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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 个 (gè).
Structure
Whenever you talk about the quantity of something in Chinese, you need a measure word.
Number + Measure Word + Noun
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.
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).
Examples
- 一 个 人 yī gè réna person
- 两 只 猫 liǎng zhī māotwo cats
- 三 条 鱼 sān tiáo yúthree fish
- 四 杯 牛奶 sì bēi niúnǎifour glasses of milk
- 五 瓶 水 wǔ píng shuǐfive bottles of water
- 六 块 巧克力 liù kuài qiǎokèlìsix pieces of chocolate
- 七 盒 茶叶 qī hé cháyèseven boxes of tea leaves
- 八 台 电脑 bā tái diànnǎoeight computers
- 九 支 玫瑰 jiǔ zhī méiguīnine roses
- 十 个 美女 shí gè měinǚten beautiful women
- 一 条 狗 yī tiáo gǒua dog
- 一 条 河 yī tiáo héa river
- 一 条 路 yī tiáo lùa road
- 一 条 龙 yī tiáo lónga dragon
- 一 条 鱼 yī tiáo yúa fish
- 一 条 短信 yī tiáo duǎnxìna text (message)
- 一 块 巧克力 yī kuài qiǎokèlì a piece of chocolate
- 一 盒巧克力 yī hé qiǎokèlì a box of chocolate
- 一 颗 巧克力 yī kē qiǎokèlì a small piece of chocolate
See Also
Sources and further reading
Websites
- Wikipedia: Classifiers
- Wikipedia: Mass noun
Books
- Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 33) →buy
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 232-3) →buy
- New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 104-5) →buy
- New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (p. 122) →buy