Days. The number of days takes the counter suffix にち. Howerver, from two to ten , the same words as used for dated are used. (“One day” is 1 にち、”two days” is ふつか,..)
Details and other counter suffixes are listed in the appendices.
3)Usage
Quantifiers ( numbers with counter suffixes) are usually put before the verbs they midify. However, this is not always the case with length of time.りんごを４つ買いました。 We bought four apples.
外国人の学生が2人います。There are two foreign students
国で2か月日本語を勉強しました。I studied Japanese for two months in my country.
4) Interrogatives
1, いくつ is used to ask how many about things which are counted as ひとつ、ふたつ…
みかんをいくつ買いましたか。
８つ買いました。
How many mandarin oranges did you buy?
I bought eight
2, なん is used with a counter suffix to ask how many.
この会社に外国人が何人いますか？
5人います
How many foreigners are there in this company?
There are five.
毎晩何時間日本語を勉強しますか
2時間勉強します。
How many hours do you study Japanese every night.
Two hours.
3, どのくらい is used to ask the lenght of time something takes. You can use various units of time in the answer.
どのくらい日本語を勉強しますか
3年勉強しました。
How long did you study Japanese?
I studied it for three years.
大阪から東京までどのくらいかかりますか
新幹線で２時間半かかります。
How long does it take from Osaka to Tokyo?
It takes two and a half hours by Shinkansen.
5) ぐらい
ぐらい is added after quantifiers to mean ” about “.
学校に先生が３０人ぐらいいます。
There are about thirty teachers in our school.
15分ぐらいかかります。
It takes about fifteen minutes.
2. Quantifiers(Period) に 一回 V
With this expression you can how often you do something.
1ヵ月に2回映画を見ます。
I go to see movies twice a month.
3.Quantifier だけ / N だけ
だけ means “only”. It is added after quantifiers or nouns to express that there is no more or nothing ( no one ) else.
パワー電気に外国人の社員が1人だけいます
There is only one foreign employee in Power Electric.
休みは日曜日だけです。
I only have Sundays off.
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