Unraveling Chinese Measure Words for Native English Speakers

COUNT NOUNS

In English grammar, most nouns are “count nouns.”  This means that a noun can be separated into individual units and counted.  Count nouns:

• have both singular and plural forms;
• can be accompanied by an indefinite article (such as “a” or “an”); and
• can be directly modified by numerals.

Take a look at the examples below using the nouns, dog, egg and bike.  Here we can clearly see that these are count nouns.  The words have both singular and plural forms; they can be accompanied by an indefinite article; and can be modified by a number.

dog, two dogs, a dog
egg, two eggs, an egg
bike, three bikes, a bike

MASS NOUNS

Now that you understand what a “count noun” is, let’s talk about its counterpart, “mass nouns.” Mass nouns:

• lack a plural version of themselves in ordinary usage;
• cannot be accompanied by an indefinite article (such as “a” or “an”); and
• cannot be directly modified by numerals.

Let’s take a look at some examples of mass nouns in English:

Luggage
China (think plates, not the country)
Information

We know they are mass nouns because they lack a plural form.  Also, we can’t use them along with an indefinite article (such as “a” or “an”).  We have never heard anyone say:

a Luggage
a China (think plates, not the country)
an Information

It is also impossible to count them with numbers alone.  Have you ever heard anyone say:

two Luggage
three China (think plates, not the country)
four Information

Let’s take a look at three more mass nouns:

Coffee
Bread
Milk

All of these nouns lack a plural form, so they are mass nouns by definition.  But let’s focus on the fact that they can’t be counted using a number alone.  When a quantifier or measure word is added, however, mass nouns become countable:

I drank “some” coffee.
I ate two “slices” of bread.
I’ll have a “glass” of milk with lunch.

Now that you understand mass nouns and how they function, it’s important to note that most, in fact almost all, Chinese nouns are mass nouns. Although Chinese does have a plural marker, 们 (men), it has very limited usage.

Most nouns in Chinese does have a plural form and so they are mass nouns by definition.  Mass nouns function exactly the same way in Chinese as they do in English.  They require a measure word to be quantified or counted. Let’s look at an example.

In English, the word “cat” has a plural form, this makes it is a “count noun.” Remember count nouns can be modified with a number. So, it is correct to say, “one cat,” in English.

In Chinese though, 猫 (māo, cat) has no plural form.  This makes it a “mass noun.” If we want to say “one cat” in Chinese, we need to plug in a measure.  Here is the statement, “one cat,” properly expressed in Chinese:

一 (one) 只 + (measure word) + 猫 (cat)
(yī zhī māo)

MEASURE WORDS IN ENGLISH & CHINESE HAVE BROAD USAGE

Just as in English, measure words in Chinese don’t have one-on-one relationships with particular nouns.  In other words, one measure word can be used with several different nouns.  Here is an example:

a cup of milk / 一杯茶 (yī bēiniúnǎi)
a cup of tea / 一杯茶 (yī bēi chá)
a cup of coffee /一杯咖啡 (yī bēi kāfēi)

A particular noun can also be combined with different measure words in both languages:

a small piece of chocolate / 一颗巧克力 (yī kē qiǎokèlì)
a piece of chocolate / 一块巧克力 (yī kuài qiǎokèlì)
a box of chocolate / 一盒巧克力 (yī hé qiǎokèlì)

Some Chinese measure words are broad in another sense.  Take the measure word 匹” (pǐ) for example, it has multiple applications beyond its common association with horses and mules. It is also used to quantify camels, bolts of cloth, and even horsepower.

MEASURE WORDS TO DIFFERENTIATE (THIS & THAT)

In English, it is grammatically correct to use “this” and “that” in combination with a noun to refer to something.  For example:

that person
this room
that motorcycle

In Chinese, however, you need a measure word in between:

that + measure word + person
this + measure word + room
that + measure word + motorcycle

ABSOLUTE MOST COMMON MEASURE WORD

 As a beginner, you can get by with using the generic measure word 个 (gè) pretty much everywhere a measure word is required.  If you want to attain Chinese fluency though, you will have to start incorporating more appropriate measure words into your sentences.

Think about using inappropriate measure words in English.  How ridiculous you would sound if you asked for “a glass of paper?”

So how exactly is the measure word 个 (gè) used correctly?  Let’s find out:

• As a generic measure word that is placed before a noun that doesn’t have its own measure word.
• It can be used between a verb and its object or complement.

我吃了一个苹果。
Wǒ chī le yī gè píng guǒ.
I ate an apple.

• It can be used between 没 (méi) or 有 (yǒu) and some verbs or adjectives for emphasis.

没个明显的问题。
Méi gè míng xiǎn de wèntí.
There is not a clear problem.

• It can be placed before an approximate number to make a sentence informal.

我吃了个五个饺子。
Wǒ chī le gè wǔ gè jiǎo zǐ.
I ate around five dumplings.

WHAT ABOUT VERBS?

What about verbs?  In Chinese, there are measure words for action verbs that usually function to show how many times an action has been done.  The good news is that there is only a limited amount of them.  Here they are:

• 遍 (biàn) is used to describe the whole process of an action from beginning to end.

再说一遍。
Zài shuō yī biàn.
Say it again.

• 次 (cì) is used to measure how many times an action occurs regardless of whether it was fully completed.

我们去过两次。
Wǒmen qù guo liǎng cì.
We’ve been there twice.

• 下” (xià) is used to indicate the time or order in which an action is done.

我敲了好几下。
Wǒ qiāo le hǎo jǐ xià.
I knocked quite a few times.

Like measure words for nouns, measure words for action verbs can follow:

• a number;
• pronouns; and
• question pronouns.

MEASURE WORDS CAN HELP YOU TAKE ON ALL THOSE HOMOPHONES

Articles about measure words always tell you why they are necessary. The thing I don’t hear people shouting from the rooftops is that learning measure words can help you with comprehension.  Why?

Chinese is jam-packed with homophones.  Homophones are words that have the exact same pronunciation but have completely different meanings.

In fact, Chinese has just over 400 different syllables in total that are used to form all Chinese words.  What?

Take a look at a pinyin chart.  It contains all the syllables you will ever find in Chinese.  What makes that insane is that my favorite Chinese dictionary has 200,000 entries.

Chinese arrives at new words in two ways.  First, by adding different tones to all the syllables you see on that pinyin chart.  Second, by combining those syllables together (with or without tones/think neutral tone) to form new words.  This creates an extraordinary number of homophones.

So, understanding measure words can serve as a signal that allows you to know exactly what a person is talking about.  Especially when the noun used sounds exactly the same as 30 other nouns.

LET’S GET TO THE MEASURE WORDS ALREADY

There are over 200 measure words in Mandarin Chinese.  I have spent countless hours poring over my favorite hardback dictionary, ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, and online resources to help me compile this “Ultimate List of Chinese Measure Words.”

With that said, when you see the sheer volume of measure words I have compiled for this article, you might become overwhelmed.  Don’t fret though, many advanced students don’t know all the measure words out there.

Instead, focus on learning about 25 of the most common ones, and when in doubt use 个 (gè).  Later, work your way up to learning about 75 frequently used ones.  Many of the measure words beyond that are used much less frequently in everyday conversation.

Plus, I won’t abandon you to fight the “measure word beast” alone.  I have prepared completely free materials for your arsenal that include:

1. The searchable chart below. You can search using Chinese, English or tags;
2. A 16-part video series that divides the measure words into common categories and includes both English and Chinese audio;
3. An Anki flashcard deck with Chinese audio and searchable tags to help you learn in the order you’d like to; and
4. A free downloadable PDF that includes tags.

FINAL TIPS

If you are a Pleco dictionary app user, you will find that many words have the appropriate measure word to use at the bottom of the page.

When you are in a pinch, resort to Google.  Simply search “measure word for [insert word] in Chinese.”

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