A little culture with Miyabi
Japanese Counters: Hitotsu, Futatsu and Counting Things
Learn the general Japanese counting forms from hitotsu to too, use them in simple requests, and understand when a more specific counter is needed.
Language basics
Japanese often combines numbers with counters that depend on what is being counted. A useful beginner set for general things is ひとつ (hitotsu, one), ふたつ (futatsu, two) and みっつ (mittsu, three). This set can help with simple orders, but it does not replace every other counter.
Learn the set from one to ten
The first five are ひとつ (hitotsu), ふたつ (futatsu), みっつ (mittsu), よっつ (yottsu) and いつつ (itsutsu). The next five are むっつ (muttsu), ななつ (nanatsu), やっつ (yattsu), ここのつ (kokonotsu) and とお (too).
Notice the small っ in mittsu, yottsu, muttsu and yattsu. It changes consonant timing. Ten, とお, does not end in つ. Treat the set as vocabulary to practice, not a perfectly regular formula you can extend indefinitely.
Use a number in a request
これをふたつください (kore o futatsu kudasai) means “Two of these, please.” You can point to a menu item or small product while saying it. Replace futatsu with hitotsu to request one.
いくつ (ikutsu) asks “how many” for this general counting pattern. いくつですか (ikutsu desu ka) means “How many?” when the thing being counted is clear. Keep the scene concrete while practicing so the question has an obvious referent.
People use a different pattern
One person is ひとり (hitori), and two people is ふたり (futari). From three people, you meet forms such as さんにん (sannin). If a restaurant asks how many people are in your party, ふたりです (futari desu) means “Two people.”
Do not answer futatsu for two people. Other categories also have their own counters: 枚 (mai) is used for flat things, for example. Learn a new counter when it becomes useful instead of trying to memorize every category before making a first request.
Practice the distinction that matters
Scene one: you want two cakes from a display. Say これをふたつください。Scene two: you and a friend enter a restaurant. Say ふたりです。Both involve the number two, but the thing being counted changes the expression.
For review, arrange one, two and three small objects and name the quantity without counting upward from one each time. Then practice hitori and futari separately with pictures of people. Keeping the contexts visible helps prevent the two sets from blending together.