Day 11: Measure words
The biggest day of week 2, and the thing English speakers find most alien:
### ★ You cannot say "three books" in Chinese. You must say "three [bound-volume] books."
三本书 sān běn shū. 两个人 liǎng ge rén. 一杯咖啡 yì bēi kāfēi.
★ And English does this too — you just never noticed, because English only does it for uncountables: two slices of bread, a piece of paper, three cups of coffee, a head of cattle, two pairs of trousers. Chinese applies the same machinery to every single noun.
1. ★★ The structure
### Number + MEASURE WORD + Noun
| 三本书 | sān běn shū | three books |
|---|---|---|
| 两个人 | liǎng ge rén | two people |
| 一杯咖啡 | yì bēi kāfēi | one coffee |
| 五张票 | wǔ zhāng piào | five tickets |
| 一条鱼 | yì tiáo yú | one fish |
⚠️ 三书 ❌ · 两人 ❌ · 一咖啡 ❌ — the measure word is compulsory, not decorative.
⚠️ ★ And remember Day 8: before a measure word, "two" is 两, not 二. 两个人, never 二个人.
★ It's also needed after 这, 那, 每, 几 and 哪
| ❌ | ✅ | |
|---|---|---|
| 这本书 | this book | |
| 那个人 | that person | |
| 几本书? | how many books? | |
| 哪杯咖啡? | which coffee? |
★ 这 zhè = this · 那 nà = that · 哪 nǎ = which — three characters that differ by one component and one tone. All three take a measure word.
2. The fifteen that actually matter
| Measure word | For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ★ 个 ge | general — people, abstract things, the fallback | 两个人 · 一个问题 |
| 位 wèi | people, polite | 三位老师 · 几位? |
| 本 běn | books, bound volumes | 一本书 |
| 张 zhāng | ★ flat things — paper, tickets, tables, beds, photos | 两张票 |
| 杯 bēi | cups, glasses | 一杯茶 |
| 瓶 píng | bottles | 两瓶啤酒 |
| 只 zhī | small animals; one of a pair | 一只猫 · 一只手 |
| 条 tiáo | ★ long thin things — fish, roads, rivers, trousers, dogs | 一条鱼 · 一条狗 |
| 件 jiàn | upper-body clothes; matters, affairs | 一件衣服 · 一件事 |
| 双 shuāng | pairs | 一双鞋 · 一双筷子 |
| 辆 liàng | vehicles | 一辆车 |
| 家 jiā | ★ businesses — shops, restaurants, companies | 一家餐厅 |
| 支 zhī | pens, sticks, long rigid things | 一支笔 |
| 次 cì | times, occasions | 去过三次 |
| 点儿 / 些 | a little / some | 一点儿水 · 一些书 |
⚠️ 条 covers dogs but 只 covers cats. There is no logic you can derive — dogs are "long", cats are "small animals", and that is the historical answer. Learn 一条狗 and 一只猫 as fixed phrases.
★ 张 is worth extra attention — it covers anything flat: 票 (tickets), 纸 (paper), 桌子 (tables), 床 (beds), 照片 (photos), 地图 (maps). One word, enormous coverage.
3. ★★ When in doubt, use 个
### 个 is wrong for many nouns and understood for all of them.
★ Say 一个书 and every Chinese speaker knows exactly what you mean — you sound like a learner, and the conversation continues. Freeze for four seconds trying to recall 本 and the conversation stops.
| ★ The rule for the next twenty days | Use the right one when you know it. Use 个 when you don't. Never stop to think. |
|---|
⚠️ 个 is genuinely correct for a huge range — people, questions, problems, hours, months, apples, countries, ideas. It is not just a fallback; it is the most common measure word in the language.
★ And accuracy here comes from volume, not from study. You will absorb 本, 张 and 条 from hearing them, the same way you absorbed a slice of bread without ever being taught a rule.
4. ⚠️ Nouns that are their own measure word
A few time and money words take a number directly — adding 个 is wrong:
| ✅ | ❌ |
|---|---|
| 三天 three days | |
| 三年 three years | |
| 三岁 three years old | |
| 三块 three yuan | |
| 三点 three o'clock |
⚠️ But 月, 星期 and 小时 DO take 个 — 三个月, 两个星期, 三个小时 (Day 9 §5). There is no pattern; learn the five above as the exceptions.
5. 这 / 那 / 哪 — this, that, which
| 这 zhè | this | 这个 · 这本书 |
|---|---|---|
| 那 nà | that | 那个 · 那张桌子 |
| 哪 nǎ | which | 哪个 · 哪本书? |
| 这些 / 那些 / 哪些 | these / those / which ones | ★ 些 is the plural measure word |
| 这儿 / 那儿 / 哪儿 | here / there / where |
★ 这个 zhège is one of the most useful words in the language — point at anything and say 这个,谢谢 and you have ordered it, exactly like 이거 주세요 in Korean.
⚠️ 哪 nǎ (which) and 那 nà (that) differ by one tone and by one dot in the character. Third tone = which, fourth tone = that.
6. Dialogue
服务员: 你们几位?Alex: 两位。服务员: 这边请。你们要点什么?Alex: 我要一杯咖啡和一个蛋糕。小明: 我要两瓶啤酒。服务员: 好的。还要别的吗?Alex: 这个是什么? (指菜单)服务员: 那是一条鱼,很好吃。Alex: 好,来一条。 (后来,在书店)Alex: 请问,这本书多少钱?老板: 四十五块。那本三十块。Alex: 我买两本。还有,那张地图多少钱?老板: 十块。Alex: 好,一共一百块。
★ Nine measure words in fifteen lines: 几位 · 两位 · 一杯 · 一个 · 两瓶 · 一条 · 这本 · 两本 · 那张.★ And 几位 rather than 几个 — the polite counter for customers, which is what staff use.
7. Exercises
A. ★ Which measure word?
- 三___书 2. 两___人 3. 一___咖啡 4. 五___票 5. 一___鱼
- 两___啤酒 7. 一___猫 8. 一___狗 9. 一___车 10. 一___餐厅
B. ⚠️ 二 or 两?
- ___个人 2. ___十 3. ___本书 4. 十___
C. ⚠️ Does it need a measure word? Fix if so.
- 这书 2. 那人 3. 三天 4. 三月 5. 几书 6. 三块
D. Translate.
- two people 2. three books 3. one coffee 4. five tickets
- this book 6. that table 7. which one? 8. these
E. ★ You don't know the measure word for 苹果 (apple). What do you do?
F. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- 三书
- 二个人
- 这书多少钱?
- 三个天
- 三个月 (is this right?)
Answers
A. 1. 本 2. 个 3. 杯 4. 张 5. 条 6. 瓶 7. 只 8. 条 9. 辆 10. 家 B. 1. 两 2. 二 3. 两 4. 二 C. 1. 这本书 2. 那个人 3. ✅ 三天 4. 三个月 5. 几本书 6. ✅ 三块 D. 1. 两个人 2. 三本书 3. 一杯咖啡 4. 五张票 5. 这本书 6. 那张桌子 7. 哪个? 8. 这些 E. ★ Use 个 — 一个苹果. (Which happens to be correct anyway.) Never stop to think. F. 1. 三本书 2. 两个人 3. 这本书 4. 三天 5. ✅ correct — 月 does take 个
8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 两位。 Liǎng wèi. — Two people (to a waiter)
- 我要一杯咖啡。 — I'd like a coffee
- 两瓶啤酒。 — Two beers
- 这本书多少钱? — How much is this book?
- 我买两本。 — I'll take two
- 这个是什么? — What's this?
- 这个,谢谢。 — This one, thanks
- 那张票多少钱? — How much is that ticket?
- 我有一个哥哥。 — I have an older brother
- 来一条鱼。 — One fish, please
9. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload section 2 (the fifteen) and section 8 → study language Chinese.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | The dialogue — nine measure words, so you hear them in context |
| ✍️ Dictation | Measure words are single unstressed syllables between two stressed ones |
| 🗣 Shadowing | Today's key mission. Count ten different objects out loud, with their measure words |
| 📖 Vocab | ★ Enter nouns with their measure word attached — 一本书, never bare 书 |
| ❓ Quiz | The fifteen, and 这/那/哪 |
★ Count real things out loud tonight. Books with 本, cups with 杯, photos with 张, people in a photo with 个. Twenty items, three minutes — and it drills the structure, 两, and the vocabulary at once.
★ And the strategy that matters more than the list: when you don't know it, say 个 and keep talking. Nobody has ever been misunderstood because of a measure word.
Tomorrow: food and ordering — where you will use today's measure words twelve times an hour.
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