Ask and say how many people there are using the person counter 人.

The idea

One person is 一人（ひとり） and two people are 二人（ふたり）. From three onward use a number plus にん, including 三人（さんにん） and 四人（よにん）. Ask 何人（なんにん） for a count.

Patterns to compare
FormReading
一人ひとり
二人ふたり
三人さんにん
四人よにん
五人ごにん
六人ろくにん
七人ななにん／しちにん
八人はちにん
九人きゅうにん
十人じゅうにん
何人なんにん

Examples

  • 一人ひとりで行いきます。I go alone.
  • 二人ふたりで行いきます。The two of us go together.
  • 三人さんにんが来きます。Three people are coming.
  • 四人よにんが来きます。Four people are coming.
  • 学生がくせいは五人ごにんいます。There are five students.
  • 家族かぞくは何人なんにんですか。How many people are in your family?

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not read 一人 as いちにん or 二人 as ににん in ordinary counting. 人 also has other readings in other words.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading in hiragana: 一人

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    ひとり

    一人 is the special form ひとり for one person.

  2. Write the reading in hiragana: 二人

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    ふたり

    二人 is the special form ふたり for two people.

  3. Write the reading in hiragana: 四人

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    よにん

    四人 is よにん: the number part is よ, followed by にん.

Use it today

Count a group from one to five and ask a partner how many people are in their family.