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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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<p>One of the definitions of the common character 几 (jǐ) is
"several," "a couple" or "a few." It's an uncertain number that is
at least more than one, and probably less than five, but definitely
less than ten.</p>
<h2 id="几-jǐ-as-a-few">几 (jǐ) as "a Few"</h2>
<p>The simplest way to use 几 (jǐ) to mean "a few" is to use it
directly with a measure word.</p>
<h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>几 + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>桌子 上 有 <em>几</em> 本 书。<span class="pinyin">Zhuōzi shàng yǒu
<em>jǐ</em> běn shū.</span><span class="trans">There are a few
books on the table.</span></li>
<li>只有 <em>几</em> 个 人 去 过 那 个 地方。<span class="pinyin">Zhǐyǒu
<em>jǐ</em> gè rén qù guo nàge dìfang.</span><span class=
"trans">Only a few people have been to that place.</span></li>
<li>从 上海 到 东京 坐 飞机 只 要 <em>几</em> 个 小时。<span class="pinyin">Cóng
Shànghǎi dào Dōngjīng zuò fēijī zhǐ yào <em>jǐ</em> gè
xiǎoshí.</span><span class="trans">Flying from Shanghai to Tokyo
only takes a few hours.</span></li>
<li>我 每 天 都 要 喝 <em>几</em> 杯 咖啡。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ měi tiān
dōu yào hē <em>jǐ</em> bēi kāfēi.</span><span class="trans">Every
day I have to drink a couple cups of coffee.</span></li>
<li>老板 今天 开 了 <em>几</em> 个 重要 的 会。<span class="pinyin">Lǎobǎn
jīntiān kāi le <em>jǐ</em> gè zhòngyào de huì.</span><span class=
"trans">The boss had a few important meetings today.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="几-jǐ-as-a-few-tens">几 (jǐ) as "a Few Tens"</h2>
<p>It is similar to how in English we can say, "a few dozen" or "a
couple dozen," though in this case instead of "twelves of
something" we are saying "tens of something."</p>
<h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>几 + 十 + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>他 只 想 学 <em>几 十</em> 个 汉字。<span class=
"expl pdf-long-expl">"Dozens" is the closest we can get in natural
English to the Chinese, which literally means
"tens."</span><span class="pinyin">Tā zhǐ xiǎng xué <em>jǐ shí</em>
gè Hànzì.</span><span class="trans">He only wants to study a few
dozen Chinese characters.</span></li>
<li>我们 公司 有 <em>几 十</em> 个 员工。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen gōngsī yǒu
<em>jǐ shí</em> gè yuángōng.</span><span class="trans">Our company
has a few dozen employees.</span></li>
<li>他 写 过 <em>几 十</em> 本 书，我 都 喜欢。<span class="pinyin">Tā xiě guo
<em>jǐ shí</em> běn shū, wǒ dōu xǐhuan.</span><span class=
"trans">He wrote a few dozen books. I like them all.</span></li>
<li>这个 年轻的 演员 演 了 <em>几 十</em> 部 电影。我都喜欢。<span class="pinyin">Zhège
niánqīng de yǎnyuán yǎn le <em>jǐ shí</em> bù diànyǐng. Wǒ dōu
xǐhuan.</span><span class="trans">This young actor has acted in
dozens of movies. I like them all.</span></li>
<li>老板 在 国外 有 <em>几 十</em> 套 房子。<span class="pinyin">Lǎobǎn zài
guówài yǒu <em>jǐ shí</em> tào fángzi.</span><span class=
"trans">The boss has a few dozen houses abroad.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="几-jǐ-as-a-few-hundred-thousand-ten-thousand">几 (jǐ) as "a
Few Hundred / Thousand / Ten Thousand"</h2>
<p>In Chinese we can put 几 (jǐ) together with 百 (bǎi), 千 (qiān), or
万 (wàn), just like how in English we might say, "a few hundred" or
a "few thousand."</p>
<h3 id="structure-2">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>几 + 百 / 千 / 万 + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples-2">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>妈妈 每 个 月 都 给 我 <em>几 百</em> 块 钱。<span class="pinyin">Māma měi
gè yuè dōu gěi wǒ <em>jǐ bǎi</em> kuài qián.</span><span class=
"trans">Mom gives me a couple hundred dollars every
month.</span></li>
<li>这 个 月 我们 卖 了 <em>几 千</em> 本 书。<span class="pinyin">Zhège yuè
wǒmen mài le <em>jǐ qiān</em> běn shū.</span><span class="trans">We
sold a couple thousand books this month.</span></li>
<li><em>几 百</em> 家 外国 公司 参加 了 这个 大会。<span class="pinyin"><em>Jǐ
bǎi</em> jiā wàiguó gōngsī cānjiā le zhège
dàhuì.</span><span class="trans">Several hundred foreign companies
attended this conference.</span></li>
<li>这 篇 文章 有 <em>几 万</em> 个 字，太 长 了。<span class="pinyin">Zhè piān
wénzhāng yǒu <em>jǐ wàn</em> gè zì, tài cháng
le.</span><span class="trans">This article has tens of thousands of
characters. It's too long.</span></li>
<li>我 认识 一 个 朋友，她 有 <em>几 百</em> 双 鞋。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ rènshi
yī gè péngyou, tā yǒu <em>jǐ bǎi</em> shuāng
xié.</span><span class="trans">I have a friend that has a couple
hundred pairs of shoes.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="好几-hǎojǐ-as-quite-a-few">好几 (hǎojǐ) as "Quite a Few"</h2>
<p>You can think of 好几 (hǎojǐ) as meaning "quite a few," usually in
the range of five to ten.</p>
<h3 id="structure-3">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>好几 + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples-3">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>他 读 了 <em>好几</em> 遍 。<span class="pinyin">Tā dú le
<em>hǎojǐ</em> biàn.</span><span class="trans">He's read quite a
few times.</span></li>
<li>我 有 <em>好几</em> 个 室友 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǒu
<em>hǎojǐ</em> gè shìyǒu.</span><span class="trans">I have quite a
few roommates.</span></li>
<li>我 奶奶 有 <em>好几</em> 个 孩子 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ nǎinai yǒu
<em>hǎojǐ</em> gè háizi.</span><span class="trans">My grandma has
quite a few children.</span></li>
<li>他 吃 了 <em>好几</em> 碗 米饭 。<span class="pinyin">Tā chī le
<em>hǎojǐ</em> wǎn mǐfàn.</span><span class="trans">He ate quite a
few bowls of rice.</span></li>
<li>我们 去 过 <em>好几</em> 次 北京 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen qù guo
<em>hǎojǐ</em> cì Běijīng.</span><span class="trans">We've been to
Beijing quite a few times.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="Indicating_a_number_in_excess" title=
"wikilink">Indicating a number in excess</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further
reading</h2>
<h3 id="books">Books</h3>
<h3 id="dictionaries">Dictionaries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href=
"%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%8D%E5%85%B8%EF%BC%88%E7%AC%AC5%E7%89%88%EF%BC%89"
class="uri" title="wikilink">现代汉语词典（第5版）</a> (p. 641) <a href=
"http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%8D%E5%85%B8/dp/B001B1RZCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1345693609&amp;sr=8-1">
→buy</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title=
"wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a></p>
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