Japanese Ordinal Numbers: Banme, Dai, and Me

Three ways to say which one

Cardinal numbers and counters are covered in the numbers and counters guide, so this post assumes you can already say ichi, ni, san and attach basic counters. What changes here is that you are pointing at a position. Japanese has three devices for that, and they are not interchangeable. Banme is the general position marker, dai is the formal label placed in front, and me is a small ending that converts an existing counter into an ordinal.

The safest habit is to decide what you are counting first. If you are counting bare numbers in a row, use banme. If the thing already has a natural counter such as tsu, nin, kai or ka, put me on that counter instead. If you are naming a chapter, edition, round or article in a formal document, reach for dai.

Ichiban and ichibanme are not the same word

Ichiban is one of the first words learners meet, usually as a superlative: ichiban takai means the most expensive, and ichiban suki na tabemono means my favourite food. In that use ichiban behaves like an adverb and takes no me. The moment you add me, the meaning changes to a place in a sequence, so ichibanme no hito is the person at the front of the line rather than the best person.

The same split runs through the whole set. Niban is often a label, as on a numbered ticket or a platform, while nibanme is the second item you counted. When a learner says nibanme no purattohōmu for platform two, a Japanese listener hears the second platform you happened to count from where you are standing, which is not what the sign says.

Banme with plain numbers

Banme attaches to the Sino-Japanese numbers, so it is ichibanme, nibanme, sanbanme, yonbanme, gobanme, rokubanme, nanabanme, hachibanme, kyūbanme, jūbanme. There are no sound changes to memorise, which is why banme is the ordinal to fall back on when you are unsure of the correct counter. It works with people, buildings, shelves, questions on a test and items on a menu.

In speech banme very often ends with no plus a noun, because you are usually pointing at something: sanbanme no mise, the third shop along. When the noun is already obvious from the situation you can drop it and simply finish with desu, which is why a shop assistant can answer a question with nibanme desu and nothing else. Banme also combines with ni to modify a verb, as in sanbanme ni hairimashita, I went in third.

Me on a counter is the everyday ordinal

When the thing you are counting already has a counter, adding me is more natural than banme. Futatsu no kado sounds like two corners, while futatsume no kado is the second corner, and only the second version works for directions. The counter keeps whatever sound changes it normally has, so ikkai becomes ikkaime, hassatsu becomes hassatsume, and mikka becomes mikkame rather than a rebuilt regular form.

This is the ordinal you will hear most in ordinary conversation, because it carries the shape of the thing along with the position. Ninme counts people, kome counts small objects, maime counts flat things, honme counts long things, kenme counts buildings on a night out, and kaime counts attempts. Learners who only know banme end up sounding stiff.

A reply you will hear a lot is Mō ikkaime desu ka, meaning is that already the second time, or Sore ga saisho desu, that is the first one. Notice that saisho and saigo, first and last, replace ordinals entirely at the two ends of a sequence, and they are often the more natural choice than ichibanme and the final number.

Dai for editions, chapters and formal series

Dai is written 第 and goes in front of the number. It labels a unit inside an organised system: lessons, chapters, articles of a contract, editions of an event, and the numbered wars and conferences of history. It is a written and formal register, so you see it far more than you say it, but it appears in spoken announcements at ceremonies and in the classroom.

The number after dai takes its normal Sino-Japanese reading with the usual gemination, so 第一課 is dai-ikka, 第八回 is dai-hakkai and 第十回 is dai-jukkai. Some fixed expressions have dropped the numeral feel entirely: daiichi inshō is a first impression, and daiichi ni is firstly when you are listing reasons.

Giving directions by corners and lights

Street directions in Japan are built almost entirely out of me ordinals, because addresses rarely help a pedestrian. The pattern is a counted landmark, then no, then the landmark noun, then the turn. Practise the four landmarks below until they arrive without thinking, and pair each one with migi ni or hidari ni magatte kudasai.

Ikutsume desu ka is the question you should be ready to answer, and it is also the question to ask when someone gives you directions too fast. The asking-for-directions guide covers the wider conversation; here the goal is simply that the counted landmark comes out correctly.

Floors, exits and numbered signs

Floors use the counter kai, which has its own sound changes: ikkai, nikai, sangai, yonkai, gokai, rokkai, nanakai, hachikai, kyūkai and jukkai, with nangai as the question. Basements take chika in front, so chika ikkai is the first basement level. Floors are usually plain numbers rather than ordinals, because the number is the floor's name, not its position in something you counted.

The same is true of platforms, exits, carriages and counter windows. Sanbansen is platform three, niban deguchi is exit two, and gobanguchi is window five. Only add me when you genuinely counted along a row yourself, as in ue kara sanbanme no hikidashi, the third drawer from the top.

Rankings, results and finishing order

Results use the counter i, written 位, so first place is ichi-i, second is ni-i and third is san-i. It takes ni naru to say you came somewhere, and it combines with inai to mean within the top so many. Banme is possible but sounds like a description of a list rather than a result, so prefer i when there is a competition.

The last two rows show a pattern worth copying: nibanme ni plus an adjective means the second most something. It is built directly on ichiban plus an adjective, which is the ordinary superlative, so the pair ichiban ōkii and nibanme ni ōkii are easy to drill together.

Days, years and anniversaries

For a stretch of time you are living through, the ordinal is me on the time counter. Nihon ni kite ninenme desu means this is my second year since coming to Japan, and it implies the year is still running. That is different from ninenkan, which is a finished span of two years. Learners often say ninen imasu when they mean ninenme desu, and the nuance of ongoing progress is lost.

Anniversaries use shūnen, so kekkon jusshūnen is a tenth wedding anniversary and sōritsu gojusshūnen is a fiftieth founding anniversary. The dates and calendar guide covers the days of the month themselves; what matters here is that mikkame counts days inside a trip while mikka names the third of the month.

Asking and answering about position

Three questions cover almost everything: nanbanme desu ka for a plain sequence, ikutsume desu ka when a tsu counter is natural, and nankaime desu ka for attempts. Each one is answered by repeating the counter, which makes them ideal drill pairs. Practise them as short exchanges rather than as single lines, because the answer is where the sound changes bite.

How to drill ordinals until they are automatic

• Take one counter a day and say its first five ordinals aloud: ikkaime, nikaime, sankaime, yonkaime, gokaime.
• Describe the objects on your desk from the left, forcing yourself to use hidari kara plus banme each time.
• Narrate a route you walk often, one me ordinal per sentence, and time yourself to keep it fluent.
• Read a table of contents aloud with dai in front of every chapter number to fix the gemination.
• Whenever you say a superlative with ichiban, immediately say the nibanme ni version of the same sentence.
• Record the questions nanbanme desu ka, ikutsume desu ka and nankaime desu ka, then answer them cold the next day.