How to Say ‘Four people’ in Japanese
4名です
4 mei desu
[yon mei desu]
💬 Usage Tip: [です] makes it a complete polite sentence: “[It is] four people.” Great for answering reservation or seating questions.
🇯🇵 In Japan: A very common reply when staff ask [何名様ですか]. Short, polite answers are perfectly normal in Japan.
Phrase Breakdown
4名
4 mei
4 people; 4 guests (polite counter for people)
名 (めい) is a polite counter used for counting people, often in formal situations like reservations or customer service.
4名ですね。
That will be four people, right?
Words in this phrase
4
4
[yon]
four
The number 4. Here it helps state the number of people in the party.
4名です。
There are four of us.
名
mei
[mei]
counter for people / guests
名 is the polite counter for people, commonly used when telling staff how many guests are in your group.
4名です。
We are a party of four.
です
desu
[desu]
is / am / are
です is a polite sentence ending that makes the statement courteous and standard in customer situations.
4名です。
There are four of us.
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