Measure word
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Notes
- Measure words can be reduplicated to act as a sentence element. This has the meaning of 'every'.
- Used after numerals or demonstrative pronouns.
- If the number is just one, it can be omitted; just the measure word is OK.
- 半 before measure word means "half of". 半 after measure word means "... and a half"
- 多 and measure words
- 多 in between numeral and measure word e.g. 十多个 means more than the number given but less than the next whole number. Like 'odd' in English e.g. "thirty-odd".
- 多 after the measure word simply means more than the number given
- Most measure words are single characters, but not all (need list of two-character measure words)
Subcategories
Sources and further reading
Books
- A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 73-95) →buy
- Chinese Grammar Without Tears (简明汉语语法学习手册) (pp. 198-208) →buy
- Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 18) →buy
- Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 1-30) →buy
- Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 43-8) →buy
- Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 28-85) →buy
Websites
- Chinese classifier (Wikipedia)