In Chinese, the nouns, unlike English ones, make no distinction in form between singular and plural.
Another important feature of the common noun in Chinese is that when it is used with a numeral, the numeral has to have a measure word between it and the noun, so the structure is numberal + measure word + noun.
e.g.
Numberal | Measure Word | Noun |
一 yí | 个 gè | 苹果 píng guǒ |
两 liǎng | 个 gè | 苹果píng guǒ |
一 yí | 个gè | 孩子 háizi |
两 liǎng | 个gè | 孩子 háizi |
苹果 píng guǒ apple/apples
孩子 háizi child/children
一 an/one
两 two
The most common measure word is - 个 gè
个 gè (usually unstressed as ge in actual speech) is by far the most common measure word and it can occur with a wide range of nouns.
Let's see some examples of 个gè :
一个名字 两个包子 三个学生 一百个国家
yí gè míng zì liǎng gè bāo zǐ sān gè xué shēng yī bǎi gè guó jiā
（a name） ( 2 baozi ） （ 3 students） (100 countries)
Measure word is not only used after a numberal, but also after a question word.
e.g. 几个（ jǐ gè ） few 多少个（ duō shǎo gè ） how many
Commonly used measure words are less than twenty
Common Measure Words Summary
Measure Word Classification Examples
1. 包 bāo packet 烟 yān -cigarettes
2. 杯 bēi cup, glass 茶chá- tea,咖啡kā fēi -coffee,
水shuǐ -water
3. 本 běn volume 书 shū- book，杂志zá zhì - magazine
4. 部 bù 电影diàn yǐng -movie， 手机shǒu jī - mobile phone
5. 个gè used if you have forgotten 人rén - person 和其他 and a
the correct one! lot of other things
6. 家 jiā 公司 gōng sī -company,
商店 shāng diàn- shop,
医院 yī yuàn-hospital
7. 件 jiàn piece, article 衣服 yī fu - clothes,
箱包 xiāng bāo, luggage,
事情shì qíng-matter (affair)
8. 棵 kē 树 shù - tree
9. 块kuài piece, lump 香皂 xiāng zào- soap,
蛋糕 dàn gāo- cake, 地 dì- land
10. 辆 liàng 车 chē - car,
自行车 zì xíng chē- bicycle
11. 盘 pán plate 菜 cài- dish, 汤 tāng- soup, 炒面 chǎo miàn -fried noodles
12. 瓶píng bottle 可乐 kě lè - coke, 啤酒,pí jiǔ- beer, 红酒hóng jiǔ- wine, 水 shuǐ -water
13. 首shǒu piece 歌 gē -song, 诗 shī -poem
14. 束 shù bunch, bouquet 花huā - flowers
15. 双 shuāng pair 眼睛yǎn jīng-eyes,
筷子kuài zi -chopsticks， 鞋 xié -shoes
16. 套 tào set 家具 jiā jù- suite of furnitures,
连衣裙 liányīqún - set of dress
17. 条 tiáo long and narrow thing 毛巾máo jīn- towel, 鱼 yú - fish,
街jiē - street, 河hé - river, 裤子 kù zǐ - trousers
18. 罐/听 tīng guàn can 可乐kě lè -coke, 啤酒pí jiǔ- beer, 罐头食品 guàn tóu shípǐn- canned food
19. 碗wǎn bowl 大米 dà mǐ- rice,汤,tāng -soup,
粥 zhōu- porridge
20. 位 wèi person (polite) 老师 lǎo shī- teacher,女士nǚ shì - lady, 男士nán shì -gentleman
21. 张 zhāng flat object 地图 dì tú-map, 纸zhǐ -paper,
卡片kǎ piàn - card, 床chuáng -bed, 桌子 zhuō zǐ- table,
磁盘 cípán -disk
22. 支 zhī long and small thing 笔 bǐ -pen,烟yān- cigarrette
23. 种 zhǒng type, kind 事情 shì qing - a lot of things
24. 座zuò large, solid thing 山shān-mountain, 桥 qiáo-bridge,
大厦 dà shà- building
Note:
1. The structure of a quantified noun phrase is: numeral + measure word + noun.
e.g.
一不人yí gè rén(a person)、两本书liǎng běn shū (two books)
2. The numeral“2" before a measure word is 两liǎng instead of 二èr
e.g.
2 books
两本书liǎng běn shū not 二个书 èr gè shū
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