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The Most Common Chinese Measure Words
Sandy Cheng
November 04, 2024
Today, I’ll share the most common measure words we use in Chinese. While it’s true that you can often use 个 with many words, knowing these specific measure words can help you take your Chinese to the next level. I’ve also created a worksheet for you to practice these measure words, which you can download and print from here:
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If you want to dive deeper into Chinese measure words, this book can be a great addition to your studies:
个 (gè) - general measure word, used for people, items, and abstract concepts
一个人 (yí gè rén) - a person
一个苹果 (yí gè píngguǒ) - an apple
一个想法 (yí gè xiǎngfǎ) - an idea
只 (zhī) - for animals and some body parts
一只狗 (yì zhī gǒu) - a dog
一只手 (yì zhī shǒu) - a hand
一只鸟 (yì zhī niǎo) - a bird
本 (běn) - for books and bound volumes
一本小说 (yì běn xiǎoshuō) - a novel
一本字典 (yì běn zìdiǎn) - a dictionary
一本杂志 (yì běn zázhì) - a magazine
张 (zhāng) - for flat objects like paper, tickets, and photos
一张桌子 (yì zhāng zhuōzi) - a table
一张地图 (yì zhāng dìtú) - a map
一张照片 (yì zhāng zhàopiàn) - a photo
台 (tái) - for machines and appliances
一台电视 (yì tái diànshì) - a TV
一台洗衣机 (yì tái xǐyījī) - a washing machine
一台机器 (yì tái jīqì) - a machine
条 (tiáo) - for long, flexible items like rivers, fish, and pants
一条裤子 (yì tiáo kùzi) - a pair of pants
一条鱼 (yì tiáo yú) - a fish
一条毛巾 (yì tiáo máojīn) - a towel
件 (jiàn) - for pieces of clothing, luggage, and matters
一件衬衫 (yí jiàn chènshān) - a shirt
一件行李 (yí jiàn xíngli) - a piece of luggage
一件事情 (yí jiàn shìqing) - a gift
块 (kuài) - for pieces, chunks, or currency (informal)
一块蛋糕 (yí kuài dàngāo) - a piece of cake
一块巧克力 (yí kuài qiǎokèlì) - a piece of chocolate
一块石头 (yí kuài shítou) - a stone
杯 (bēi) - for cups or glasses of liquid
一杯水 (yì bēi shuǐ) - a glass of water
一杯茶 (yì bēi chá) - a cup of tea
一杯果汁 (yì bēi guǒzhī) - a glass of juice
双 (shuāng) - for pairs
一双筷子 (yì shuāng kuàizi) - a pair of chopsticks
一双手 (yì shuāng shǒu) - a pair of hands
一双袜子 (yì shuāng wàzi) - a pair of socks
瓶 (píng) - for bottles
一瓶可乐 (yì píng kělè) - a bottle of cola
一瓶牛奶 (yì píng niúnǎi) - a bottle of milk
一瓶啤酒 (yì píng píjiǔ) - a bottle of beer
支 (zhī) - for long, thin, rigid objects like pens, cigarettes, and some tools
一支蜡烛 (yì zhī làzhú) - a candle
一支烟 (yì zhī yān) - a cigarette
一支牙刷 (yì zhī yáshuā) - a toothbrush
片 (piàn) - for slices, pieces, or flat objects, including pills
一片西瓜 (yí piàn xīguā) - a slice of watermelon
一片药 (yí piàn yào) - a pill
一片树叶 (yí piàn shùyè) - a leaf
碗 (wǎn) - for bowls of food or liquid
一碗汤 (yì wǎn tāng) - a bowl of soup
一碗面条 (yì wǎn miàntiáo) - a bowl of noodles
一碗粥 (yì wǎn zhōu) - a bowl of porridge
份 (fèn) - for portions, servings, or copies (especially of documents or newspapers)
一份早餐 (yí fèn zǎocān) - a serving of breakfast
一份文件 (yí fèn wénjiàn) - a document
一份礼物 (yí fèn lǐwù) - a gift
次 (cì) - for times or occurrences of an action
看一次电影 (kàn yí cì diànyǐng) - watch a movie once
试一次 (shì yí cì) - try once
听一次 (tīng yí cì) - listen once
棵 (kē) - for trees and plants
一棵草 (yì kē cǎo) - a plant
一棵竹子 (yì kē zhúzi) - a bamboo
一棵树 (yì kē shù) - a tree
头 (tóu) - for larger animals like cattle and certain big animals
一头猪 (yì tóu zhū) - a pig
一头牛 (yì tóu niú) - a cow
一头大象 (yì tóu dàxiàng) - an elephant
辆 (liàng) - for vehicles
一辆自行车 (yí liàng zìxíngchē) - a bicycle
一辆卡车 (yí liàng kǎchē) - a truck
一辆摩托车 (yí liàng mótuōchē) - a motorcycle
位 (wèi) - polite measure word for people, especially in formal or respectful contexts
一位医生 (yí wèi yīshēng) - a doctor
一位客人 (yí wèi kèrén) - a guest
一位领导 (yí wèi lǐngdǎo) - a leader
I also made 2 videos last week with some of these measure words, you can watch them here:
Do you want more help with learning Chinese? Check out my private online classes: