Minna no nihongo wago counting


おはよう,

In lesson 11 of minna no nihongo:

  * Counting is always done in wago. It seems when I look online, kango is used for nearly all the example counters in minna no nihongo. Is minna no nihongo just more “conservative”? Should I just learn both or use kango primarily? It seems most online sources say kango is preferred nowadays. Minna no nihongo teaches no kango for now.

By the way, 年 is used for counting years, even in duration, in minna no
nihongo. I notice 年間 is more common. Is there any subtle difference?

お願いします!




I don't believe this distinctions between _wago_ and _kango_ is going to help
you with counters.

Often you may have a choice how to count things. For example, you can say

> りんごをふたつください。

You can also say

> りんごをに個{こ}ください。

which does use the counter 個 used for small objects like apples, eggs, bars of
soap, etc. However, not everything can be treated like this.

Counters, in a manner of speaking, clarify what you're talking about. Just
consider in English the difference between saying "two sheets of paper", "two
reams of paper", and "two papers". All three make sense, but express very
different ideas (particularly the third).

On many points of grammar, Japanese is very regular--particularly when
compared to Indo-European languages. However, when it comes to counting, there
are numerous exceptions.

I think a good principle to keep in mind is that the numbers _one_ , _two_ ,
and _four_ frequently enough have their own idiosyncratic forms of expression.
And, it is this that is perhaps leading to some confusion for you.

For example, when counting people, the following are the standard:

> 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}

But if you were counting large objects like cars, you would use

> 一台{いちだい}、二台{にだい}、三台{さんだい}、四台{よんだい}、五台{ごだい}

I would recommend that you learn the following

  * how to say the names of months
  * how to express the ages of people up through 20 years old
  * how to count people
  * how to express hours and minutes for telling time

If you say something like 彼女はにじゅうさいです, you'll still be understood and most
likely someone will point out that the Japanese say はたち.

Years ago when I was living in Japan, late at nightreturning home from work, I
might stop off at a yatai for some ramen and yakitori. Whenever I ordered や
きとりをにほんください, I always got teased. For example, someone might chime in saying I
was a cannibal; someone once made a comment about whether I intended to eat my
chopsticks. I have no idea whether they were just punning me, pulling my leg
or whatever (I learned a lot of interesting Japanese eating at yatai). But, if
I said, やき とりをふたつください, no one blinked or made a comment.




> By the way, 年 is used for counting years, even in duration, in minna no
> nihongo. I notice 年間 is more common. Is there any subtle difference?

Both 年 and 年間 are used for durations in Japanese.

三年ここに住んだ

三年間ここに住んだ

I don't know which is more common, but 年間 is more formal or correct here.

