Intestinal metaplasia of the human stomach was classified into two types, complete and incomplete. The complete type was associated with the intestinal marker enzymes sucrose α-d-glucohydrolase, α,α-trehalase, aminopeptidase (microsomal) (APM), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Tissue of this type contained goblet cells and Paneth's cells but not high-iron diamine (HID)-positive mucin staining with HID-Alcian blue. The incomplete type of intestinal metaplasia was associated with sucrose α-d-glucohydrolase, APM, goblet cells, and HID-positive mucin but not with α,α-trehalase, ALP, or Paneth's cells. For the examination of the distribution of the complete and incomplete types in 84, 27, and 16 resected specimens of human stomach with gastric carcinoma, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, respectively, disaccharidases were located with Tes-Tape. Specimens with intestinal metaplasia were divided into three classes: complete type only (class I), incomplete type only (class II), and a mixture of areas of the complete and incomplete types (class III). Of the 84 specimens from patients with gastric carcinoma, intestinal metaplasia was found in 76 (91%), and the percentages of specimens of classes I, II, and III were 32, 22, and 46, respectively. In these specimens, the percent incidence of class I increased and that of class II decreased with age. Of the 27 specimens from patients with gastric ulcer, 16 (59%) showed intestinal metaplasia and 10 of the 16 (63%) specimens were of class II. Of the 16 specimens from patients with duodenal ulcer, only 3 (19%) specimens showed intestinal metaplasia and all of them were of class II. The relationships of the complete and incomplete types of intestinal metaplasia to gastric carcinoma were studied in 26 foci of minute carcinoma of the stomach less than 5 mm in largest diameter. Nineteen of 20 (95%) foci of the intestinal type of minute carcinoma were surrounded by intestinal metaplasia and 16 foci (80%) were surrounded by the incomplete type of intestinal metaplasia.