To answer "how many people" in Japanese, you'll typically use specific counters depending on the number of people.
Here's a breakdown of how to count people in Japanese:
- 1 person: ひとり (hitori)
- 2 people: ふたり (futari)
- 3 people and above: ～人 (～nin). You attach "nin" after the number.
Here are some examples:
- 3 people: さんにん (sannin)
- 4 people: よにん (yonin)
- 5 people: ごにん (gonin)
- 6 people: ろくにん (rokunin)
- 7 people: しちにん (shichinin) or ななにん (nananin) - Both are acceptable, but shichinin is more common.
- 8 people: はちにん (hachinin)
- 9 people: きゅうにん (kyuunin)
- 10 people: じゅうにん (juunin)
So, if someone asks you how many people are in your family (何人家族ですか？ - Nannin kazoku desu ka?), you would answer using the appropriate counter. For example, if there are four people in your family, you would say 「四人です - Yonin desu.」 (There are four people).
