か

JLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

counter for Sino-Japanese words

usually written using kana alone

Attaches directly to a number and precedes the noun being counted. Common with months (か月), places (か所), countries (か国), etc. Often written as ヶ or ケ in compounds.

３か月げつ前まえに引ひっ越こしました。
I moved three months ago.
このビルには５か所しょの出で入いり口ぐちがある。
This building has five entrances/exits.

Usage patterns

〈数かず〉か月げつa period of ~ months
彼かれは三さんか月げつアメリカに留りゅう学がくした。
He studied abroad in America for three months.
〈数かず〉か所しょ~ places/spots
この文ぶん章しょうには三さんか所しょ間ま違ちがいがある。
There are three mistakes in this text.
〈数かず〉か国こく~ countries
彼かの女じょは五ごか国こくを旅りょ行こうした。
She traveled to five countries.

Grammar

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

Kanji

箇counter for articles
個individual, counter for articles
个counter for articles, individual

Related words

つ
つ is the native Japanese general counter used with kun-readings of numbers (ひとつ, ふたつ), whereas か attaches to on-yomi numbers in Sino-Japanese compounds such as 三か月.

Don't confuse with

個こN5
か and 個 look and sound related as generic counters, but か attaches to Sino-Japanese counting compounds like か月・か所・か国, while 個 is the everyday counter for small discrete objects.

Written forms

かUsage100%
The most common spelling; usually written in kana.
カ
kana-only spelling
Katakana variant, often seen in signs or stylized writing.
ヶ
Small ke form, commonly used in place names and some counters (e.g., ヶ月, ヶ所).
ケ
Full-size katakana ke, sometimes used as a variant of ヶ.
箇か
Formal kanji, rarely used in modern writing.
個か
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form for this counter; usually read こ.
个か
rarely-used kanji form
Archaic variant, almost never used.

Etymology

Derived from the kanji 箇 (ka), a counter for items. The small ke form ヶ is a simplification of 箇, and か is the phonetic reading.