Grammar: quantifiers

In Japanese, quantity expressions are typically stated as adverbs, and thus placed in the adverb
position (right before the verb it modifies). This is different from English. Compare the
following two examples:

例:
I bought two pens.
に ほ ん か

ペンを二本買いました。 (Literal translation: I bought pens to the extent of two.)

In the English example, “two” modifies the pens. In the Japanese example, “二本” modifies
the buying. So, when expressing a quantity in Japanese, make sure that it is placed directly
preceding the verb, and that there is no particle between the quantity and the verb*.
いちまい いっぽん ひと いっさつ

This applies to counters (一枚、一本、一つ、一冊、etc.), which give a specific number, and

also quantity expressions that are not specific, such as たくさん and ちょっと.

例:
昨日、ピザをたくさん食べたんですよ。 I ate a lot of pizza yesterday.
ちょっと待ってください。 Please wait a little bit.

But what happens when you have more than one object? For example, how would you say “I
bought three pens and two envelopes” in Japanese, if the quantities go in front of the verb?
Follow this pattern: noun + particle + quantity + to, noun + particle + quantity + to, … noun +
particle + quantity + verb.

例:
ふうとう に ま い か

ペンを三本と、封筒を二枚買いました。 I bought three pens and two envelopes.

赤いのを二本と、黒いのを三本と、青いのを五本ください。
Please give me two red ones, three black ones, and five blue ones.

*
While there are some situations that you can have a quantity expression modify a noun in
Japanese, it typically sounds more natural to express a quantity as an adverb. I will therefore ask
you to always express quantities as adverbs.
JIS-A: Grammar: quantifiers 名前: ________________________________________
3/16/2009

See the reverse side for explanation of this grammar principle.

次の文章を、Quantifier を使って日本語で書きなさい:
1. I bought two new dictionaries yesterday. (Speaking to a teacher)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

2. I woke up early this morning, but the bus was 10 minutes late. (Explaining why you were
late).
(「んです、んです」を使いなさい) (speaking to a friend)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

3. How many calculators do you have? (「んです」を使いなさい) (speaking to a teacher)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

4. But I said the answer, so please give me two pluses. (「から」を使いなさい)

(speaking to the teacher)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

5. Yesterday I bought 5 black pens, and 7 red ones, and 3 blue ones. (speaking to a friend)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

6. I studied a lot yesterday, but I’ve forgotten everything. (speaking to a teacher)

(「んです、んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________
Formation Exercise:
What is the appropriate counter? Say just the number in Japanese.

7 Markers
4 Chairs
2 Dictionaries
1 Teacher
3 Pieces of paper
10 Minutes
3 Hours
8 Students
5 Red pens
6 Notebooks
9 Calculators
3 Pieces of candy
2 Pencils
3 Days
8 Months
4 Movie tickets