Lesson 3

15 Most Common Chinese

Measure Words

量词
 Measure words are used to specify a certain quantity of a given noun

a bar of chocolate
a party of friends
two pieces of news
three rolls of toilet
paper
several drops of mud
I. Generic Measure Word: 个 (gè)
一个老人 yí gè lǎorén an old man
两个孩子 liǎng gè háizi two kids
三个学生 sān gè xuésheng three students
Many non-human items, abstract objects, and words
1. 两个字 liǎng gè zì two characters
2. 三个橙子 sān gè chéngzi three oranges
3. 五个会 wǔ gè huì five meetings
4. 七个月 qī gè yuè seven months
5. 十个问题 shí gè wèntí ten questions
 II. 位 (wèi)
一位老师 03
1 yí wèi lǎoshī a teacher
两位同事 liǎng wèi tóngshì two colleagues
三位客人 sān wèi kèrén three guests

And when you go to a restaurant in China, you are bound to hear the waiter
say this to you as part of the Chinese courtesy.

02 几位? Jǐ wèi? How many (people)? 04

III. 只 (zhī)
Just like 个 (gè) is the generic measure word for people, 只 (zhī) is the generic
measure word for animals.
• 一只猫 yì zhī māo a cat
• 两只兔子 liǎng zhī tùzi two bunnies
• 三只虫子 sān zhī chóngzi three bugs
• 四只鸟 sì zhī niǎo four birds
• 五只鸡 wǔ zhī jī five chickens

Note that the measure word 只 (zhī) normally sticks with smaller animals.
Now, 只 (zhī) can also be used to talk about items that come in pairs (one of a pair) such as
some body parts, shoes, etc.
For example:

• 一只手 yì zhī shǒu a hand

• 一只脚 yì zhī jiǎo a foot
• 两只眼睛 liǎng zhī yǎnjīng two eyes
• 两只耳朵 liǎng zhī ěrduo two ears
• 一只鞋 yì zhī xié a shoe
IV. 头 (tóu)
The Chinese measure word 头 (tóu) refers to a head of something. If
个 (gè) is the go-to measure word for small animals, then 头 (tóu) is
used for big animals such as livestock as well as some wild animals.
一头猪 yì tóu zhū a pig
两头驴 liǎng tóu lǘ two donkeys
三头牛 sān tóu niú three cows
四头狮子 sì tóu shīzi four lions
五头大象 wǔ tóu dàxiàng five elephants

1 02 03 04
V. 条 (tiáo)

条 (tiáo) is the measure word for things with a long,

narrow shape – fish, snakes, ropes, ties, rivers,
roads, pants, etc.
examples:
• 一条鱼 yì tiáo yú a fish
• 两条蛇 liǎng tiáo shé two snakes
• 三条领带 sān tiáo lǐngdài three ties
• 四条河 sì tiáo hé four rivers
• 十条裤子 shí tiáo kùzi ten pants
VI. 双 (shuāng)
When you talk about pairs of things in Chinese, the measure word 双 (shuāng) is
used. The character, as you can probably guess from its structure, means
“double” originally.

一双鞋 yì shuāng xié a pair of shoes

一双袜子 yì shuāng wàzi a pair of socks
一双筷子 yì shuāng kuàizi a pair of chopsticks
一双手 yì shuāng shǒu a pair of hands
一双眼睛 yì shuāng yǎnjīng a pair of eyes

01
VII. 张 (zhāng)
张 (zhāng) as it refers to flat things – paper, tickets, menus,
tables, chairs, beds, tickets and so on.
一张纸 yì zhāng zhǐ a piece of paper
两张票 liǎng zhāng piào two tickets
三张桌子 sān zhāng zhuōzi three tables
四张椅子 sì zhāng yǐzi four chairs
五张床 wǔ zhāng chuáng five beds
VIII. 本 (běn)
While 张 (zhāng) is used for a single sheet of paper,
talking about bound stuff such as books, or magazines.
That’s where 本 (běn) comes in handy!
一本书 yì běn shū a book
一本词典 yì běn cídiǎn a dictionary
两本杂志 liǎng běn zázhì two magazines
五本笔记本 wǔ běn bǐjìběn five notebooks
VIIII. 把 (bǎ)
The measure word 把 (bǎ) literally means “handful”. It’s
commonly used for objects that can be held and
implements with handles.

Examples:
一把刀 yì bǎ dāo a knife
一把叉子 yì bǎ chāzi a fork
一把剪刀 yì bǎ jiǎndāo a pair of scissors
一把伞 yì bǎ sǎn an umbrella
一把吉他 yì bǎ jítā a guitar
一把椅子 yì bǎ yǐzi a chair
X. 件 (jiàn)

The measure word 件 (jiàn) is used commonly in a few ways –

with things, matters, clothes (top half), gifts, furniture,
luggage, etc, even though they have nothing in common.

examples:
一件事 yí jiàn shì a thing
一件汗衫 yí jiàn hànshān a T-shirt
一件大衣 yí jiàn dàyī a coat
一件礼物 yí jiàn lǐwù a gift
一件行李 yí jiàn xíngli a piece of luggage
XI. 辆 (liàng)
The measure word 辆 (liàng) is commonly used for vehicles
with wheels (but not trains),cars, buses, bikes, scooters
一辆汽车 yí liàng qìchē a car
两辆大巴 liǎng liàng dàbā two buses
三辆自行车 sān liàng zìxíngchē three bicycles
四辆摩托车 sì liàng mótuōchē four motorcycles
XII. 家 (jiā)

The word 家 (jiā) literally means “home” or “family”,

establishments such as companies, banks, shops, restaurants,

一家公司 yì jiā gongsī a company

两家银行 liǎng jiā yínháng two banks
三家超市 sān jiā chāoshì three supermarkets
这家餐厅 zhè jiā canting this restaurant
那家酒吧 nà jiā jiǔbā that bar

1600 1700 1800 1900

XIII. 杯 (bēi)/瓶 (píng)
There are two common measure words for it: 杯 (bēi) and 瓶 (píng).
Learning how to use the measure words 杯 (bēi) and 瓶 (píng) in the
English words “cup/glass” and “bottle”.

一杯冰水 yì bēi bīng shuǐ a glass of iced water

一杯绿茶 yì bēi lǜ chá a cup of green tea
两杯咖啡 liǎng bēi kāfēi two cups of coffee
三瓶可乐 sān píng kělè three bottles of coke
十瓶啤酒 shí píng píjiǔ ten bottles of beer
XIV. 份 (fèn)
Now let’s move on to food. You can use the measure word 份
(fèn) to talk about a portion or serving of food.

一份米饭 yí fèn mǐfàn a serving of rice

一份快餐 yí fèn kuài cān a serving of fast food
一份点心 yí fèn diǎnxin a serving of Dim Sum

This measure word is also widely used for documents, copies,

newspapers, shares, packages, and so on.
一份表格 yí fèn biǎogé a form
一份报纸 yí fèn bàozhǐ a newspaper
一份外卖 yí fèn wàimài a portion of delivered food
XV. 元 (yuán)/ 块 (kuài)

元 (yuán) and 块 (kuài) are essentially the same,

think of 元 (yuán) as the Chinese “dollars” and 块 (kuài)

五十元钱 wǔ shí yuán qián 50 RMB

一百块钱 yì bǎi kuài qián 100 RMB