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A Mnemonic for Counters

Hi everyone!
Do you have difficulty remembering the counters for small animals (匹・ひき・hiki) and minutes (一分・いっぷん・ippun)? When you count these, as you might know, sound changes as below.

Counter Hi Pi(Bi)   Counter Fu Pu
一匹   ippiki   一分   ippun
二匹 nihiki     二分 nifun  
三匹   sanbiki   三分   sanpun
四匹 yonhiki     四分 yonfun  
五匹 gohiki     五分 gofun  
六匹   roppiki   六分   roppun
七匹 nanahiki     七分 nanafun  
八匹   happiki   八分   happun
九匹 kyūhiki     九分 kyūfun  
十匹   juppiki   十分   juppun

When just starting out, one might think, “Oh my gosh! What a complicated language!” However, don’t worry. That’s not the case anymore! “Peter” can help you remember the sound changes when counting small mammals and minutes.
Just remember this sentence:

“Peter Has Brown Hair Hi Pi Hi Pi Hi Pi…”

What does this sentence do?? Let’s break this sentence down word by word, and look at the sounds in each word.

Peter 一匹 ippiki
Has 二匹 nihiki
Brown 三匹 sanbiki
Hair 四匹 yonhiki
Hi 五匹 gohiki
Pi 六匹 roppiki
Hi 七匹 nanahiki
Pi 八匹 happiki
Hi 九匹 kyūhiki
Pi 十匹 juppiki

So what do you think? Was this helpful?