Languages 1001

Let’s play a game. Imagine if in English you said: “I have three bread” or “five milk.” Sounds weird, right? That’s because in Chinese, you *must* use a special word called a “measure word” (量词 liàngcí) between the number and the noun. Think of it as the thing that keeps numbers and nouns from bumping into each other and causing grammatical chaos! Here are some of the most useful measure words for beginners:

• 个 (gè) — Used for people and many objects (the “universal adapter” of measure words!)
  四个学生 (sì gè xuéshēng) — four students
• 本 (běn) — For books and notebooks
  三本书 (sān běn shū) — three books
• 杯 (bēi) — For drinks in cups or glasses
  两杯牛奶 (liǎng bēi niúnǎi) — two cups of milk
• 家 (jiā) — For families or businesses (restaurants, shops, etc.)
  五家商店 (wǔ jiā shāngdiàn) — five shops
• 间 (jiān) — For rooms
  六间房子 (liù jiān fángzi) — six rooms/houses
• 口 (kǒu) — For family members (mouths to feed!)
  三口人 (sān kǒu rén) — three people in the family
• 块 (kuài) — For pieces or chunks (like bread or cake)
  七块面包 (qī kuài miànbāo) — seven pieces of bread
• 页 (yè) — For pages of a book
  四页 (sì yè) — four pages

Syntax pattern:
【number + measure word + noun】
So, instead of “three books” it’s “three + MEASURE WORD + books” = 三本书.

Hot tip: In Chinese, the number “two” before a measure word is liǎng (两), not èr (二). So it’s “两本书” not “二本书”.
See our friends using measure words:
“Lili has 三本书.”
“Haoran drinks 两杯牛奶.”
“Xiulan buys 七块面包 - because grandmas know how to party.”
Get the hang of the pattern and you’ll sound much more natural than just yelling numbers and nouns at people in the bakery!

1. Lili has three books.
莉莉有三书。

<p>2. Haoran drinks two cups of milk.<br>
    浩然喝两<input type="text" answer="杯">牛奶。</p>

<p>3. Xiaotong is a student.<br>
    晓彤是一个学生。What’s the right measure word for 学生? Type in:<br>
    晓彤是<input type="text" answer="个">学生。</p>

<p>4. Jianguo’s family has three people.<br>
    建国家有三<input type="text" answer="口">人。</p>

<p>5. Xiulan buys seven pieces of bread.<br>
    秀兰买了七<input type="text" answer="块">面包。</p>

<p>6. There are five shops on the street.<br>
    街上有五<input type="text" answer="家">商店。</p>

<p>7. Zhiqiang has six rooms.<br>
    志强有六<input type="text" answer="间">房子。</p>

<p>8. You read four pages.<br>
    你读了四<input type="text" answer="页">。</p>

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