Questions tagged [measure-word]
For questions about measure words and classifiers (量詞 or 量词), e.g., 個/个, 雙/双, 張/张
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Meanings of the various measure words for 房子
There are several measure words or classifiers that we can use with the Chinese noun 房子 fángzi. The ones I've come across are 棟 dòng, 幢 zhuàng, 座 zuò, 所 suǒ, 套 tào and 間 jiān. Now I know measure words ...
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What’s with “一题问题”?
Duolingo keeps drilling me on this sentence:
我不懂这一题问题
My question is, why “一题问题”? It looks to me as though 一题, coming as it does after 这, were being used as a classifier for 问题. But according to ...
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Why do you say 個 in 我接個電話?
I think I have seen a scene like this several times in (Taiwanese) TV dramas:
You are talking with someone when your phone rings. You say to that person 我接個電話 and go on to answer the phone.
I might be ...
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他一叠声应着 How does 叠 work here?
for 他一叠声应着
I know what yidiesheng means repeat the sound, but I just wanted to know the structure is die a measure word here? A pile of sounds? It doesn't actually say anything like that in the ...
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How did Chinese develop so many different classifiers?
One of the weirdest things about Chinese is the classifier. It's 一栋楼, not 一个楼, and 一只鱼, not 一个鱼. My question is: how (and why) did Chinese develop so many different classifiers? It makes sense to me ...
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Using determiners with mass nouns
How would one use determiners（這/那）with mass nouns like 水?
I don't mean like phrases like 這杯水, where it's talking about a glass of water, but more like a large body of water, steam, or river.
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Can classifiers be used poetically?
Does anyone know of literary uses of classifiers being used for objects that they wouldn't normally be used for? Like perhaps you could use 条 for people to dehumanize them (as though they were fish) ...
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What does 李友的一篇日记 mean?
For context, this is from lesson eight of Integrated Chinese.
I know 李友的 means "Li You's" and 一篇日记 is "a/one dictionary", but 李友的一篇日记 together doesn't make sense to me.
Is it just ...
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Words 课 and 路 act as measure words
During my studies, I came across these sentences:
a) 这课容易吗？
b) 请问去王府井是不是坐这路车?
It seems that in these examples, the words 课 and 路 act as measure-words.
Because the measure-word for 课 is 堂. So, I guess ...
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Adjectives before or after classifiers in Chinese
So far, I have learned that adjectives come after classifiers and before nouns.
For example,
一只黑猫:a black cat
During my studies, I came across this sentence:
他在自己家附近的一间办公室里工作。
In this sentence, 自己家附近 ...
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General-purpose 个 measure word instead of special measure word
The measure word 个 is often said to be the general-purpose measure word for nouns that the speaker doesn't know its measure-word. On the other hand, some nouns have well-established measure words.
Let'...
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Why is the word 个 omitted before 国 in a question like 你是哪国人？
I've read in the Chinese Grammar Wiki, that if you want to express "which", you have to use the following sentence structure:
Subj. + Verb + 哪个 (+ Noun) ?
But in the book HSK Standard ...
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Why are measure words omitted after specifiers and before some verbs?
这（个）是我的，this is mine: Before 是，normally I would omit 个
这没有道理, this doesn't make sense: Before 有 I would find 个 strange. Although maybe that is because 有道理 is an abstract concept. If I was talking ...
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一 [份/个/项] 工作??? What is the difference?
Not sure if there is actually a difference, but I see the word 工作 used with different measure words and I've never got to the bottom of what the difference is. I recently saw 换一份工作， so I guess that is ...
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Optional measure words
I've seen many times that some nouns are used with and without measure words. Is it optional to use measure words with certain words?
The most notable ones I have come across,
星期
下星期，下个星期
一星期，两个星期
...
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The measure word for 本子: 一个本子 or 一本本子
The word 本子 means "notebook". So by analogy, it is deduced that the measure word for it, must be 本 just like 一本书
But in Chinese learning materials, I see this word coming with the measure ...
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Using 二 before measure words instead of 两
We often read in grammar books, that before measure words one should not use 二. Instead, we should say 两
Hence, 二本书 would be incorrect. One should say 两本书.
But I have come across two cases in genuine ...
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Is 多少个人 incorrect?
I was studying Chinese grammar from a textbook. Somewhere in the book, it explains the difference between 几 and 多少. The book says that 几 needs a classifier. But using a classifier with 多少 is optional.
...
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Can 道 be used as a measure word for 笑脸 like "一道笑脸“
I was listening to 曾经的那个人 by 梦然. You can check out the song here.
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9B%BE%E7%BB%8F%E7%9A%84%E9%82%A3%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA/21270421
Or here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/...
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Flexibility of Chinese measure words
I know every classifier in Chinese has its own usage and place. For example 头(tou2) is for domesticated animals, and should not be used for a "refrigerator".
What has become a question for ...
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A proper measure word for dishes of multiple culinary categories
When I've learned about measure words 盘 (plate) and 碗 (bowl), I've started to wonder about an important aspect of their usage.
There are some dishes that can be served both as either 第一道菜 (first ...
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When to use classifier
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
我吃个苹果。
Or it should be either,
我吃苹果
Or,
我吃一个苹果
Is it correct to use classifiers without any number and demonstratives?
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Finding appropriate classifier
"www.mdbg.net" mentions classifiers for almost all Chinese nouns. But there have been some cases where it doesn't suggest any classifiers.
Examples are:
电阻器:resistor
电容器:capacitor
计算器:...
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Classifier after classifier
We know that the classifier for 瓶(píng):bottle is 个. 一个瓶:a bottle
On the other hand, the word 瓶(píng):bottle itself, can be a classsifer for liquids like water. So if we want to say "a bottle of ...
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Singular and Plural implied by classifier
I have always seen, when referring to plural nouns, the word 些 is used after demonstrative pronouns (这,那). For example, 这些书:these books.
Does it mean that if we say 这本书, it can only have singular ...
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Are there other examples of 一辆车 ("a car") vs. 车辆 ("vehicle") and 一匹马 ("a horse") vs. 马匹 ("horse")?
一辆车 (a car) vs. 车辆 (vehicle)
一匹马 (a horse) vs. 马匹 (horse)
In these examples, we take 车 and 马 and append their measure words to form new words: 车辆 and 马匹, respectively. I'm wondering if there are ...
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Adjective before classifier
I was reading a short story on Du Chinese and came across this phrase 一大亩瓜田。
The app described 亩 as a classifier for fields.
I haven't learned yet of the adjective coming before the classifier. Is ...
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“几只苹果？” or "多少苹果？"
Tatoeba contains 2 sententes with the same translations:
几只苹果？
多少苹果？
Is there difference between these sentences? What measure words can be used with 苹果?
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What are the HSK3.0 measure words as per the textbook 《汉语国际教育用词语声调组合及轻重音格式实用手册》?
Question: What are the HSK3.0 measure words?
I went through the book 汉语国际教育用词语声调组合及轻重音格式实用手册 by 刘英林 [ed.] (considered the likely candidate for the upcoming HSK3.0 vocabulary) and inspected what was ...
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What's the difference between classifiers and measure words?
The terms classifier and measure word are often used interchangeably, with the latter being (reportedly) more common in language courses.
They both translate to 量词 (literally "measure word") ...
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Purpose of the reduplication in 一步一步地往上爬
（A）别着急，一步一步地往上爬，爬不动的时候就休息一会儿。
（B）我请田芳一句一句地给我纠正。
I learned about the reduplication of Measure words (e.g:个个，天天 ) but these sentences use a different structure.
（1）What is the purpose of this ...
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Why is 条 the measure word being used in 那条街名是以一个将军的名字命名的
I know that the measure word for 街 is 条, but in this sentence the subject being identified is 街名, a word for "street name". My understanding is that a "name" has measure word 个:
...
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Expressing existence with 有: Are measure words compulsory?
I learn a new structure with 有.
Place + 有 + Object
I wonder if measure words are compulsory. I see everyone says: 我家有很多花。以前有一座桥。那个商店没有面包。
But nobody says: 我家有花。以前有桥。
So, are measure words ...
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Use of 成 / 乘 number quantifiers in Cantonese
I learned in Cantonese class that adding 成 to a Number can imply a degree of something. For example, 七成 means 70%.
I explored further and it seems that it can be used to describe the rarity of your ...
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一张网页 or 一个网页 ("a webpage"): which is the better choice of measure word, and why?
I just want to say "a webpage", and the two natural options are
一个网页
一张网页
It's not hard to find examples of both:
访问一个网页的全过程[src]
我的第一张网页范例[src]
It seems natural to use the measure ...
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Nouns that don't require a measure word
Some of the time nouns don't require measure words.
三年，四周，五天，六秒，七日 ...
Are there any more nouns (time nouns or otherwise) that don't require a MW ?
Is there a comprehensive list somewhere ?
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Using measure words for "one [thing]"
I came across this sentence:
一人说一句。
Yī rén shuō yī jù.
Each person say one sentence.
There are no measure words after either of the 一's. Is it a rule that you don't have to use measure words for ...
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是个[adj + noun] vs 是[adj + noun]
A flashcard asked me to translate "Beijing is a big place". I proposed "北京是大地方“ and the answer was "北京是个大地方" (namely I omitted the 个).
1) Is my answer grammatically correct? I thought that, unlike ...
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What measure word should I use when I have two nouns with different measure words?
If someone asks me:
你在动物园看了几（___）老虎和马呀？
Choose the correct answer:
a) 个
b) 只
c) 匹
d) other ______
e) all of the above
f) none of the above
g) screw Chinese, I'm going to study Klingon
Thanx!
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What's the difference between 一份工作 and 一家工作?
I just encountered in the HSK4 book 一份工作 while I'm accustomed to 一家工作. Judging from Baidu (一份工作; 一家工作), both are grammatically correct and widely used.
I am unsure if they're different or not. My ...
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What does 回 do in 这回事?
I have come across quite a few instance of 这回事(儿) instead of 这件事.
Is there is a real difference between the two, or is it just a syntactical preference of the speaker?
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Is 身 commonly used as a measure word?
My Wenlin dictionary describes 身 as also a measure word for "suits of clothing".
Is it commonly used by Chinese speakers?
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Is it OK to use 子 as a measure word
my Wenlin dictionary describes 子 as also a measure word for bundles/hanks etc.
Can anyone confirm this ? by sample sentence ?
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Why is there repetition of the measure words in 一把把小扇子 and 一枚枚邮票? [duplicate]
This is from my 3-rd grade Chinese 语文 book (transcript is here):
秋天的雨，有一盒五彩缤纷的颜料。你看，它把黄色给了银杏树，黄黄的叶子像一把把小扇子，扇哪扇哪，扇走了夏天的炎热。它把红色给了枫树，红红的枫叶像一枚枚邮票，飘哇飘哇，邮来了秋天的凉爽。金黄色是给田野的，看，田野像金色的海洋。橙红色是给果树的，橘子、柿子你挤我碰，...
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What does 家 mean in 家医院?
I came across 家医院 in example sentences in an anki deck I downloaded.
I know that 医院 means hospital. I tried to look up 家医院 in two dictionaries but could not find it.
What is 家医院? Is it equivalent ...
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How does 一个， 一位，一名 change the meaning of a sentence?
I saw two versions of a sentence "He is a teacher":
他是老师。 VS 他是一个老师。
After googling I've become even more confused by versions:
他是一位老师。 AND 他是一名老师。
Are they actually different? What is the ...
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Differences between 条 and 根
Both of these two words 条 and 根 in the dictionary are said to be measure words for long and thin objects. What are the differences between them?
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How to say "this" in "This is my third time in Taiwan"?
Several times I've told people that I'm Taiwan for the third time and everybody understood me just fine, but I'm not sure I'm saying it right.
這個是我的三次在臺灣
I know 次 is the word for "time" in this ...
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Why is a measure word not required in 一年有三百六十五天?
Consider the following two sentences:
A year has twelve months
一年有十二個月
yī nián yǒu shí’èr gè yuè
A year has three hundred and sixty-five days
一年有三百六十五天
yī nián yǒu sānbǎi liùshíwǔ tiān
Why is the ...
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Difference between 一顿饭 and 一碗饭
The measure word of 饭 is 顿 and 碗. But what is the difference between the two and how should I classify them?
At first I thought 一碗饭 means a plate of food, for example if you have rice and chicken, ...
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