Asking for Quantities and Age in Japanese

いくつ is a versatile question word used to ask about the number or quantity of general items, often translated as "how many".

The Japanese word いくつ is a fundamental question word with two primary functions: Asking "how many" for general quantities and asking "how old" for someone's age. While these might seem like distinct concepts to English speakers, they share the same underlying idea of asking for a count or number.

When asking about quantity, いくつ is highly versatile. It pairs with the traditional native Japanese counting system (一つ, 二つ, 三つ, and so on). Because of this, it is the go-to question word for asking about the number of small, three-dimensional, or general items that do not require a strict, specific counter. Depending on the sentence, いくつ usually goes before the relevant action verb, before existence verbs like あります, or before i-adjective predicates like 欲しい.

It is important to remember that いくつ is not used for everything. If an item strictly requires a specific counter—such as counting people with 何人 or flat objects with 何枚—using those specific question words is much more natural than using いくつ. However, for everyday objects like apples, chairs, or bags, いくつ is the perfect and most natural choice.

The second major function of いくつ is asking for a person or animal's age. In this context, it acts as a rough counterpart to asking "how old" in English. While you can also use 何歳 (asking literally for the number of years), いくつ is the traditional, native Japanese way to ask about age. In these sentences, いくつ or its polite form goes right before ですか.

Politeness is crucial when asking about age in Japanese. Asking an adult their age using just いくつですか can sound slightly blunt or direct. Instead, it is standard practice to add the honorific prefix お to the question expression itself, creating おいくつ. Note that this お attaches directly to the question word itself to elevate the politeness of the inquiry, making おいくつですか the most natural and respectful way to ask a colleague, superior, or new acquaintance their age.