〜本(ほん)

〜本(ほん) counts long, thin, cylindrical objects.

What IT counts

• Writing tools: 鉛筆(えんぴつ), ペン, 筆(ふで)
• Bottles/containers: ビール, 水(みず)のボトル
• Elongated items: 傘(かさ), バナナ, 木(き)
• Routes and lines: 道(みち), 電車(でんしゃ)の路線(ろせん), 川(かわ)
• By extension, things that run from start to finish in one stretch: 電話(でんわ) (phone calls), 映画(えいが) (films), and a goal in soccer

Counting patterns

• ぽん (after 1, 6, 8, 10): 一本(いっぽん), 六本(ろっぽん), 八本(はっぽん), 十本(じゅっぽん)
• ぼん (after 3): 三本(さんぼん)
• ほん (others): 二本(にほん), 四本(よんほん), 五本(ごほん), 七本(ななほん), 九本(きゅうほん)

Question form

何本(なんぼん): how many (long objects)?

Similar words

• 〜枚(まい) is the shape opposite: wide and thin rather than long and thin.
• 〜冊(さつ) counts bound volumes. Despite the shared character, a 本(ほん) (book) is never counted with 〜本(ほん) — it is 一冊(いっさつ).
• 〜個(こ) takes over when an object is small and has no dominant long axis.

Common expressions

一本(いっぽん) is also the call for a full point in 柔道(じゅうどう) and 剣道(けんどう), awarded for a decisive technique.