Last week I published a post about counters. Since then, I updated the content with more counters. Please have a look at Counters | EasyJapaneseE.
When we count flowers, depending on what we focus on, we can use a few different counters.
If we focus on the bunch, you can use 束（たば）, this picture has 一束（ひとたば）.
今日（きょう）、バラを一束（ひとたば）もらった。= Today I was given a bunch of roses, although 今日バラの花束（はなたば）をもらった would be more common unless the receiver gets given bunches of flowers all of the time!
If you are ordering roses at a florist, they would focus on the stems, which are long slender objects, so you can use the counter 本（ほん/ぽん/ぼん）.
バラを14本（じゅうよんほん）ください。 – In Japan, however, an odd number is preferred over an even number when it comes to a bouquet.
If you focus on the actual flowers, flowers are counted by 輪（りん）, so this picture has 14輪 （じゅうよんりん） of roses. Sometimes there are more than one flowers on one stem, so the number of 本 may be different from the number of 輪.
一輪（いちりん）挿（ざ）し = a small flower vase
大輪（たいりん）の花（はな） = a large flower. However it is used metaphorically to mean “a big success” or “a person of an exceptional talent.”
If you’ve liked this post, please share it with your friends using your social media accounts.
For more beginners’ study material, please visit JLPT N5 Grammar and JLPT N5 Kanji pages.
