What are measure words?

Measure words, also known as classifiers, are used with numerals or the words 这 zhè (this) and 那 nà (that) to qualify nouns. The term 'measure words' is a direct translation of the Chinese 量词 liàngcí. Although English also has such measure words, e.g. a bowl of rice, a slice of bread, it does not use them as extensively as in Chinese, which requires them each time a numeral is used with a noun. For example, the classifier for people is 个 gè, and three people is 三个人 sān gè rén. The classifier for books is 本 běn, and three books is 三本书 sān běn shū. Measure words sometimes denote the characteristics of the things they describe, such as 张 zhāng for flat objects, e.g. 一张纸 yī zhāng zhǐ (a piece of paper), and 条 tiáo for long thin objects, e.g. 一条路 yì tiáo lù (a road). Often, however, there is no rhyme or reason and you just have to remember the associated measure word for a given noun. In everyday Chinese, the measure word 个 gè is used as a general measure word and may often be used in place of others. In the HSK test, however, the correct measure word should be used, and questions will often test your knowledge of these.

How many measure words are there?

Chinese has between 80 and 150 measure words. Estimates vary because of differing definitions of what exactly constitutes a measure word, and because measure words have changed over time. The table below shows the most common measure words in Chinese. There are 75 in total. The HSK level in which the measure word first occurs is also given (except for two, which are not in the HSK list, which show as 'n/a').

No.	Character Character	Pinyin Pinyin	Usage Usage	HSK Level HSK
1	把	bǎ	things with handles, chairs, knives, umbrellas	2
2	班	bān	flights, groups of students, etc.	4
3	磅	bàng	pounds	n/a
4	杯	bēi	cupfuls	6
5	本	běn	books, magazines, files, etc.	4
6	部	bù	films, large books, machines, etc.	1
7	册	cè	book like things	2
8	层	céng	layers, stories of a building	4
9	场	cháng	happenings, events	2
10	场	chǎng	sport/recreation	2
11	串	chuàn	string	5
12	床	chuáng	sheets, blankets, etc.	2
13	簇	cù	clusters, bunches	n/a
14	代	dài	periods, generation	3
15	道	dào	rivers, topics, etc.	2
16	点	diǎn	small amounts	2
17	顶	dǐng	hats	6
18	度	dù	units of measurement, occasions, times, etc.	4
19	番	fān	acts	6
20	份	fèn	gifts, copies of a newspaper, portions	1
21	封	fēng	letters, mail	4
22	幅	fú	textile or picture	6
23	副	fù	a pair, sunglasses	6
24	个	gè	people	1
25	股	gǔ	used with electric current	3
26	合	hé	rounds	2
27	壶	hú	pots	6
28	回	huí	chapters, times, actions	3
29	架	jià	planes, large vehicles, radios, bridges, etc.	4
30	间	jiān	rooms	3
31	件	jiàn	clothes, luggage	2
32	届	jiè	events, e.g. Olympics, World Cup, meetings, elections	2
33	局	jú	games	1
34	句	jù	sentences or lines of verse	5
35	颗	kē	small spheres, pearls, hearts, satellites, etc.	6
36	刻	kè	quarter, 15 minutes	1
37	口	kǒu	mouthfuls, people, wells, etc.	3
38	块	kuài	chunks, lumps, cloth, cake, soap	2
39	俩	liǎ	two of = 两个 (liǎng ge)	3
40	辆	liàng	vehicles e.g. car, bicycle	6
41	门	mén	courses, branches of science, lessons, large guns	4
42	米	mǐ	meter	5
43	面	miàn	mirrors, flags, etc.	2
44	秒	miǎo	second	6
45	名	míng	people	2
46	盘	pán	used for dishes of food or coils of wire	1
47	批	pī	batches, lots	5
48	匹	pǐ	horses, mules, a bolt of cloth	5
49	篇	piān	sheets, pieces of writing	6
50	瓶	píng	bottles	5
51	期	qī	periodicals, courses of study	2
52	任	rèn	terms in office	4
53	扇	shàn	doors, windows, etc.	6
54	身	shēn	clothes	5
55	声	shēng	sounds	1
56	首	shǒu	poems	1
57	束	shù	bunch, beam, bundle	6
58	艘	sōu	boats, ships	6
59	岁	suì	years	1
60	台	tái	electrical appliances, e.g. TV, computer, radios	5
61	套	tào	a set of something, e.g. furniture, stamps	3
62	条	tiáo	long, thin things, e.g. ribbon, river, dogs, snakes, dragons, roads	3
63	通	tōng	telegrams	4
64	通	tòng	actions	4
65	头	tóu	livestock, garlic, etc.	2
66	位	wèi	people (polite usage)	4
67	响	xiǎng	sound	3
68	些	xiē	plural or small amount	2
69	张	zhāng	flat objects, e.g. paper, tables, maps	4
70	支	zhī	long round objects, e.g. pens, pencils, guns, cigarettes	4
71	枝	zhī	branches, sticks	1
72	只	zhǐ	birds, animals, vessels, utensils, one of a pair e.g. hands, feet, ears	4
73	株	zhū	plants, trees	6
74	幢	zhuàng	houses, buildings	6
75	座	zuò	large, solid things	3

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