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In Japanese, counter words or counters (''josūshi'' 助数詞) are used along with numbers to count things, actions, and events. In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below). For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one could say 二匹の犬 ''ni-hiki no inu'' (literally "two small-animal-count POSSESSIVE dog"), or 犬二匹 ''inu ni-hiki'' (literally "dog two small-animal-count"), but just pasting 二 and 犬 together in either order is wrong. Here 二 ''ni'' is the number "two", 匹 ''hiki'' is the counter for small animals, の ''no'' is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the "'s" in "John's dog"), and 犬 ''inu'' is the word "dog". These counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: 何 ''nan'' or, less commonly, 幾 ''iku'' can be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example, "some guests" can be translated as 何名様 ''nan-mei sama'' (lit. "some-people-count honored-ones"), and "how many guests?" as 何名様? ''nan-mei sama ka'' (lit. "some-people-count honored-ones QUESTION"). Some nouns prefer 幾 ''iku'', as in 幾晩? ''iku-ban ka'' "how many nights?" and 幾日も行っていた ''iku-nichi mo itte ita'' "I was gone for many days." Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in "two pieces of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers. So while "two pieces of paper" translates fairly directly as 紙二枚 ''kami ni-mai'' (lit. "paper two flat-count"), phrases like "two green pieces of paper" have to be reworked one way or another: the naive attempt 二緑枚 ''ni-midori-mai'' is not legal Japanese for "two green pieces". Other interpretations of the English phrase are possible (such as "the greenest two pieces of paper"), but supposing only "two pieces of green paper" is meant, then 緑の紙二枚 ''midori no kami ni-mai'' is correct. Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity. In English, one can say "one loaf of bread" or "one slice of bread". In Japanese, the equivalents would be パン一斤 ''pan ikkin'' (lit. "bread one-loaf") and パン一枚 ''pan ichimai'' (lit. "bread one-flat-count"). Grammatically, counter words can appear either before or after the noun they count. They generally occur ''after'' the noun (following particles), and if used before the noun, they emphasize the quantity; this is a common mistake in English learners of Japanese. For example, to say "() drank two bottles of beer", the order is ビールを二本飲んだ ''bīru o nihon nonda'' (lit. "beer OBJECT two-long-thin-count drank"). In contrast, 二本のビールを飲んだ ''nihon no bīru o nonda'' (lit. "two-long-thin-count POSSESSIVE beer OBJECT drank") would only be appropriate when emphasizing the number as in responding with "() drank ''two'' bottles of beer" to "How many beers did you drink?". == Substitution of counters == In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number. In this sense, virtually all Japanese nouns are mass nouns. This grammatical feature can result in situations where one is unable to express the number of a particular object in a syntactically correct way because one does not know, or cannot remember, the appropriate counting word. With quantities from one to ten, this problem can often be sidestepped by using the traditional numbers (see below), which can quantify many nouns without help. For example, "four apples" is りんご四個 ''ringo yonko'' where 個 ''ko'' is the counter, but can also be expressed, using the traditional numeral four, as りんご四つ ''ringo yottsu''. These traditional numerals cannot be used to count all nouns, however; some, including nouns for people and animals, require a proper counter. Some of the more common counters may substitute for less common ones. For example, 匹 ''hiki'' (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally correct counter, 頭 ''tō'', when speaking of larger animals such as horses. This yields a range of possible counters, with differing degrees of usage and acceptability – for example, when ordering kushikatsu (fried skewers), one may order them as 二串 ''futa-kushi'' (two skewers), 二本 ''ni-hon'' (two sticks), or 二つ ''futa-tsu'' (two items), in decreasing order of precision. Counters may be intentionally misused for humorous, sarcastic, or insulting effects. For example, one might say 男一匹なのに ''Otoko ippiki nano ni'' ("I am only one man..."). Using 匹 ''hiki'', the counter for small animals, humorously suggests that the person is overpowered by massive obstacles. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese counter word」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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