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Lesson Transcript

Do you know how to count youkan? I'll tell
you the answer at the end of this lesson!
Hi everybody! I'm Alisha
こんにちは、 Yamamori です。
Welcome to Japanese Counters for Beginners, where
you'll learn how to count all sorts of different objects in Japanese!
Yamamori-sensei, what counter will we learn in this lesson?
切れ (kire)
First, let's take a look at what sorts of objects can be counted with the counter.
When you count a piece of meat, you can use the counter 切れ (kire).
You can use this counter to count slices, fillets, and pieces of meat, fish, bread,
cake, and so on.
The kanji for this counter means "cut", so it literally means the number of cuts.
Okay, let's count numbers 1 to 10 with this counter.
一切れ
二切れ
三切れ
四切れ
五切れ
六切れ
七切れ
八切れ
九切れ
十切れ
Did you notice that there were some numbers that sounded different from the usual numbers?
Counting 1, 2 and 3 takes a special form.
And when you read the number 6 and 10, you should be careful.
For number 1, it's 'hito-kire', not 'ichi-kire'
For number 2, it's 'futa-kire', not 'ni-kire'
For number 3, people read it as 'san-kire' these days, but it can also be read as 'mi-kire'
For number 6, it's 'ro-kire', not 'roku-kire.'
For number 10, it's 'ju-kkire', not 'juu-kire'
Okay. Now let's take a look at some sample sentences that use this counter.
マグロを四切れ買いました。
"I bought 4 fillets of tuna."
この肉は、一切れいくらですか?
"How much is 1 fillet of this meat?"
アップルパイを二切れ食べました。
"I ate 2 slices of apple pie."
Now it's time for a Quiz. I'm going to ask you a question in English.
Answer it in Japanese. Are you ready?
Make sure to use the right counter.
How many fillets of fish did you buy?
魚を六切れ買いました。
How many pieces of cake are you going to give your
younger sister?
妹にケーキを三切れあげます。
Do you know the Japanese confectionery called yōkan?
This confectionery has a special counter.
Can you guess what it would be? The answer is...
一棹
This counter means 'rod'. When you count rods or bars of 'yōkan', you can use this counter.
For example, 羊羹を一棹ください。
And it means "Can I have one whole yōkan, please?"
Okay, everyone. That's it for this lesson and the series.
I'll see you next time!

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