The counter 枚
The counter 枚 is used to count flat, thin objects like paper, photographs and plates. Note in the table below that when using the counter 枚 after a numeral, no phonetic change occurs. In fact, for all counters starting with an m sound, no phonetic change occurs when they are preceded by a numeral.
| Japanese | Hiragana reading |
|---|---|
| one flat, thin object | 一枚ichimai |
| two flat, thin objects | 二枚nimai |
| three flat, thin objects | 三枚sanmai |
| four flat, thin objects | 四枚yonmai |
| five flat, thin objects | 五枚gomai |
| six flat, thin objects | 六枚rokumai |
| seven flat, thin objects | 七枚nanamai |
| eight flat, thin objects | 八枚hachimai |
| nine flat, thin objects | 九枚kyuumai |
| ten flat, thin objects | 十枚juumai |
Using counters to count objects
When counting objects we can place the counter after the object we are counting.
| I want three photos. | 写真 三枚 が ほしい です。shashin sanmai ga hoshii desu. |
| There are four plates. | 皿 四枚 が あります。sara yonmai ga arimasu. |
