Minna no Nihongo Lesson 11 – Grammar Summary
Lesson 11 teaches how to talk about quantities, amounts, and how many items you have. It also covers how often something happens.
● 1. Counters (How many items)
Japanese uses counters after numbers.
A number + a specific counter = correct way to count things.
Examples:
• 1 book → hon o 1-satsu
• 2 people → 2-nin
• 3 small items → 3-ko
• 4 machines/vehicles → 4-dai
Common counters in Lesson 11:
• –nin → people
• –dai → machines, cars
• –mai → flat things (paper, plates)
• –kai → times, frequency
• –satsu → books
• –ko → small objects
● 2. “Counter + Verb” sentence pattern
To say how many items you have, buy, eat, drink, etc.
Pattern:
Object + wo + number + counter + verb
Examples:
• ringo wo 2-ko kaimashita
(I bought 2 apples.)
• kamera wo 1-dai motte imasu
(I have one camera.)
• kodomo ga 3-nin imasu
(I have 3 children.)
● 3. “Duration + Verb” (How long something happens)
Used to express time duration.
Examples:
• 1-jikan benkyou shimasu
(I study for one hour.)
• 2-shuukan nihon ni imashita
(I stayed in Japan for two weeks.)
● 4. “–kai” to express frequency (How often)
–kai = “times”.
Examples:
• 1-kai ikimasu
(I go once.)
• 1-ka getsu ni 2-kai kaisha ni ikimasu
(I go to the office twice per month.)
● 5. “Dake” (only)
Used to show limitation.
Examples:
• mizu dake nomimasu
(I drink only water.)
• nihongo dake hanasemasu
(I can speak only Japanese.)
● 6. “gurai / kurai” (about / approximately)
Used after numbers to show approximation.
Examples:
• 30-pun gurai machimashita
(I waited for about 30 minutes.)
• 500-en gurai imasu
(I have about 500 yen.)
● 7. “~ga ~gurai arimasu / imasu”
To show approximate amounts of things that exist.
Examples:
• hon ga 10-satsu gurai arimasu
(There are about 10 books.)
• hito ga 20-nin gurai imasu
(There are about 20 people.)
Lesson 11 Example Sentences (easy to paste on website)
• pan wo 3-mai kaimashita.
I bought 3 pieces of bread.
• hon wo 2-satsu yomimashita.
I read two books.
• kyou wa 1-kai dake benkyou shimasu.
Today I study only once.
• 1-nen ni 1-kai, nihon e ikimasu.
I go to Japan once a year.
• raishu 2-nichi gurai yasumimasu.
Next week I will rest for about two days