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Let us recall what the basic structure for
expressing numbers is like in Japanese. |
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noun ka + number
noun wo [o] + number |
| 私のうちには猫が三匹います。 |
There are three cats in our house. |
|
watashi-no uchi-ni-wa neko-ga san-biki imasu. |
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| 傘を三本買いました。 |
We bought three umbrellas. |
| kasa-o san-bon imashita. |
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You can add も to the number word, when you want to say "as many as" |
| 私の母は猫を三匹も飼っています。 |
My mother owns three, count them, three cats. |
| watashi-no haha-wa neko-o san-biki-mo
katteimasu. |
|
きのうのパーティーには
学生が二十人も来ました。 |
As many as twenty students showed up at the
party yesterday. |
|
kino-no paatii-ni-wa
gakusei-ga nijuu-nin-mo kimashita. |
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You can add しか - shika (only) to the number word and turn the predicate into a negative when
you want to say "as few as" or "only" |
私は日本語のじしょを
一冊しかもっていません。 |
I have only one Japanese dictionary. |
|
watashi-wa nihongo-no jisho-o
is-satsu shika motte imasen. |
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|
この会社にはコンピューターが
二台しかありません。 |
There are only two computers in this company. |
|
kono kaisha-ni-wa konpyuutaa-ga
ni-dai shika arimasen. |
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