Measure word

This article is a stub. Editors can help the Chinese Grammar Wiki by expanding it.

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)

A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 73-95) →buy
Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 18) →buy
Chinese Grammar Without Tears (简明汉语语法学习手册) (pp. 198-208) →buy
Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 28-85) →buy
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 43-8) →buy
Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 1-30) →buy