Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 5

Lesson 5: Measure words

Text

Simplified Characters	Traditional Characters
山村咏怀 【宋】邵雍 一去二三里 烟村四五家 亭台六七座 八九十枝花	山村詠懷 【宋】邵雍 一去二三里 煙村四五家 亭臺六七座 八九十枝花
Pīnyīn	English
Shāncun Yǒnghuái 【Sòng】Shàoyōng Yí qù èrsān lǐ Yāncūn sìwǔjiā Tíngtái liùqīzuò Bājiǔshízhī huā	The sigh for a village 【Song】Shao Yong The distance is two or three miles, and I can see four or five houses with smoking chimneys. There are six or seven pavilions, and eight, nine or ten flowers.

Vocabulary

	Simplified (traditional in parentheses)	Pīnyīn	Part of speech	English [‍m.‍]	notes
1.	一	yī	(adj)	one
2.	二	èr	(adj)	two
3.	三	sān	(adj)	three
4.	四	sì	(adj)	four
5.	五	wǔ	(adj)	five
6.	六	liù	(adj)	six
7.	七	qī	(adj)	seven
8.	八	bā	(adj)	eight
9.	九	jiǔ	(adj)	nine
10.	十	shí	(adj)	ten
11.	山村	shāncūn	(n)	mountain village
12.	宋	sòng	(n)	song	It's short for 宋朝（song dynasty,960–1279）.
13.	邵雍	shàoyōng	(n)	A poetic name.
14.	去	qù	(v)	be apart (away) from; be at a distance from	This usage is only used classical Chinese.
15.	里	lǐ	()	mile	Mile and 里 are not identical.In song dynasty,1里≈415.8m.Now China,1里=500m.
16.	烟村（煙村）	yāncūn	(n)	The village with smoking chimneys	This usage is only literary works.
17.	家	jiā	(ms)	the measure Words of family
18.	亭	tíng	(n)	pavilions
19.	台（臺）	tái	(n)	platform
20.	座	zuò	(ms)	the measure Words of building
21.	枝	zhī	(ms)	the measure Words of flower
22.	花	huā	(n)	flower

Measure Words/量词(liàngcí)

In Chinese, most specified or numbered nouns must be preceded by measure words, also known as classifiers, according to the type of object. Consider the English phrase, "two pairs of pants." Like the word "pair," Chinese measure words are placed between the noun and the preceding number.

1. 这本书里没有一个汉字。

Zhè bĕn shū lǐ méi yŏu yí gè Hànzì.

This book doesn’t contain one Chinese character.

2. 那间宿舍有六十个学生。

Nà jiān sùshè yŏu liùshí ge xuésheng.

That dorm has sixty students.

The phrase 一朵花 (yī duǒ huā) means "one flower," but how would you say "a pile of flowers?" It's simple: just change the classifier. The phrase 一堆花 (yī duī huā) means "a pile of flowers." You could also say 一把花 (yī bǎ huā; a handful of flowers), 一桶花 (yī tǒng huā; a bucket of flowers), or 一种花 (yī zhǒng huā; a kind of flower). You can see that measure words act as adjectives.

In Chinese, like in English, you can omit the noun if it's already known, leaving only the classifier. 你看到那种（花）吗？ (Nǐ kàn dào nà zhǒng (huā) ma?) means "Did you see that kind (of flower)?" You can see that measure words also act as nouns.

Measure words are also used with demonstrative pronouns (this, that). For example, 这朵花 means "this flower," and 那朵花 means "that flower."

You might also encounter something like this: 书架上有书本。 (Shūjià shàng yǒu shūběn.) which means "The bookshelf has books on it." Note that the classifier is after the noun. This signifies multiple books where the exact number is not important, here translated "books." The sentence 书架上有书。, means the same as above, but is without the classifier.

Some Common Measure Words

Column key: Trad. is Traditional, Simp. shows changes made for the simplified variant (if any).

Trad.	Simp.	Pinyin	Main uses	Example
個	个	ge	individual things, people — usage of this classifier in conjunction with any noun is generally accepted if the person does not know the proper classifier.	一个书包 yí ge shūbāo, a schoolbag
把		bǎ	"handful", "fistful" — objects that can be held or grabbed (knives, scissors, keys; also chairs)	一把刀 yì bă dāo. One knife. 一把盐 yì bă yán. A handful of salt.
包		bāo	"package", "bundle"	一包纸巾 yì bāo zhǐ jīn. A package of paper towels.
杯		bēi	"cup" — drinks	一杯水 yì bēi shuǐ. A cup of water.
本		běn	"volume" — any bound print or written matter (books, etc.)	一本书 yì běn shū. A book.
册		cè	slimmer volumes of books
次		cì	"time" — opportunities, accidents	两次 liǎng cì. Twice. 三次 sān cì. Three times.
滴		dī	"droplet" — water, blood, and other such fluids	一滴水 yì dī shuǐ. A drop of water.
點	点	diǎn	ideas, suggestions, can also mean "a bit"	你睡一点。 Nǐ shuì yīdiǎn. Sleep a bit.
堆		duī	"pile" — anything in a pile	一堆书 yī duī shū. A pile of books.
朵		duǒ	flowers, clouds	一朵花 yì duŏ huā. One flower.
份		fèn	newspapers, jobs	一份报 yì fèn bào. A newspaper
根		gēn	thin, slender objects, lit. "a root of a..." (needles, pillars, grass, vegetable roots etc.)	一根针 yì gēn zhēn. A needle
家		jiā	gathering of people (families, companies, etc.)	一家人 yī jiā rén. A family of people.
架		jià	objects with a "frame" or structure; generally used for machines or mechanical objects (esp. cars, planes, etc.)	一架飞机 yī jià fēijī. One plane.
件		jiàn	matters, clothing, etc.	一件衣服 yí jiàn yī fù. An article of clothing.
節	节	jié	"a section" — of bamboo, tutorials and classes, etc.
輛	辆	liàng	automobiles, bicycles, vehicles, etc.	一辆车 yí liàng chē. One car.
面		miàn	any flat and smooth objects, lit. "a surface of a..." (mirrors, flags, walls, etc.)	一面镜子 yí miàn jìng zi. One mirror
匹		pǐ	horses and other mounts, or rolls/bolts of cloth	一匹马 yì pǐ mă. One horse.
片		piàn	"slice" — any flat object, like cards, slices of bread, tree leaves, etc.	一片叶子 yì piàn yè zi. One leaf.
瓶		píng	"bottle" — drinks
扇		shàn	objects that open and close (doors, windows)	一扇门 yì shàn mén. One door
艘		sōu	ships	一艘船 yì sōu chuán. One ship.
所		suǒ	any buildings, apartment
台		tái	heavy objects (TVs, computers, etc.) and performances (esp. in theatre, etc.)	一台电脑 yī tái diànnǎo. One computer.
條	条	tiáo	long, narrow, flexible objects (fish, trousers, etc.)	一条鱼 yì tiáo yú. One fish.
頭	头	tóu	"head" — herd animals (pigs, cows, sheep etc., never for fowls or birds), hair	一头牛 yì tóu niú. One head of cattle (Literally translated into English, "头" means head).
位		wèi	polite classifier for people (e.g. gentlemen, professors, customers)	几位？Jǐ wèi? How many (people)?
些		xiē	"some" — anything that's plural	一些书 yī xiē shū. Some books. Never 两些书
張	张	zhāng	"sheet" — squarish or rectangular flat objects (paper, tables, etc.), faces, bows, paintings, tickets, constellations	一张纸 yì zhāng zhǐ. One piece of paper.
支		zhī	stick-like objects (pens, chopsticks, etc.)	一支笔 yì zhī bǐ. One pen.
隻	只	zhī	one of a pair (e.g. hands, limbs), animals (birds, cats, etc.)	一只狗 yì zhī gŏu. One dog.
種	种	zhǒng	types or kinds of objects, ideas, etc.	一种书 yì zhǒng shū. One type of book.
棟	栋	dǒng	building object	一栋房子 yí dòng fáng zí. One house

See Chinese measure words on Wikipedia for a more complete reference.

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