3.4 Katakana Loanwords, Counters & Number/Time Expressions
Key Takeaways
- Katakana loanwords are re-shaped by Japanese phonology before they enter the lexicon: every consonant cluster gains a vowel, /l/ and /r/ merge to ラ行, and long forms are clipped (アルバイト → バイト, スーパーマーケット → スーパー).
- Wasei-eigo items such as サラリーマン, マンション and コンセント do not mean what their English source words mean, and Mondai 3 exploits exactly that gap.
- Counters are chosen by the shape and class of the object, not by its name: 枚 for flat things, 本 for long thin things, 台 for machines, 匹/頭/羽 for animals by size and type.
- The sound-change points in counters are systematic — 一本 いっぽん, 三本 さんぼん, 六本 ろっぽん — and the same gemination/voicing pattern recurs in 匹, 分 and 階.
- Native 一つ〜十 (ひとつ…とお) numerals, Sino-Japanese 一〜十 (いち…じゅう) numerals, and the irregular date words 一日 ついたち, 二十日 はつか must be kept as three separate systems.
Katakana Loanwords, Counters & Number/Time Expressions
Three lexical systems sit slightly outside the "learn 1,500 words" mental model and are therefore the ones learners systematically under-prepare: katakana loanwords, counters (助数詞), and the two parallel number systems. All three surface constantly in Mondai 3 (文脈規定), in Mondai 5 (用法), and above all in Listening, where a misheard counter destroys a task-based question outright.
1. Katakana Loanwords: How English Becomes Japanese
A loanword is not the English word written differently. It has been re-shaped by Japanese phonology, and the reshaping is regular enough to predict.
The Four Transformation Rules
| Rule | What happens | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Vowel insertion | Japanese syllables are (C)V, so every consonant cluster and final consonant gains a vowel — usually ウ, but オ after t/d | desk → デスク, text → テキスト, card → カード |
| L/R merger | English /l/ and /r/ both become ラ行 | glass → グラス, grass → グラス (identical!), light/right → ライト |
| Long-vowel marking | Stressed English vowels become long vowels written with ー | computer → コンピューター, coffee → コーヒー |
| Clipping | Long compounds are truncated, usually to four morae | スーパーマーケット → スーパー, アルバイト → バイト, コンビニエンスストア → コンビニ |
The Wasei-Eigo Trap (和製英語)
Wasei-eigo are words built in Japan from English parts. They look transparent to an English speaker and mean something else. Mondai 3 targets exactly this gap, because the "obvious" English meaning is always among the distractors.
| Katakana | Actual Japanese meaning | What an English speaker assumes |
|---|---|---|
| マンション | A modern concrete apartment building | A mansion / large house |
| アパート | An older, usually wooden, low-rise apartment | An apartment (any kind) |
| サラリーマン | A salaried company employee (office worker) | — (no English equivalent) |
| コンセント | An electrical wall outlet | Consent |
| サービス | Something given free of charge | Service |
| スマート | Slim, slender (of a body) | Clever |
| クーラー | An air conditioner | A cool box |
| バイキング | An all-you-can-eat buffet | A Viking |
| ペットボトル | A plastic (PET) bottle | A bottle for a pet |
| ノートパソコン | A laptop computer | — |
Exam tactic. When a Mondai 3 blank sits in a sentence about housing, appliances or workplaces, and one option is katakana, check the sentence's logic rather than your English instinct. 「エアコンのコンセントを入れてください」 is about a plug socket, and any answer built on "consent" is wrong.
High-Yield N4 Katakana by Domain
- Home & appliances: テレビ, エアコン, ストーブ, カーテン, ソファ, ガス, スイッチ, コンセント
- Work & study: レポート, アルバイト, スケジュール, パソコン, メール, コピー, プリンター, テキスト
- Food & shopping: レストラン, メニュー, サンドイッチ, ケーキ, サラダ, レジ, サイズ, スーパー
- Travel & city: タクシー, エスカレーター, エレベーター, ホテル, チケット, パスポート, アナウンス
2. Counters (助数詞): Chosen by Shape, Not by Name
Japanese cannot count a bare noun. Every quantity needs a counter, and the counter is chosen by the object's physical class, not by its identity. Learners who memorise "pencil = 本" instead of "long thin things = 本" fail the moment the exam swaps in a banana or an umbrella.
| Counter | Class it covers | Typical N4 objects |
|---|---|---|
| 〜枚 (まい) | Flat, thin things | 紙, シャツ, 切符, 写真, ピザ, お皿 |
| 〜本 (ほん) | Long, thin things | 鉛筆, 傘, 木, ビール瓶, バナナ, 道 |
| 〜台 (だい) | Machines and vehicles | 車, テレビ, パソコン, 自転車, 洗濯機 |
| 〜冊 (さつ) | Bound publications | 本, 雑誌, ノート, 辞書 |
| 〜杯 (はい) | Cupfuls / glassfuls | コーヒー, お茶, ご飯, ビール |
| 〜匹 (ひき) | Small animals | 犬, 猫, 魚, 虫 |
| 〜頭 (とう) | Large animals | 牛, 馬, 象 |
| 〜羽 (わ) | Birds and rabbits | 鳥, にわとり |
| 〜人 (にん) | People (but 一人 ひとり, 二人 ふたり) | Anyone |
| 〜個 (こ) | Small compact objects (the fallback) | りんご, 卵, 石けん |
| 〜足 (そく) | Footwear, in pairs | 靴, 靴下 |
| 〜着 (ちゃく) | Clothing worn on the torso | 服, コート, スーツ |
The Sound Changes Are Systematic
The irregularities in counters are not random; the same three triggers — 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 and the question word 何 — recur across counters that begin with h-:
| 本 | 匹 | 分 | 階 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっぽん | いっぴき | いっぷん | いっかい |
| 2 | にほん | にひき | にふん | にかい |
| 3 | さんぼん | さんびき | さんぷん | さんがい |
| 6 | ろっぽん | ろっぴき | ろっぷん | ろっかい |
| 8 | はっぽん | はっぴき | はっぷん | はっかい |
| 10 | じゅっぽん | じゅっぴき | じゅっぷん | じゅっかい |
| ? | なんぼん | なんびき | なんぷん | なんがい |
Read the table as one rule with three parts:
- After 1, 6, 8 and 10 the number geminates (a small っ appears) and the counter's h- hardens to p-: いっぽん, ろっぴき, はっぷん, じゅっかい.
- After 3 and after the question word 何, the counter's initial consonant voices: 本 → さんぼん / なんぼん, 匹 → さんびき / なんびき, 階 → さんがい / なんがい.
- 分 is the exception to rule 2 — it keeps p- throughout: さんぷん, なんぷん, never ✗さんぶん. Everything not covered by these three points is regular.
Where the Counter Sits in the Sentence
The counter is an adverb, so it normally follows the noun-plus-particle rather than modifying the noun directly:
- Natural: 「ビールを三本ください。」 (noun + を + quantity + verb)
- Also correct but stiffer: 「三本のビールをください。」
- Wrong: ✗「三本ビールをください。」
3. Two Number Systems, Running in Parallel
Japanese keeps a native (和語) numeral series and a Sino-Japanese (漢語) series, and they are not interchangeable.
| Native: 一つ series | Sino-Japanese: 一 series | |
|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, よっつ, いつつ, むっつ, ななつ, やっつ, ここのつ, とお | いち, に, さん, し/よん, ご, ろく, しち/なな, はち, きゅう/く, じゅう |
| Used for | Counting generic objects with no specific counter; ages up to 10 (〜歳 alternative) | Everything with a counter, all arithmetic, prices, phone numbers, all numbers above 10 |
| Stops at | 10 (とお) — after that you must switch to the Sino series | Unlimited |
The Irregular Dates You Must Memorise
Days 1–10 of the month, plus 14, 20 and 24, use native readings that cannot be derived:
| Date | Reading | Date | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1日 | ついたち | 8日 | ようか |
| 2日 | ふつか | 9日 | ここのか |
| 3日 | みっか | 10日 | とおか |
| 4日 | よっか | 14日 | じゅうよっか |
| 5日 | いつか | 20日 | はつか |
| 6日 | むいか | 24日 | にじゅうよっか |
| 7日 | なのか | (others) | regular: 15日 じゅうごにち |
ついたち and はつか are the two the exam returns to most, because they are the least derivable and both appear constantly in appointment and schedule dialogues.
Duration vs Point in Time
A frequent Mondai 3 and Listening distinction:
| Point in time (when) | Duration (how long) |
|---|---|
| 三時 (3 o'clock) | 三時間 (3 hours) |
| 一日 ついたち (the 1st) | 一日 いちにち (one day) |
| 二月 にがつ (February) | 二か月 にかげつ (two months) |
| 三年 (the year 3 / 3rd year) | 三年間 (three years) |
The rule of thumb: 間 (かん) makes it a span, and 〜か月 is the duration counter for months regardless of which month it is.
Choose the most appropriate word to fill in the blank: 「部屋が暗いので、壁の（ ）に電気のプラグを入れました。」
Choose the correct counter phrase: 「すみません、ビールを（ ）とサラダを一つください。」
Which sentence uses the date and duration words correctly?
A Mondai 3 sentence reads 「駅前に新しい（ ）ができたので、家賃が高くなりました。」 Which katakana word fits, and why do the others fail?