Learning Japanese with Manga(Beginner Level)-HITORI
Today’s expression is ひとり(HITORI).
It literally means ‘one person’, but there are many ways to use the expression!
Let us show you some examples from manga.
ひとり is made from only 3 hiraganas, (ひ , と, り)so it is not too difficult to write HITORI in hiragana♪
When you count something in Japanese, you need to know ‘a counter’.
Some examples are…
1ぽん(ippon) 2ほん(nihon) 3ぼん(sanbon)ーto count long, thin things such as pencils, straws
1まい(ichimai) 2まい(nimai) 3まい(sanmai)ーto count thin(as in thickness) things such as paper, slice of bread
And the counter to count people is 「にん」(NIN)but 1 person and 2 people are exceptions.
one person- ひとり(HITORI) two people-ふたり(FUTARI) three people-さんにん(SANNIN)
There are some expressions using the word ひとり(HITORI).
ひとりたびHITORITABI(HITORI+TABI)=travelling on your own
ひとりぐらしHITORIGURASHI(HITORI+KURASHI)=living on your own
You can use ひとりHITORI with verbs.
ひとりで たべます。(HITORI DE TABEMASU)
ひとりでいきます。(HITORI DE IKIMASU)
You can change ひとり into other number of people.
ex. ふたりたび(FUTARITABI)、さんにんで いきます。(SANNIN DE IKIMASU)