枚まい

Meanings

counter for thin, flat objects; sheet; plate; coin

The everyday counter for flat things such as paper, tickets, plates, cards, photos, coins, and similar sheet-like objects.

紙かみを三さん枚まいコピーしてください。
Please make three copies of the paper.
切きっ符ぷを一いち枚まい買かった。
I bought one ticket.

counter

serving of soba; portion of gyōza

Restaurant and food-counting use for one portion or tray/plate of certain foods, especially soba; gyōza may also be counted this way in some ordering contexts.

もりそばを二に枚まいください。
Two servings of mori soba, please.

counter

sumo rank position; wrestler at a given rank

sumo

Sumo jargon for positions on the ranking sheet, and by extension the wrestlers occupying those positions, as in 前頭三枚目.

相撲すもうでは、前まえ頭がしら三さん枚まい目めのように番ばん付づけ上じょうの位い置ちを枚まいで表あらわす。
In sumo, positions on the ranking sheet are expressed with mai, as in maegashira number three.

counter

field; rice paddy plot

Used to count individual flat plots of farmland, especially rice paddies; most natural with words such as 田, 田んぼ, and 畑.

祖そ父ふは山やまあいに田たんぼを三さん枚まい持もっている。
My grandfather has three rice paddies in a mountain valley.

counter

palanquin bearer

Archaic or historical counter for palanquin bearers; not a productive modern counting use.

古ふるい用よう法ほうでは、「駕籠かごかき二に枚まい」のように担かつぎ手てを枚まいで数かぞえた。
In older usage, bearers could be counted with mai, as in 'two palanquin bearers.'

See all 480 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉を〈数かず〉枚まい買かうto buy a certain number of flat items (paper, tickets, etc.)
切きっ符ぷを二に枚まい買かった。
I bought two tickets.
そばを〈数かず〉枚まい食たべるto eat a certain number of servings of soba
昼ひるにそばを二に枚まい食たべた。
I had two servings of soba for lunch.
前まえ頭がしら〈数かず〉枚まい目めthe nth-ranked wrestler in the front rows of the makuuchi division
彼かれは今こん場ば所しょ、前まえ頭がしら三さん枚まい目めだ。
This tournament, he is ranked at front-row position three.
田たんぼが〈数かず〉枚まいあるto have a certain number of rice paddy plots
この村むらには田たんぼが十じゅう枚まいある。
There are ten rice paddies in this village.
〈物もの〉を〈数かず〉枚まい撮とるto take a certain number of photos
旅りょ行こう先さきで写しゃ真しんを五ご枚まい撮とった。
I took five photos on the trip.

Grammar

一人ひとり・二に本ほん・三さん冊さつnumbers and countersN5

Kanji

枚sheet of..., counter for flat thin objects or sheets

Related words

張ちょう
枚 is the general-purpose counter for flat objects like paper or plates, while 張 is reserved for things that are stretched or spread out, such as bows, kotos, or curtains.
片へん
枚 is the general counter for flat objects like paper or plates, while 片 specifically counts small broken-off fragments or petals rather than whole items.
葉よう
枚 is the general counter for flat objects like paper or plates, while 葉 is a more literary counter used specifically for leaves and sheet-like items such as photographs.

Don't confuse with

個こN5sense 1
個 is the all-purpose counter for discrete objects, while 枚 is reserved for flat, sheet-like things like paper or plates.
本ほんN5sense 1
本 counts long, thin objects such as pencils or bottles, whereas 枚 counts flat objects such as paper or coins.
皿さらN4sense 1
皿 counts platefuls of food or the dishes themselves in everyday speech, while 枚 counts the physical plate as a flat object and, in some food contexts, servings like soba.

Written forms

枚まいUsage99%
Standard kanji form for the counter まい, especially after numerals such as 一枚, 二枚, and 三枚.
まいUsage1%

Etymology

A Sino-Japanese-style counter written with 枚 and read まい. The spelling is conventionally associated with counting flat pieces or sheets; no more specific historical derivation is specified.