1-Measure words,汉语量词

1) Measure words Measure words seem foreign to many students of Chinese language, but English does have equivalents, it’s just that in English they just aren’t as common or necessary. Some common measure words in English are: a pair of pants, a herd of elephants, a bunch of flowers, or a pack of cards. In Chinese, measure words are used whenever a quantity of a noun is involved (including the quantity 1). The default measure word in Chinese is 个 gè and this can be used for most nouns and you will be understood. However, once you are past the beginning stage, you should really learn and use the correct measure word for Chinese nouns. Here are some of the most common ones: 块kuài: for “big” money (Chinese yuán 元, US dollars, British pounds) 毛máo: for 1/10 of the “big” money (Chinese jiǎo 角, US dimes) 位wèi: for people (polite) 本běn: for bound materials (books, magazines) 张zhāng: flat stuff (pieces of paper, tables, CDs) 份fèn: for bundles/batches (servings of food, multi-page documents) 只zhī: 1 of a pair (1 chopstick, 1 shoe, 1 eye) 支zhī: stick-like things (pen) 双shuāng: pairs (2 chopsticks, 2 shoes, 2 eyes) 辆liàng: vehicles with wheels (but not trains) 节jié: for class periods 首shǒu: songs, poems 条tiáo: for roads, long pieces of clothing (pants) Also, note that 天 and 年 do not require measure words (两天liǎng tiān, 二十年èrshí nián).