Mandarin Chinese Count/Measure Words

A measure word (lingc ), also known as a classifier or a count word, is used along with numerals to define the quantity of a given object or objects, or with "this"/"that" to identify specific objects. Usage depends on personal preference and dialects. For example, some people use ( ) and others use ( ) to mean three cars. Still others use ( ) or in Cantonese purpose. ( ), with all of these measure words serving the same

List of Idiomatic Count/Measure Words

Chinese Pinyin b (ba) Main uses Examples "handful" objects knife , scissors, sword, key , umbrella , fan that can be held, , spoon , fork, toothbrush, hammer, padlock, relatively long and pair of scissors, pistol, rifle, chair , handful of rice flat objects , handful of sand , bunch of flowers, handful of seeds, bunch of chopsticks, skeleton, fire, teapot scheduled services (trains, etc.), group of people, a class as in pupils packet, package, bundle sweets, cigarettes , sugar , cookies , fruit

b n (ban)

b o (bao)

b i (bei) "cup", "glass" drinks/beverages b n (ben) ( ) b (bi) "volume" bound print matter

tea , wine, alcohol , water , milk juice , soda , Coca -cola book , magazine , novel

, scripture , textbook

dictionary

, notepad

strokes of characters; 12 strokes large quantities of a deal money

; a large quantity of money

b (bu)

machinery, vehicles; mobile phone, telephone, car , play , novel productions , movie/film/motion picture , opera , literary work volumes of books "floor"/"story"; "layer" 9 stories (in a building) seven layer cake ; layer of dust , coat of paint ,

c (ce) ( ) cng (ceng) ) ch ng

short duration event; public spectacle, game, crisis, war, catastrophe, an

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(chang) precipitation

illness shower

, performance, play , snowfall

; a rainfall/rain

chun sets of numbers (chuan) chung "bed" (chuang) c (ci) "time" opportunities, accidents acts in a play dozen

a cell phone/mobile number blankets, sheets

) ch (chu) d (da)

pencils

, eggs , rice

di (dai) sackfuls, pouchfuls, sugar, flour bagfuls, pocketfuls do (dao) linear projections (light rays, etc.); order given by an authority figure, question, memo; course (of food); long crooked things (mountain ridge, flash of lightning) "droplet" water, blood, other such fluids ideas, suggestions; a bit of work "a bit"/"some" (only with ) objects with protruding top, something to put over one's head literally "pillar" (smaller building, house) encompassing fixtures (wall without roof)

d (di)

) di n (dian)

di (die) saucer (soy sauce) ( ) d ng (ding) hat , tent, mosquito net

) dng (dong) d (du)

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dun (duan)

"adjoining length" cables, roadways, piece of chalk, part of a song a (married) couple , earrings, vases

) du (dui) "couple", "matched pair" (for certain things) couplets ) dn (dun) du (duo) f (fa) fng (fang) short duration actions flower-like things

a meal a flower

, conflict, beating, quarrel, scolding [, a cloud , a mushroom

"round" square things

bullet, ammunition ink stone, bacon , a job

fn (fen) portions, multi-page serving of food, a newspaper documents f ng (feng) f ng f (fu) things that can be sealed humped animals picture-like objects letter camel photo, painting , drawing, banner , mail, telegram

, work of art,

picture, door poster f (fu) f (fu) "dose" (Chinese) medicine objects which come in pairs (gloves, etc.) also for spectacles, a pack of cards, mahjong individual things, person , elder brother people general, , way of thinking catch-all measure , nation word (usage of this classifier in conjunction with any noun is generally accepted if the person does not know the proper classifier) , student , suggestion , relative , question

) ge/g (ge)

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g n (gen) g (gu) gu (gua) gun (guan) hng (hang) h (he)

thin, slender objects; needle, pillar, banana, fried dough stick, fried chicken thin, flexible strands leg, popsicle, lollipop, chopstick, candle, incense; hair , thread , string flows (of air, smell, influence).... multi-component things Small to medium "can of" objects which form lines (words, etc.) (small) "box of" tape, food , cake , candy , chocolate , toys , books , cigarettes , detergent , clothing thirty households horse and cart soda , juice, food, beans, oil, candy

h (hu) hu (huo)

households generally derogatory classifier for bands of people such as gangs or hoodlums

ji (jia) ji (jia) ) ji n (jian)

gathering of people, families, companies establishments machinery, vehicle rooms, spaces aircraft, airplane computers

, store, shop

, restaurant

, piano

, machines, , kitchen , , company , shirt , present , coat ,

room , dorm , bedroom classroom , house , school , chapel clothing (top) , bed sheet issue/matter/thing , undershirt , luggage

jin (jian)

matters (affairs), clothing (tops), furniture long class periods "section" (of bamboo, short class period) regularly scheduled sessions or meetings, year-groups in a school (e.g. Class of

ji ng ( ) ji (jie)

) ji (jie)

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2006) j (ju) k (ke) ( ) k (ke) lines of poems, sentences saying , idiom , rose

trees and other such pine tree flora small objects, objects appearing small lessons in a text population of villages (numbers less than 100), family members, wells, mouthfuls of food irregularly shaped "chunk", "lump", "piece"

hearts, pearls, teeth, diamonds, seeds, distant stars, distant planets 23 lessons five people (population of a family)

) k (ke) k u (kou)

) kui (kuai)

land, stone, tofu, soap, piece/slice of cake , bread (not slices) , watermelon , meat , cheese, pizza , gum , tablecloth, wristwatch , block of incense

) li (lei) l (li)

objects of the same type or nature "grain" a (single) peanut , grape, longan, uncooked rice , seed , candy , bullet , chocolate automobile, bicycle / , car

) ling (liang) li (lie)

wheeled vehicles (not trains) trains

ln (lun) moon mi (mei) medals, small flat things like stamps, banana peels, rings, badges, rockets, missiles objects pertaining to academics (courses, majors, subjects, etc.); artillery (cannon) flat and smooth
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) mn (men)

min

(mian)

objects (mirror, flag, wall with roof, shield) high-ranking persons party member (doctors, lawyers, politicians, royalty, etc.), members; in formal language, can also be used for any type of person (not necessarily highranking) , university professor

mng (ming)

pi (pai) "rows of", "lines of" chairs, seats objects grouped in rows ( ) pn (pan) flat objects or reels (video or audio cassette, small plate, coil of incense) people, goods, etc. horses and other mounts; rolls/bolts of cloth writings horse , wolf

, tables

, lines of people

p (pi) p (pi)

pi n (pian) pin (pian)

paper

, article

, essay, report

"slice" thin, flat, card, lip , cloud, beach, gum , a slice of sometimes irregular bread , slice of meat, cracker, cheese, slice of objects watermelon, leaf , flower petal, field , lake, a pill (tablet of medicine) , DVD "bottle of" alcohol , water , oil , beer , shampoo , drink , , Pepsi

png (ping)

wine, soda

, milk

q (qi) qn (qun)

magazines "group" (incl. people), "herd", "crowd", "throng", "swarm", etc people , a herd of cattle/elephants/horses/swans , a flock of birds/geese/hens/goats/swallows/sheep/chickens , a pack of hounds/wolves/grouse ,a skulk of foxes cluster of stars , a pride of lions , a school/shoal of ,a

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fish/shrimps

, a stud/drove of horses

,a

gaggle/flock of geese , a swarm of mosquitoes/butterflies , a colony of ants/bees , a clump/complex of buildings rn (ren) terms of office shn (shan) sh u (shou) sh (shu) ( second president , door , poem , terms

things that open and window close on hinges things with verses bunches of

musical song flowers

) shu ng pair of objects which chopsticks (shuang) naturally come in pairs s u (sou) su (suo) ti (tai) ships small buildings, institutions a ship university

, shoes

, gloves

, eyes

, detached house , piano, appliance, airplane , elevator ; theater , lecture

heavy objects, TV , computer especially machines; , train , car performances performance, play periods of classes, suites of furniture trips, scheduled transportation services

tng (tang) tng (tang)

I have two classes today, lesson

to (tao) "set(s) of"

books, magazines, collectibles, clothes, multiple-room houses/apartments, suites, stamps , furniture , rooms , a suit

( (

) t (ti) ) tio (tiao)

classifier for questions long, narrow, flexible objects fish , snake , dragon , worm, dog , necktie , scarf, road , skirt , a (smaller)
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, ribbon, river

, root, stem

, rope, comforter,

towel, floss, trousers/pants , sofa/bench, heroic person

boat ti (tie) tng (tong) t ng (tong) ( ( adhesive bandages conversation, lecture jug, bucket, barrel jug of milk , barrel of oil

) tu (tou) "a head" certain animals; hair ) tun (tuan) w n (wan) wi (wei) "ball" rotund and wound objects (balls of yarn, etc.) "bowl of"

pig , cow , oxen, yak, sheep, donkey, mule, leopard, dinosaur; hair

rice

, noodles

, soup , colleague

polite, respectful teacher classifier for people projects ,

, customer

) xing (xiang)

xi (xie) some (only with , , ) ( ( ) yng (yang) ) y (ye) z (ze) zh (zha) general items of differing attributes page journal, day log, diary

more than five hundred pages

In Cantonese usage, this is used in lieu of sh ( ), e.g. a bundle of flowers "jar", "jug" drinks such as beer, soda, juice, etc. (A recent loan-word from English, it may be considered informal or slang.) light fixtures (usually lamps), pot of tea etc. stop (for buses and trains
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) zh n (zhan) zhn (zhan)

"sheet" flat or ) zh ng (zhang) paper objects

paper , table , bed , card , sofa , CD/DVD, napkin, snapshot, photograph , ticket , painting, constellation, face, mouth, bow

) zhn (zhen)

"gust", "burst" events with short durations (lightning storms, gusts of wind, instance of rain); uproar, peal of applause

zh (zhi) fairly long, stick-like pen, pencil , chopstick , drinking straw , objects bamboo , rose, rifle, arrow, spear, artillery shell, missile, more humble songs (ditty) zh (zhi) alternative form of ("stalk"): can be used for rifles and roses ( ) zh (zhi) one of a pair; animals hand , finger , eye, foot , head , sock,

glove, shoe , earring, eyeglasses; bird, chicken , cat , tiger, dog , monkey, elephant, sheep, mouse, butterfly, frog, bug , fly things, books, people

"types of", "kinds ) zh ng (zhong) of" zh (zhu) smaller trees/plants (tree, rice plant, wheat plant)

zhung multi-story building (zhuang) ( ) ( ) z (zu) zu (zuo) sets, rows, series, batteries (military) mountain, hill , structure, large building , city, bridge, villa, high-rise, tower, temple, apartment block

Actual Units of Measure

Time

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Chinese

Pinyin bi (bei) di n (dian) f n (fen) k (ke) mi o (miao) nin (nian) r (ri) shchn (shichen) shj (shiji)

Main uses lifetime ( o'clock minute "quarter","15 minutes" (mainly in some dialects, such as Shanghainese, and translations) second year day "2 hours" (ancient) century years old day ( hour year ) )

( ( (

) ) )

su (sui) ti n (tian) xi osh (xiaoshi) z i (zai)

( ( (

) ) )

zh ng (zhong) hour (found in southern Chinese)

Weight, Mass Chinese ( Pinyin bng (bang) Main uses pound

ton ) d n (dun) g ngj n (gongjin) kilogram j n (jin) k (ke) "catty", "pound", 1/2 kilogram ( 1/2 kilo of apples gram 50 grams kilogram )

) li ng (liang) qi nk (qianke)

Lengths, Distances Chinese ch (chi) Pinyin Main uses Chinese "foot"

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ch (chi) cn (cun) cn (cun) g ngch (gongchi) g ngf n (gongfen) g ngl (gongli) gu ngnin (guangnian) l (li) l (li) lm (limi) m (mi) mi och j (miaochaju) (

British foot British inch Chinese "inch" "meter" centimeter (less common) "kilometer" "light year" British mile "l ", about 1/3 mile centimeter meter "parsec"

) ti nwnd nwi (tianwendanwei) "astronomical unit" y ngch (yingchi) y ngl (yingli) British foot British mile

Money, Currency Chinese Pinyin bng (bang) f n (fen) Main uses Pound Sterling ( 0.01 yuan ( ) )

mo 0.10 yuan (informal) (mao) ji o (jiao) 0.10 yuan ( ( ) kui (kuai) ) yun (yuan) (an informal colloquial term, like "quid" or "buck") 100 cents, , main unit of currency ( Traditional Chinese text ) either form can be used in

Other Chinese Pinyin Main uses d (du) degree (angle, temperature)

Verbal Classifiers
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Chinese (

Pinyin Main uses bin (bian) the number of times an action has been completed a length of an event taking place within another event times (unlike , refers to the number of times regardless of whether or not it was completed) actions without repetition occurrences (used colloquially)

) ch ng (chang) c (ci) ) dn (dun) hu (hui)

( (

cries, shouts, utterances ) sh ng (sheng) tng (tang) trips, visitations xi (xia) brief and often sudden actions (hit , press common in Cantonese than in North dialects ) much more

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