How to list numbers of things?

Question

Where do you place the counter in Japanese when you want to specify how many of something there are, especially if you're listing multiple things? I believe the counter usually goes after the particle associated with the noun: >I bought 3 pencils => 私は鉛筆{えんぴつ}を三本{さんぼん}買{か}いました。 But what do you do when there are multiple things you want to count? Are these sentences correct? >I bought two books and three pencils. => 私は本{ほん}を二冊{にさつ}と鉛筆{えんぴつ}を三本{さんぼん}買{か}いました。 ? >Two books and three pencils are on the desk. => 本{ほん}が二冊{にさつ}と鉛筆{えんぴつ}が三本{さんぼん}机{つくえ}の上{うえ}にあります。 Can you use the の particle to mean the same thing? Would it change the meaning or nuance? >私は二冊{にさつ}の本{ほん}と三本{さんぼん}の鉛筆{えんぴつ}を買{か}いました。 ?

Answer 1

Both sentences are correct, but I think the 1st sentences sounds more natural. If you want to put an emphasis on "how many" the second the sentence sounds okay. There is a slight difference of nuance, but the different is very small and I even had to think if there was any difference.

Answer 2

These are both correct forms.

ITEM + #(COUNTER)-TO-ITEM + #(COUNTER)

鉛筆を二本　と　ノートを三冊　買いました。

#(COUNTER)-NO-ITEM TO #(COUNTER)-NO-ITEM

二本の鉛筆　と　三冊のノートを　買いました。

The second one sounds more like "two of the X and three of the Y"