\tMeasure words are very important in Chinese grammar as they are needed before every noun. There are more than a hundred Mandarin Chinese measure words, and the only way to learn them is by memorizing them. Whenever you learn a new noun, you should also learn its measure word. Here is a list of the most commonly used measure words in Chinese to kickstart your growing vocabulary.<\/p>\n
\tWHAT IS A MEASURE WORD?
\tMeasure words are familiar to English-speakers as a way to classify the type of object being discussed.<\/p>\n
\tFor example, you would say a “loaf” of bread or a “stick” of gum. Mandarin Chinese also uses measure words for types of objects, but there are many more measure in Chinese. Measure words in Chinese can refer to the shape of the object, the type of container it comes in, or are simply arbitrary.<\/p>\n
\tThe main difference between English (and other Western languages) and Mandarin Chinese is that Mandarin Chinese requires a measure word for every noun. In English we can say, “three cars,” but in Mandarin Chinese, we need to say “three (measure word) cars.” For example, the measure word for car is \u8f1b (traditional form) \/ \u8f86 (simplified form) and the character for car is \u8eca \/ \u8f66. Thus, you would say \u6211\u6709\u4e09\u8f1b\u8eca \/ \u6211\u6709\u4e09\u8f86\u8f66, which translates to "I have three cars."<\/p>\n
\tGENERIC MEASURE WORD
\tThere is one “generic” measure word which can be used when the actual measure word is not known. The measure word \u500b \/ \u4e2a (gè) is a measure word for people, but it is frequently used for many types of things.<\/p>\n
\tThe "generic" measure word can be used when referring to items like apples, bread, and light bulbs even when there are other, more appropriate measure words for these objects.<\/p>\n
\tCOMMON MEASURE WORDS
\tHere are some of the most common measure words encountered by students of Mandarin Chinese.<\/p>\n
\tClass Measure Word (pinyin) Measure word (traditional Chinese Characters) Measure word (simplified Chinese Characters)
\tPeople gè or wèi \u500b or \u4f4d \u4e2a or \u4f4d
\tBooks b\u011bn \u672c \u672c
\tVehicles liàng \u8f1b \u8f86
\tPortions fèn \u4efd \u4efd
\tflat objects (tables, paper) zh\u0101ng \u5f35 \u5f20
\tLong round objects (pens, pencils) zh\u012b \u652f \u652f
\tLetters and Mail f\u0113ng \u5c01 \u5c01
\tRooms ji\u0101n \u9593 \u95f4
\tClothing Jiàn or tào \u4ef6 or \u5957 \u4ef6 or \u5957
\tWritten Sentences jù \u53e5 \u53e5
\tTrees k\u0113 \u68f5 \u68f5
\tBottles píng \u74f6 \u74f6
\tperiodicals q\u012b \u671f \u671f
\tDoors and windows shàn \u6247 \u6247
\tBuildings dòng \u68df \u680b
\tHeavy objects (machines and appliances) tái \u53f0 \u53f0<\/p>\n