Free Japanese Counters Quiz
Practice Japanese counters online in two ways: pick the right counter for a noun, or type the reading of a number and counter, such as さんぼん for 3本 (three long things). After every answer, one line says why: “3本 is さんぼん: After 3, ほん becomes ぼん.” Choose the counter groups, from people and age to days and dates, and for typing, the numbers: 1 to 10, 11 to 100 or 何 (なん, how many). Romaji turns into hiragana as you type, so you need no Japanese keyboard, and the quiz is free with no signup.
Ticks add up: each group you tick adds its counters to the quiz.
How the counters quiz works
There are two kinds of question, and you can pick one or both. Pick the counter shows a noun such as 鉛筆 (えんぴつ, pencil) with four counters, and you tap the right one or press 1 to 4. Type the reading shows a number and counter such as 3本, and you type its reading, さんぼん, in kana or in romaji.
Then choose the counter groups, the seven groups of the counters chart: the つ series (ひとつ to とお), people and age, things, animals, days and dates, time, and times, order, money and places. For Type the reading, choose the numbers as well: 1 to 10, 11 to 100 and 何 (how many). Nothing is picked for you, and if you press Start too early, the quiz outlines in red whatever is still missing. With every group and every number ticked, there are 6,596 questions.
A reason after every answer
Right or wrong, every answer gets one line that says why: “3本 is さんぼん: After 3, ほん becomes ぼん.” If you get the counter right but the sound change wrong, such as さんほん for さんぼん, or いちにん for ひとり (one person), the quiz marks the answer “almost” and names the change, though it still counts as a miss. Where two readings are correct, both count, so じゅっぽん and じっぽん (ten long things) are both right, and so are しちにん and ななにん (seven people).
Typing Japanese without a Japanese keyboard
Type the reading in romaji and it turns into hiragana as you go, so sanbon becomes さんぼん without a Japanese keyboard. If you have one, kana typed straight in counts as well.
Your score and your mistakes
Your score stays on screen as you go. When you choose Stop and see my score, the quiz shows what to practice again, and Practice my mistakes runs only those questions.
A quiz for one learner, worksheets for a class
The quiz is made for one person at a screen, checking each answer as they go. For a class, the Japanese counters worksheets print four exercises on paper, from writing readings to filling in a blank chart, with the answer key on its own page. To look up a single noun, the counter finder gives every counter that fits it, and the Japanese counters chart has all 57 counters with the sound-change rules. The Japanese number converter covers the numbers themselves, in kanji, hiragana and romaji. If you learn Korean too, the Korean counters quiz marks every answer right, almost or wrong, and the right counter in the wrong number system counts as almost.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Japanese counters quiz free?
Yes, there's no account and no signup, and it runs in your browser.
What kinds of question are there?
You can pick one kind or both. Pick the counter shows a noun, such as 鉛筆 (えんぴつ, pencil), with four counters to choose from, and Type the reading asks for the reading of a number and counter, such as さんぼん for 3本.
Which counters are in the quiz?
You choose from the seven groups of our counters chart, from the つ series (ひとつ to とお) to times, order, money and places. For typing, you also pick the numbers: 1 to 10, 11 to 100 or 何 (how many).
Do I need a Japanese keyboard?
No, romaji turns into hiragana as you type, so sanbon becomes さんぼん, and answers typed in kana count as well.
Why did the quiz say "almost"?
You had the right counter but the wrong sound change, as in さんほん for さんぼん, or いちにん for ひとり (one person). The line after your answer names the change, such as "After 3, ほん becomes ぼん."
Does it accept じっぽん as well as じゅっぽん?
Yes, where two readings are correct, both count: じゅっぽん and じっぽん for 10本 (ten long things), and しちにん and ななにん for 7人 (seven people).
Can I practice only the questions I got wrong?
Yes, choose Stop and see my score to see your score and what to practice again, then Practice my mistakes to run only those.
How many questions are there?
With every counter group and every number range ticked, the quiz has 6,596 questions.
Licenses and credits
The nouns and their JLPT levels come from OpenJLPT (CC BY-SA 4.0), which takes its levels from Jonathan Waller's JLPT lists and its words from JMdict, the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group's dictionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). The English meanings are shown in US spelling. Which counter goes with each noun was written for NexaProva and reviewed for natural Japanese; the readings were checked against Japanese dictionaries and NHK's published research on reading numbers.