eric
/
ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
							123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114
							<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy for HTML5 for Linux version 5.2.0"/>
  <title>Measure words for counting</title>
  <link href="../Styles/main.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>

<body>
  <h1>Measure words for counting</h1>

  <p>Chinese uses measure words, a type of word called classifiers in linguistics which are common in East Asian languages. Measure words have a number of important uses, but one of the first ways you'll need to use them is for counting. Chinese learners should master them, starting with the measure word <span class="hanzi">个</span> (<span class="pinyin">gè</span>).</p>

  <h2 id="structure">Structure</h2>

  <p>Whenever you talk about the quantity of something in Chinese, you need a measure word.</p>

  <div class="deux">
    <p>Number + Measure Word + Noun</p>
  </div>

  <p>English does actually have measure words, it's just that most nouns usually don't need them. In English, most nouns are count nouns - they specify one instance of something. "An apple," for example. Some nouns are mass nouns and refer to something without specifying how much of it there is. Examples are "furniture," "paper," "water," etc. You can't say "a furniture"; you need a measure word: "a piece of furniture," "two sheets of paper," "three glasses of water," and so on.</p>

  <p>In Chinese, all nouns are mass nouns so they all need measure words. Just as in English, different nouns are associated with different measure words (e.g. it wouldn't make sense to talk about "a glass of furniture" unless something went horribly wrong in the factory).</p>

  <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">一 个 人</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> yī gè rén</span> <br/> a person</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">两 只 猫</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> liǎng zhī māo</span> <br/> two cats</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">三 条 鱼</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> sān tiáo yú</span> <br/> three fish</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">四 杯 牛奶</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> sì bēi niúnǎi</span> <br/> four glasses of milk</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">五 瓶 水</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> wǔ píng shuǐ</span> <br/> five bottles of water</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">六 块 巧克力</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> liù kuài qiǎokèlì</span> <br/> six pieces of chocolate</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">七 盒 茶叶</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> qī hé cháyè</span> <br/> seven boxes of tea leaves</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">八 台 电脑</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> bā tái diànnǎo</span> <br/> eight computers</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">九 支 玫瑰</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> jiǔ zhī méiguī</span> <br/> nine roses</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">十 个 美女</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> shí gè měinǚ</span> <br/> ten beautiful women</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <p>Also remember that there isn't a one-to-one relationship between nouns and measure words. One measure word can be used with several different nouns:</p>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 狗</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo gǒu</span> <br/> a dog</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 河</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo hé</span> <br/> a river</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 路</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo lù</span> <br/> a road</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 龙</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo lóng</span> <br/> a dragon</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 鱼</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo yú</span> <br/> a fish</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 条 短信</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī tiáo duǎnxìn</span> <br/> a text (message)</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <p>And one noun can take different measure words in different situations:</p>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">一 块 巧克力</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī kuài qiǎokèlì</span> <br/> a piece of chocolate</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 盒巧克力</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī hé qiǎokèlì</span> <br/> a box of chocolate</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">一 颗 巧克力</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī kē qiǎokèlì</span> <br/> a small piece of chocolate</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2 id="see-also">See Also</h2>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="Measure_words_for_verbs" title="wikilink">Measure words for verbs</a></li>

    <li><a href="Measure_words_to_differentiate" title="wikilink">Measure words to differentiate</a></li>
  </ul>

  <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>

  <h3 id="websites">Websites</h3>

  <ul>
    <li>Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classifier_(linguistics)">Classifiers</a></li>

    <li>Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun">Mass noun</a></li>
  </ul>

  <h3 id="books">Books</h3>

  <ul>
    <li>Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 33)</li>

    <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 232-3)</li>

    <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>) (pp. 104-5)</li>

    <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>)(2nd ed) (p. 122)</li>
  </ul>
</body>
</html>