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Is 片方 only used for things that come in pairs? For example I can say:

> 彼は **片方** の眉を吊り上げた。  
>  He raised an eyebrow.

But can I say:

> 彼は左の手の **片方** の指を折れていた。  
>  He broke one of the fingers on his left hand.

or would it have to be just 彼は左の手の指を一本折れていた (or whatever the counter for
fingers is)?
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2015-12-30T17:00:10.983
30150
2015-12-31T01:04:30.447
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word-usage
Is 片方 only used for things that come in twos?
Yes, it is limited to just two.

In fact, all the monolingual dictionaries I searched defined it using the word
対{つい} (pair). For example,
[dictionary.goo.ne.jp:](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/42080/meaning/m0u/%E7%89%87%E6%96%B9/)

> 対になっているものの一つ。  
>  One item from a pair

So it would make sense to use it to mention one of your two hands, but not one
of your five fingers.
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2015-12-30T21:19:41.243
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2015-12-30T21:19:41.243
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片方 means one of a pair. But 片方の眉を吊り上げる、somehow sounds awkward to us, though
there's no grammatical problem. We say simply 眉を吊り上げる when we are angry, or
heard a shocking thing. This is possibly we Japanese don't have the idea of
singular / plural forms of noun. You cannot say 彼は左の手の片方の指を折れていた for "He broke
one of the fingers on his left hand." You can say 彼は左の手の一本の指が折れていた, or
彼は左の手の一本の指を折った。But be aware that 一本の指が折れていた means status of his fingers, i.e.
One of fingers of his left hand is broken , while 一本の指を折った refers to his
action, i.e. He broke the bone of one of his fingers. You cannot say
'指を一本折れていた.' You should say '指が一本折れていた.'The function of noun, 指 in "指を" is an
objective. 指 in "指が" is a subject.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-30T23:45:29.630
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2015-12-31T01:04:30.447
2015-12-31T01:04:30.447
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answer