階(かい)

かい

counter

floors, stories

number

1. floors, stories (of a building)

A counter for floors or stories of a building.

私(わたし)の部屋(へや)は五(ご)階(かい)です。

My room is on the fifth floor.

何(なん)階(かい)に行(い)きますか。

What floor are you going to?

一(いっ)階(かい)にトイレがあります。

There is a restroom on the first floor.

いっかい with small っ

エレベーターで十(じゅっ)階(かい)まで行(い)きましょう。

Let's take the elevator to the tenth floor.

受付(うけつけ)は二(に)階(かい)にありますが、会議室(かいぎしつ)は五(ご)階(かい)にあります。

The reception is on the second floor, but the meeting room is on the fifth floor.

階(かい) is the counter for building floors and stories.

Counting patterns

一(いっ)階(かい): first floor (with っ)
三(さん)階(がい): third floor (voiced が)
何(なん)階(がい): what floor? (voiced が)
二(に)階(かい), 四(よん)階(かい), 五(ご)階(かい), 六(ろっ)階(かい), 七(なな)階(かい), 八(はっ)階(かい)/八(はち)階(かい), 九(きゅう)階(かい), 十(じゅっ)階(かい)

JAPANESE VS. BRITISH ENGLISH:
The first floor in Japan (一(いっ)階(かい)) corresponds to the ground floor in British English. There is no separate 'ground floor' and 'first floor' distinction as in British usage.

Related Words

Homophone: 回(かい) (counter for times)

core

Added 2026.1.7 21:03 · Revised 2026.9.2 11:55

01000/01034_kai