Counting People and Saying Your Age in Japanese (ひとり, ふたり, はたち)

Counting people in Japanese: hitori, futari, sannin

To count people in Japanese, add 人 (nin) to a number, except that one person is 一人 (ひとり, hitori), two people is 二人 (ふたり, futari) and four people is 四人 (よにん, yonin). To say your age, add 歳 (さい, sai) to the number, as in 二十四歳です (nijūyonsai desu), and to ask "how old are you?" say 何歳ですか (nansai desu ka) or, more politely, おいくつですか (oikutsu desu ka).

So three people is 三人, さんにん (sannin), and ten people is 十人, じゅうにん (jūnin). One age has its own word: twenty years old is 二十歳 (はたち, hatachi).

Why one, two and four are different

It looks random, but only three things are going on:

1. One and two use the old native numbers. ひとり is ひと ("one", as in ひとつ) plus り, a counter for people: that's how Wiktionary explains the word. ふたり is built the same way from ふた ("two", as in ふたつ).
2. From three on, it's the いち, に, さん numbers plus にん. さんにん, ごにん, ろくにん, and so on up to じゅうにん and beyond.
3. Four is よにん, not よんにん or しにん. It uses the short native よ, the same よ you hear in よっつ (four things) and よじ (four o'clock).

The native pattern doesn't quite stop at two. JMdict also records みたり (mitari) for three people, and よたり (yotari) or よったり for four, all marked as rarely used. Of the native forms, JMdict marks only ひとり and ふたり as common words.

If you haven't met the two number systems yet, counting in Japanese explains いち vs ひとつ and why four has two readings.

1 to 10 people in Japanese

A few notes on the table:

• いちにん and ににん are in the dictionary, but JMdict marks ひとり and ふたり as the common words and doesn't mark いちにん or ににん at all. Say ひとり and ふたり.
• Seven is しちにん or ななにん. Both are correct. Tofugu says people prefer the なな reading, and Wiktionary's counters appendix gives ななにん.
• Nine is usually きゅうにん. くにん exists, but Tofugu says きゅう is more common, and the appendix gives only きゅうにん.
• Four stays よ in bigger numbers. The appendix gives じゅうよにん for 14 people and にじゅうよにん for 24.
• Eleven and up are regular. Eleven people is じゅういちにん, and seventeen is じゅうななにん.
• Saying しにん for four people would be unfortunate anyway: 死人 (しにん, shinin, “corpse”) means a dead person.

In a sentence

Like other counters, the number of people usually goes after the noun and its particle, and before the verb:

• 学生が三人います。 There are three students.
• 友達が二人います。 I have two friends.
• 家族は四人です。 There are four people in my family.

You can also put it before the noun with の, which is common in writing: 三人の学生, "three students".

Two more words you'll meet early:

• 一人で (ひとりで, hitoride, “alone”): 一人で行きます, "I'll go alone". JMdict also lists "being alone" as a meaning of ひとり itself.
• 一人っ子 (ひとりっこ, hitorikko, “(an) only child”).

How many people: nannin

To ask how many, put 何 ("what") in place of the number: 何人 (なんにん, nannin, “how many people”).

• 何人ですか。 How many people?
• 学生は何人いますか。 How many students are there?

At a restaurant: nanmei-sama desu ka

In restaurants and on booking forms you'll also see 名 as a counter for people: 名 (めい, mei, “counter for people (usu. seating, reservations and such)”). Its question word is 何名 (なんめい, nanmei, “how many people”).

When you walk into a restaurant, staff often ask 何名様ですか (nanmei-sama desu ka), "how many in your party?". The 様 (さま, sama) on the end is a polite title, like Mr or Ms, used here for the customers.

Tofugu suggests answering with the same counter. Numbers with 名 are regular: Wiktionary's appendix gives いち, に, さん, よん and so on. So two people is 二名です (nimei desu) and four people is 四名です (yonmei desu). You can also answer with 人, as in 二人です (futari desu). How natural that sounds next to 名 is on our list for a native speaker to check.

You don't need 名 for N5, but it helps to recognise it.

How to say your age in Japanese: sai

Age uses the counter 歳 (さい, sai, “... years old”), written 歳. JMdict lists 才 as another way to write the same word.

歳 or 才?

歳 is the standard way to write it, and official documents and newspapers use it. 才 is a stand-in: it has 3 strokes against 13 for 歳, so it spread as a shortcut, and you'll see it often in everyday writing. That's how a Mynavi News article on the two characters explains it.

1 to 10 years old

The pattern is the one from our counters guide: 歳 starts with an s sound, so one, eight and ten change (いっさい, はっさい, じゅっさい), and everything else is the plain number plus さい. Twenty is the big exception.

Ages above ten

From eleven up, the same rule applies to the end of the number: if it ends in one, eight or ten, that part shrinks before さい. Wiktionary's counters appendix gives these readings:

The appendix doesn't list 21 or 26. They follow the same rule: 21 ends like 1 (いっさい) and 26 like 6 (ろくさい).

はたち is only for exactly 20. Twenty-one is にじゅういっさい, not はたちいっさい.

Twenty years old: hatachi

Twenty is 二十歳 (はたち, hatachi). JMdict also accepts にじゅっさい and にじっさい, but はたち is the one marked as common.

Why a special word? JMdict records はた as an old reading of 二十 (twenty), and Wiktionary traces はたち back to an Old Japanese word for "twenty items". It's a leftover of the native number system, like ひとり and ふたり.

はたち was also the legal age of adulthood in Japan for a long time. That changed on 1 April 2022. According to Japan's Ministry of Justice, a law of 13 June 2018 lowered the age of majority in the Civil Code from 20 to 18, from that date.

How old are you in Japanese: nansai desu ka, oikutsu desu ka

There are two common ways to ask, and both are worth knowing:

• 何歳ですか。 (なんさいですか, nansai desu ka) How old are you?
• おいくつですか。 (oikutsu desu ka) The same question, more politely.

90 Day Japanese puts it this way: おいくつですか sounds more polite and well-mannered, while 何歳ですか is more direct.

何歳 is 何 ("what") plus 歳. おいくつ is not a dictionary headword, but it's easy to take apart: お is the polite prefix, and いくつ (幾つ) means both "how many" and "how old" in JMdict. It's the same いくつ you'd use to ask how many things there are.

To a friend or a child, drop です: 何歳? (nansai?) or いくつ? (ikutsu?).

How to answer

Say your age plus です:

• 二十歳です。 (はたちです, hatachi desu) I'm twenty.
• 八歳です。 I'm eight.

With friends, the age alone is enough. Don't add お when you talk about your own age: the polite prefix is for asking about someone else.

Is it rude to ask?

Not in itself. 90 Day Japanese says it isn't rude to ask someone's age in Japan, but it can be awkward at the wrong moment or with someone you hardly know.

Tips for learning hitori, futari and hatachi

• Learn ひとり, ふたり and よにん as words, not as numbers. Everything else in the people table is regular.
• Practise with your own life. "家族は…人です" with your family, "…歳です" with your age, your friends' ages, your parents' ages.
• Learn はたち separately. It's the common word for twenty years old and doesn't look like the other ages at all.
• Remember 何人 has two readings: なんにん for how many, なにじん for what nationality.

For the other counters you'll need at N5 (つ, 本, 匹, 杯 and the rest), see Japanese counters for N5.

Questions about counting people and age in Japanese

How do you say 4 people in a Japanese restaurant?

Say 四名です (yonmei desu), using the same counter as the staff's question, 何名様ですか. With the everyday counter, four people is 四人 (yonin), so 四人です (yonin desu) works too.

What is 7 people in Japanese?

Seven people is ななにん (nananin) or しちにん (shichinin). Both are correct, and people tend to prefer なな.

What is 9 people in Japanese?

Nine people is usually きゅうにん (kyūnin). くにん exists, but it's less common.

What is 11 people in Japanese?

Eleven people is じゅういちにん (jūichinin). From three people on, it's the number plus にん.

How do you say "how old are you?" in Japanese?

Say 何歳ですか (nansai desu ka), or more politely おいくつですか (oikutsu desu ka). Both mean "How old are you?".

How do you write "how old are you?" in hiragana?

In hiragana, 何歳ですか is なんさいですか. The polite おいくつですか is already all hiragana.

What does nansai desu ka mean?

Nansai desu ka (何歳ですか) means "How old are you?". 何 is "what" and 歳 is the counter for years of age.

How do you say "I am 20" in Japanese?

Say はたちです (hatachi desu), written 二十歳です. Twenty has its own word, はたち.

How do you say 21 years old in Japanese?

Twenty-one years old is にじゅういっさい (nijūissai). Only exactly 20 is はたち.

How do you say 14, 17 or 26 years old in Japanese?

Fourteen is じゅうよんさい (jūyonsai), seventeen is じゅうななさい (jūnanasai) and twenty-six is にじゅうろくさい (nijūrokusai). Each is the number plus さい.

How do Japanese people say their age?

They say the number plus 歳 and です, as in 二十四歳です (nijūyonsai desu). With friends, the age alone is enough.

Is it 歳 or 才?

歳 is the standard way to write the age counter, and newspapers and official documents use it. 才 is a common shortcut with fewer strokes.

Is it rude to ask someone's age in Japan?

No, asking someone's age isn't rude in itself. Ask politely, with おいくつですか, and not at an awkward moment.

Sources

• JMdict, © Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0: every reading and meaning in the dictionary tables and words on this page.
• Wiktionary contributors, 一人 (etymology of ひとり) and 二十歳 (etymology of はたち), revisions of August 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Wiktionary contributors, Appendix: Japanese counters, CC BY-SA 4.0: the readings of 人 for 7, 9, 11, 14, 17 and 24, of 歳 for 11 to 40, and of numbers with 名.
• Tofugu, Japanese Counter 人: People and Smart Animals: なな preferred for seven, きゅう more common for nine, and 何名様ですか answered with 名.
• 90 Day Japanese, "How Old Are You?" in Japanese: polite and casual ways to ask, 失礼ですが, and whether asking is rude.
• Mynavi News, 「歳」と「才」の違いとは? (28 June 2023): 歳 as the standard form, used in official documents and newspapers, and 才 as a shortcut.
• Ministry of Justice, Japan, The Act Partially Amending the Civil Code (Related to Age of Majority): the age of majority, lowered from 20 to 18 by a law of 13 June 2018, in force from 1 April 2022.
• Reviewed by two independent reviews; the points about answering at a restaurant, seven and nine people, じゅうはっさい for eighteen, the casual and polite ways to ask, dropping お for your own age, 三人の学生 in writing, 家族は四人です, and telling なんにん from なにじん are waiting for a native speaker's check.
• The full list of sources is on our attributions page.