counter for articles

[d_albrodt_513924]

Hi,
I see that こ is a "counter for articles". I do not know what that means, since article can have several meanings (and English is not my native language). So what exactly is こ used for?
Best wishes
Dirk

[mmmason8967]

There are three common counters for general things:-

本　（ほん） is used for long, cylindrical things such as pencils, fingers, beer-bottles, umbrellas, sticks and so on.

枚　（まい） is used for flat, thin things like CDs and DVDs, postcards, pizzas, rugs, tickets, photographs and so on.

個　（こ） is used for other things (i.e. things that aren't counted with ほん or まい), such as balls, potatoes, bowls, eggs, sharpening stones, light bulbs and so on.

マイケル

[d_albrodt_513924]

Thank you for replying!
So ko counts round things, right?

[mmmason8967]

The things counted with ko are very often round, but not always. Small cubes--things like dice, for example--are also counted with ko. It's probably more accurate to say that ko is used for counting things that are small and compact.

マイケル

[d_albrodt_513924]

Ok, I understand, thank you very much.

[community.japanese]

マイケルさん、
どうもありがとうございます。


よかったですね。

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