Prefixes/Suffixes w/ Counters: 何～, 幾～, 数～, ～数, 半～, ～半,～余, & ～余り
In this lesson, rather than learn about new counters, we will study several important appendages added to counters themselves.
How many…
何～
Aside from certain temporal phrases where it may also function as “what…” 何～ is typically used with counters to express “how…” as in quantity. As a recap of this, consider the following examples.
1. 記入漏れは、一日（に）何件ありますか。
How many omissions are there a day?
2. 代案は何千もある。
There are thousands of alternate plans.
3. 去年は年賀状を何通送りましたか。
How many New Year’s cards did you send last year?
4. 卵は一日（に）何個まで食べてよいのか知っていますか。
Do you know how many eggs are okay to eat a day?
5. 銀行口座番号は何桁でしょうか。
How many digits are in a bank account number?
6. ラーメンの替え玉は最高で何玉注文したことがありますか。
How many second servings of ramen have you ordered at the most?
7. 何台かの車が交差点で止まっている。
Several cars are stopped at the intersection.
8. ピザハットのLサイズのピザ1枚は何切れでしょうか。
How many slices is a single large-sized pizza from Pizza Hut?
9. ヤギは何頭飼っているんですか。
How many goats are you raising?
10. 1日に最高で何歩歩きましたか。そして、何時間くらい歩きましたか。
How many steps did you walk a day at most? Also, about how many hours did you walk?
幾～
The native equivalent of 何～ is 幾～. In Modern Japanese, it is largely limited to the written and/or poetic language.
11. 正しい道を歩んでいる者は幾人かいる。
There are few who are walking down the right path.
12. 幾千の夜を越えて探し続けた。
I continued to search past thousands of nights.
13. 彼女は星空を見上げて幾晩も幾晩も過ごした。
She spent evening after evening looking up at the starry sky.
14. 幾日も戦い続けた。
I continued to fight for days.
15. 幾重にも重なる雲を眺めていた。
I was gazing up at multiple-layered clouds.
Several: 数～ & ～数
数～
The prefix 数～ attaches to all sorts of counters to indicate “several…” The number implied by this prefix is based largely on context and personal intuition. It generally refers to at least 2-10.
16. キャッシュ削除に数分かかりました。
it took several minutes to delete the cache.
17. DVDを数十枚買いました。
I bought several DVDs.
18. 月に数百個売れている商品もあります。
We also have products that sell several hundred a month.
19. 生ビールを数杯飲みました。
Namabiiru wo sūhai nomimashita.
I drank several glasses of draught beer.
20. 数万人の市民が道路を埋め尽くした。
Several tens of thousands of citizens filled up the road.
21. 数棟の住宅が斜面を滑り落ちかけている。
Several residences are slipping off the slope.
22. 沢が溢れて複数の住宅が床下まで浸水している。
The marsh overflowed and several residences are now inundated up beneath the floor.
23. 我々は複数人で1つのシステムの開発を進めています。
We are furthering the development of one system with several people.
24. 複数名にメールを送信した際、通知メールは複数人分届きます。
When you send an e-mail to several people, you will receive that amount of people’s worth of notification e-mails.
25. ここ数日とても暑いかったです。
These past few days have been really hot.
～数
When ～数 is attached after a counter, it expresses “number of…” Do not confuse this with the prefix 数～ from above. This suffix can essentially be used with any counter.
26. 建物の階数を表現する言い方で、アメリカでは1階を「first floor」、2階を「second floor」と言いますが、イギリスでは1階を「ground floor」、2階を「first floor」と言います。
For phrases that express number of floors in a building, in America “ikkai” is called the “first floor” and “nikai” is called the “second floor,” but in England “ikkai” is called the “ground floor” and “nikai” is called the “first floor.”
27. 1日で交通事故が起こる件数は、全国で何件ぐらいあるんですか。
About how many traffic accident cases are there nationwide a day?
28. スタート地点から目的地までの歩数を数えました。
I counted the number of steps from my starting point to my destination.
29. マイナンバーは何桁になるんですか。
How many digits will “my number” be?
Culture Note: マイナンバー, also known as 個人番号 (individual number), is a 12-digit ID number issued to all citizens and (foreign) residents of Japan for taxation purposes.
30. 中間テストの点数が悪かった。
My mid-term test score was bad.
31. ボールの残り個数をあまり気にしなくていいですよ。
You don’t need to worry so much about how many remaining balls you have.
32. 消火器の耐用年数を確認して下さい。
Please verify the life of the fire extinguishers.
33. 日本での部数が100万部を突破した。
The number of copies in Japan has broken through a million.
34. タバコの本数を徐々に減らしていく方法で禁煙に成功した人はいる。
There are people who have successfully quit smoking by using the method of gradually decreased the number of cigarettes they have.
35. 最近、新設住宅の戸数が増えている。
Recently, the number of new residences has been increasing.
36. 一番画数の多い漢字は何ですか。
What Kanji has the most number of strokes?
37. 紙幣の枚数を確認してください。
Please verify the number of bills.
38. ダチョウの頭数は毎年減っています。
The number of ostriches decreases every year.
39. 僕を頭数に入れないで。
Don’t add me in the headcount.
Sentence Note: Though not related necessary to the suffix ～数, it is important to know that 頭数 has two different meanings and readings for each respectively as is demonstrated in Exs. 38 and 39.
Interestingly enough, when paired with the counter ～人, ～数 undergoes voicing and becomes rendered as ～ず（う）.
40. なんとか人数を揃えました。
We somehow managed to gather many people.
41. 多人数で利用するには最適！
It’s most suitable for use with a large number of people!
42. 大人数でポケモンをゲットしに行きました。
I went to catch Pokémon with a lot of people.
43. 小人数でレイドボスを倒すコツを覚えました。
I learned the tricks to taking down a raid boss with a small amount of people.
半～ & ～半
半～
The prefix 半～ indicates “half” of something and is limited to counters that measure some sort of increment, whether it be a period of time or quantity of something. It is important to note, however, that it does have one peculiar restriction. This restriction is on how to say “half a week.” Rather than using 半週, speakers default to phrases like 三日 (three days) or 四日 (four days).
44. 半分に切ってください。
Please cut it in half.
45. さて、半ヶ月ぶりの更新です！
Alright now, this will be a half-month belated update!
46. ドーナッツを半ダース買いました。
I bought half a dozen of donuts.
47. 少人数の職場に入って半年未満の者です。
I am someone who entered a small work-place and have been there for under half a year.
48. 今年１月末までにおよそ半数の４５４施設から回答を得ました。
Before the end of January of this year, we had received responses from approximately half of the 454 facilities.
～半
The suffix ～半 is added to time phrases to indicate “and a half.”
49. 私は今日から一週間半断食を行います。
I will start a week and a half long fast today.
50. 私は転勤でバンクーバー市で一年（間）半過ごしました。
I spent a year and a half in Vancouver due to a job transfer.
～余 & ～余り
Yo– 余 goes in between a number and counter to mean “more than.” Technically, it is a suffix which attaches to numbers which is then followed by a counter. This phrase is used largely in the written language. In the spoken language, –amari 余り is used instead, which is a suffix that follows counter phrases.
51. 創業100余年！
Over 100 years since [its/our] establishing!
52. この70余年間、戦争はありませんでした。
There has not been any war over these past seventy-odd years.
53. 兵士五万余人がいた。
There were over fifty thousand soldiers.
54. ４０万人余りが感染している。
Over four hundred thousand people are infected.
55. 彼は6ヶ月余りの戦闘の末に戦死した。
He died in battle at the end of over six months of combat.