Measure words for counting

Structure

Whenever you talk about the quantity of something in Chinese, you need a measure word.

MW + Number + Noun

English does actually have measure words, it's just that most nouns 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", "people", "chocolate" etc. You can't say "a furniture". You need a measure word: "a piece of furniture", "two groups of people", "three bars of chocolate" 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 bar of furniture", unless something went badly wrong in the factory).

Examples

• 一 个 人
• 三 条 狗
• 两 只 猫
• 一 杯 啤酒
• 一 瓶 水
• 七 块 巧克力
• 一 盒 茶叶

Also remember that there isn't a one-to-one relationship between nouns and measure words. One measure word can be used with several different nouns:

• 一 条 狗
• 一 条 河
• 一 条 路
• 一 条 龙

And one noun can take different measure words in different situations:

• 一 块 巧克力
• 一 盒 巧克力
• 一 颗 巧克力

See also

• Measure Words for Verbs
• Measure words to differentiate

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 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) (pp. 122) →buy