Measure word "ge"

The measure word 个 (ge) is the most common measure word. It can be used in a pinch for any noun if you can't think of a more precise measure word. (Although you might not sound quite as smart, you'll still get your point across.) Also, for many nouns, 个 is the only correct measure word.

General structure

The general structure for 个 (and measure words in general) is:

Number + 个 + Noun

You can specify the quantity of any noun with this structure. Note that any time you want to state how many of a noun in Chinese, you probably need a measure word. First get used to doing it with 个.

Examples

• 一 个 球 one ball
• 两 个 人 (If you're wondering why it's 两 and not 二，see our article on "Er" and "liang"two people
• 三 个 苹果 three apples
• 四 个 三明治 four sandwiches
• 五 个 星期 five weeks
• 六 个 杯子 six cups/glasses
• 八十 个 诗人 eighty poets
• 一百 个 美女 one hundred beautiful girls
• 十 个 男人， 七 个 傻， 八 个 坏 ten men, seven are fools, and eight are bad

Omitting the number

If the number is one (1), you can omit it and use 个 by itself. This is equivalent to a or an in English, for example in "a person" or "an idiot."

Examples

• 他 是 个 好人 。He is a good person.
• 那 不 是 个 苹果 。That is not an apple.
• 他 是 个 法国 人 。He is a Frenchman.
• 我 是 个 白痴 。I am an idiot.
• 你 是 个 好 老师 。You are a good teacher.
• 我 有 个 儿子 。I have a son.
• 给 我 个 面包 。Give me a bun.
• 我 想 吃 个 橙子 。I'd like to eat an orange.
• 老师 ， 我 有 个 问题 。Teacher, I have a question.
• 找 个 女人 结婚 吧 。Find a woman and get married.

See also

• Counting money
• Measure words in quantity questions
• Measure words for counting
• Measure words to differentiate

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 21-2) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 45-6) →buy

Websites

• Chinese classifier (Wikipedia)