Chinese Measure Words Summary Table
The following table covers the most common Chinese measure words (classifiers). For detailed explanations regarding measure words, please refer to the following link: http://www.yoyochinese.com/common_Chinese_mistakes_made_by_English_speakers_03.pdf Measure words used in a similar way in English For example: Measure Word 包 bāo 杯 bēi 盒 hé 块/塊 kuài 瓶 pínɡ
Used with Pack Cup of, glass of Box of
种/種 zhǒnɡ
A box of chocolate
一包烟
yì bēi kā fēi
一杯咖啡
yì hé qiǎo kè lì
一盒巧克力 一块蛋糕
Bottle of something
One beer
yì pínɡ pí jiǔ
一瓶啤酒
One pack of herd
yì qún yánɡ
一群羊
One pair of shoes
yì shuānɡ xié
(cows, bees, sheep)
tào
One cup of coffee
yì bāo yān
yí kuài dàn ɡāo
qún
套
cigarettes
One piece of cake
Crowd, group, herd, flock, pack of
shuānɡ
One pack of
Piece of (cake, soap, land)
群 双/雙
Examples
Pair of (shoes, chopsticks, gloves) Set of (furniture, stamps) Types of, kind of
One set of furniture One type of fruit
yí tào jiā jù yì zhǒnɡ shuǐ ɡuǒ
一塊蛋糕
一双鞋 一雙鞋 一套家具 一种水果 一種水果
Measure words sometimes used or not required in English For example: Measure Word 把 bǎ
Used with
Examples
Objects with a handle such as Knife, umbrella, toothbrush and
One knife
yì bǎ dāo
一把刀
chair
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Chinese Measure Words Summary Table 本
Things with volume, such as books,
běn
magazines
串
Items joined together, e.g. by a
One bunch of
chuàn
string
grapes
Hat
One hat
yì dǐnɡ mào zi
Newspaper
One newspaper
yí fèn bào zhǐ
Letters, mail
One letter
yì fēnɡ xìn
One person
yí ɡe rén
One bedroom
yì jiān wò shì
One shirt
yí jiàn chèn shān
One matter
yí jiàn shì
One tree
yì kē shù
One car
yí liànɡ chē
One article
yì piān wén zhānɡ
一篇文章
One song
yì shǒu ɡē
一首歌
One computer
yì tái diàn nǎo
顶/頂 dǐnɡ 份 fèn 封 fēnɡ 个/個
Generic measure word that can be
ge
used with anything
间/間 jiān
Room (living room, bedroom, etc)
件
Items of clothing (generally for the
jiàn
upper body), matters, affairs,
棵 kē
Trees
辆/輛
Wheeled vehicles (such as cars,
liànɡ
bicycles, trucks)
篇 piān
Essay, article, report
首
Passage of text (such as poems,
shǒu
songs)
台
Fairly large electrical items (such as
tái
computers, washing machines)
One book
yì běn shū yí chuàn pú táo
一本书 一本書 一串葡萄 一顶帽子 一頂帽子 一份报纸 一份報紙 一封信 一个人 一個人 一间卧室 一間臥室 一件衬衫 一件襯衫 一件事 一棵树 一棵樹 一辆车 一輛車
一台电脑 一台電腦 一条毛巾
条/條
Long and winding objects (such as
tiáo
towel, street, pants, rope)
One towel
yì tiáo máo jīn
一條毛巾
One (pair) pants
yì tiáo kù zi
一条裤子 一條褲子
位
People (a polite measure word to
wèi
replace 个-ge)
张/張
Flat surfaces (table, sheet of paper,
zhānɡ
bed, photo)
One guest
yí wèi kè rén
One table
yì zhānɡ zhuō zi
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一位客人 一张桌子 一張桌子
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Chinese Measure Words Summary Table 支
Fairly long, stick-like objects such
zhī
as pens, pencils, cigarettes
只/隻 zhī
座 zuò
Animals, birds and insects
One pen
yì zhī bǐ
One cat
yì zhī māo
One hand
yì zhī shǒu
One shoe
yì zhī xié zǐ
One mountain
yí zuò shān
一支笔 一支筆 一只猫 一隻貓 一只手 一隻手
One of a pair
Large, relatively permanent thing
一只鞋子 一隻鞋子 一座山
Have fun with measure words!
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