いくつ

• 読み: いくつ
• ローマ字: ikutsu
• 発音: /i.kɯ.tsɯ/

意味

How many; how old. A question word for quantity and age.

Has two primary uses: asking about quantity (りんごはいくつ = how many apples?) and asking about age (おいくつですか = how old are you?). Uses the native Japanese counting system (つ counter). The kanji form 幾つ is sometimes used. For the age meaning, adding お (おいくつ) makes it polite.

例文

1. みかんをいくつ買いますか。
2. お子さんはおいくつですか。
3. 部屋にいすがいくつありますか。

使い方ガイド

場面: shopping, age, counting

トーン: inquisitive

起源と歴史

Composed of いく (how many, from 幾) and つ (the native Japanese counter for general objects). 幾 originally depicted tangled threads, representing an uncountable number.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal