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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Learning how to use measure / count words properly
Chinese has measure (or count) words like “个” (一个人), “部” (三部车), etc.
These always get me confused, and there way too many of them. Are there any general rules that can help me memorize them?
Also, ...
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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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Purpose of duplicating measure words?
I came across the following sentence in New Practical Chinese Reader 2, lesson 21, paraphrasing:
南方的花园
中国人常说： “上有天堂，下有苏杭。”意思是苏州和杭州这两个城市跟天堂一样美。它们都在中国的南方，是中国南方的“花园”。它们的美在哪儿呢？－－杭州的山水和苏州的园林。苏州的园林非常有名。...
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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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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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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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Syntax of 'Number Number MeasureWord'
What are the rules governing expressions such as 七八成 (seventy or eighty percent) or 一两个 (one or two)? Must the numerals be monosyllables? What are the restrictions on the measure words? Can there be ...
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Why is 挺 used as measure word for machine guns?
I recently noticed that the word 挺 (which I know mainly as an intensifier) also is the measure word for 機槍, machine guns. Now machine guns are a fairly recent invention, so I am wondering: Is it known ...
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Why is 汉子 measured in 条?
汉子 (son/person of Han) was - in ancient China - a term used by various people north of China to refer to the Chinese, but over time has been used by the Chinese to refer to themselves, and by the Qing ...
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List of classifiers for Cantonese?
There are many resources listing classifiers for Mandarin, but do any pages exist that document classifiers for Cantonese?
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When to use "下一个" and when just "下一" to translate English "next"?
When I looked up how to say "next" some time in the last couple of months I found "下一个".
So I was using that and seemed to be mostly understood. But then I started noticing that just "下一" was used by ...
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Is classifier/measure word required after demonstrative?
I have been reading into this topic and found a bit conflicting information - some say it is mandatory to put a classifier after demonstrative (e.g. zhè), while some say it actually is not mandatory.
...
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Chinese countable/uncountable nouns (How do they work? Examples?)
I recall in Mandarin class, my teacher would often discuss an idea about countable nouns. I never really understood how one would easily determine when one is faced with a countable vs uncountable ...
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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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Measure words for disrespect
I know certain measure words convey respect, for example:
一位客人
Is there something similar I could use to emphatically disrespect someone, as in:
他是一?饭桶
Or is just using 个 disrespectful enough?
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What's the correct classifier for `房子`?
In my little bit of Mandarin experience, I have got that the classifier for 房子 is 座, and also felt that 座 is usually used to refer to a building. However, I have just read that someone here over ...
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Why 回 is used in 回事 instead of 件事?
In this dialogue:
A: 昨天他开车的时候，头撞了一下。
B: 怎么一回事?
Why is the classifier 回 used instead of 件?
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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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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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What's wrong with 一个年?
From what I can tell, 一个年 is completely wrong because you can never use a classifier together with 年. The situation is different from a phrase like 一个朋友.
My question is: why? Is there a reason why 年 ...
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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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Is there a difference in meaning between 那年夏天 and 那个夏天
I asked a native speaker whether these phrases were equivalent in meaning and she said no (although agreeing that they both ultimately do "point" to the same concept). I asked if 年 here is basically a ...
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Is 个 acceptable for all nouns? [duplicate]
My Chinese teacher says she doesn't care. But for future reference, is 个 acceptable as a measure word for all nouns?
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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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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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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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Where to put the adjective when asking for something that comes in multiple sizes?
This morning in Taipei I went to buy a coffee.
I knew how to say 我要一杯咖啡 and I knew the word for big is 大.
But I didn't know where in the sentence to put the 大. Does it go before 杯 to mean "big cup"? ...
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Which classifier for window (窗户) is regularly used?
The dictionary lists two classifiers for window (窗户) 个 and 扇. Are both of these in common usage? If so is there any difference in the register? Does one sound more formal, etc?
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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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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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I'd like to know any resource to check the Measure Word for a given word
There are many resources that offer a list of Measure Words, but I'm interested in finding a resource where I can type a word and get its Measure Word back.
Thank you very much in advance to anyone ...
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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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Why does the order of 人口 change?
One of the first questions in my book is 你家有几口人？ But the book highlights the word "人口" as people. Why does it change? Is it because 口 is the measure word for 人? Could you say 三口人口? When do you use ...
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The use of 地 after multiple, related nouns (e.g. “鸡”，“猫”，“狗”地)
In the following sentence:
秀春决定自己教他。丈夫好像明白了秀春的意思，跟着她“鸡”，“猫”，“狗”地念起来。
It seems that in this sentence, the meaning is something like the following, and it uses 地 coupled with animal nouns.
...
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What's the difference between 顿 and 道 as a measure word for meals?
What's the difference between 顿 and 道 as a measure word for meals? What each measure word stresses?
吃了一顿饭
吃了一道饭
Looks like 顿 used to mean 点头 diǎntóu or 鞠躬 jūgōng. If it's so, then presenting "a dish"...
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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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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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Combining noun and measure word
I have read an article which shows this sentence 一本书, and then if want to make it plural, it becomes 书本, so my question is it for all noun and measure word?
Example:
一首歌 becomes 歌首
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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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Is it OK to use 只 (only) when it already uses 只 as a measure word?
In the following sentence:
”银座养蜂项目“始于2006年，目前在银座的三个大厦屋顶都设有养蜂场，各有20-30万只蜜蜂。
The sentence means:
"Ginza Bees Project" started in 2016. Now the roof of all three buildings in Ginza have the bees ...
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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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How many supplies did Liu Bei have at Dangyang?
I was attempting to translate this passage from the Records of the Three Kingdoms:
比到當陽，衆十餘萬，輜重數千兩，日行十餘里，別遣關羽乘船數百艘，使會江陵。
The background of this is: Cao Cao had invaded Jingzhou, Liu Bei was ...
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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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Classifiers for rooms
What is the best classifier to use for rooms?
一 _____ 卧室
两 _____客厅
三 _____洗衣房
What about houses or buildings?
I know there is 一层楼 for a floor / level / story of a building, what about ...
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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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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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Use 個 if the correct measure word is unknown
How bad does it sound if I use 個 for everything if most measure words are just still unknown to me, or I don't want to end up using a wrong one?
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个 ge usage plus 每 mei
Anybody can explain me the reason why:
-we don't say 每个年 but 每年? and, on the contrary,
we must say 每个月 and not 每月?
-Is there somethig to do with the fact that sometimes we must use 全 (全身)instead of 整个 ...
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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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