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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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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Is the structure of 五虎上将 the same as 三好学生?
Today I read the Romance of Three Kingdoms and found that there is a title awarded to the five generals 五虎上将.
First I thought that 虎 was a measure word like 个, but there seems no other examples to ...
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Omission of Measure words in Mandarin
Here are some examples which I have found in genuine Chinese textbooks and material.
They all have a measure word omitted for unknown reasons.
我把这()事儿忘了。
您觉得这()音乐怎么样？
第三()医院
这()书房干净吗？
亿光四()大产品
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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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How to correctly use "多" to say "more than"?
I know a similar question has already been answered but I still have a lot of doubts.
To my understanding if a number is ≤9, you need to put "多" after the measure word (or after the name if it doesn'...
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Is it permissible to use 个 in any nouns as a measure word?
In the book titled "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide", the author writes the following:
In mainland China, in informal speech, 个 can be used as the classifier for almost ...
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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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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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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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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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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 is the correct measure word for 问题 (question)?
I'm not sure if I should say 一件问题 or 一项问题. I know I can get away with 一个问题, but I'd like to know the "correct" measure word.
Note: I would like to use the tag measure-word, but I can't. I used "...
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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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When referring to a previously mentioned object, such as a computer 一台电脑, do you say 这个/那个 or 这台/那台?
When referring to a previously mentioned object, such as a computer (一台电脑）, do you say 这个/那个 or 这台/那台?
i.e. does the measure word used in 这个/那个 depend on the object, or is it always the generic 个?
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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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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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Why did my teacher mark down 一把 as a classifier for 手機?
My teacher detracted a few points for using 一把手機。It seems that 一台，一部, 一個 are better choices. However, I find many occurrences of 一把手機
Google search
Is it a dialectal phenomenon? Maybe in dialects ...
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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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When can a classifier be omitted? E.g. in 一女子跟着自己的包进了安检机
I know in Ancient Chinese there often was no classifier. But sometimes I notice the same phenomenon in modern Chinese. Today I heard the sentence:
一女子跟着自己的包进了安检机
For which words is such a usage ...
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What is the difference between 一只狗 and 一条狗?
I've been told by native speakers that the former refers to little dogs while the latter is for bigger dogs. I also have been told that the latter has a negative connotation. I'm wondering:
how ...
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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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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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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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