Counting People and Hiragana ま, み, む, め, も

Each language has different ways of counting objects. Japanese uses counters. They are similar to English expressions such as "a cup of ~," "a sheet of ~" and so on. There are a variety of counters, often based on the shape of the object. The counters are attached directly to a number. When combining a number with a counter, the pronunciation of the number or the counter might change.

Another thing I want to mention is when grouping objects, Japanese divide them into groups of five and ten unlike six and twelve in the West. For example, sets of Japanese dishes or bowls are sold in units of five. Traditionally, there was no word for dozen, though it has been used because of Western influence.

COUNTERS:
MAI: for flat, thin objects: paper, stamps, dishes, etc.
KO: for broad category of small and compact objects
HAI: for liquid in cups, glasses, bowls, etc.
SATSU: bound objects: books, magazines, etc.
DAI: for vehicles, machines etc.
KAI: for the floor of a building
KEN: for houses, buildings
SOKU: for pairs of footwear: sock, shoes, etc.
TSUU: for letters

Counting people
Here we use the suffix "NIN" but this changes depending on the number before, and 1 and 2 have exceptions again just learn by counting over and over out loud.

1 person: HITORI
2 people: FUTARI
3 people: SAN NIN
4 people: YO NIN
5 people: GO NIN
6 people: ROKU NIN
7 people: SHICHI NIN or NANA NIN
8 people: HACHI NIN
9 people: KYUU NIN
10 people: JUU NIN
How many people: NAN NIN

Please notice that 4 people is “YO NIN”, not “SHI NIN”. Ask your child why we don’t say “SHI NIN.”

Also, we covered more hiragana:

ま /MA/, み/MI/, む/MU/, め/ME/, and も/MO/.
The initial sound here is like that in “my” but with less force behind it.



Halloween Costume Contest Winners and Miss Lay