Measure Words to Quantify 量词（liáng cí）
In Chinese, we can’t number the nouns as English do, for example, 10 apples, 5 kids, we must use a measure word to link the numbers to the noun.

So, what is a measure word? In English, it is called the classifier, for example, a piece of paper, a slice of cake, a bunch of keys, these are so-called measure words to perform a sentence.

Rule
Words like books, papers, and clothes uses different measure word by their side. You will need to learn more measure words to adapt to the nouns. In Chinese, that is ungrammatical if you number the nouns without a measure word.

Structure
[Number] + [Measure word] + [Noun]

个 (gè)is the universal measure word that works mostly on every object, while 只 (zhī) is widely used on animals.

EXAMPLE
一个 人。 yī gè rén. One person.
他 有 三 个 小孩。 tā yǒu sān gè xiǎo hái. He has three kids.
八 只 狗。 bā zhǐ gǒu. Eight dogs.

Common Measure Words
1. 条 – For long, thin objects

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一条带子	yì tiáo dàizi	A belt
一条路	yì tiáo lù	A road
一条绳子	yì tiáo shéngzi	A rope
一条河	yì tiáo hé	A river
一条蛇	yì tiáo shé	A snake

2. 张 – For things you can open, spread, unfold

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一张纸	yì zhāng zhǐ	A piece of paper
一张床	yì zhāng chuáng	A bed
一张画	yì zhāng huà	A painting
一张嘴	yì zhāng zuǐ	A mouth
一张卡	yì zhāng kǎ	A bank card

3. 台 – For appliances and Performances

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一台戏	yì tái xì	A drama
一台电扇	yì tái diànshàn	An electric fan
一台车	yì táichē	A vehicle
一台照相机	yì tái zhàoxiàngjī	A camera (pictures)
一台演出	yì tái yǎnchū	A performance

4. 间 – For rooms and spaces

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一间房	yī jiān fáng	A room
一间药房	yī jiān yào fáng	A pharmacy
一间教室	yī jiān jiào shì	A classroom
一间厕所	yī jiān cè suǒ	A toilet
一间办公室	yī jiān bàn gōng shì	An office

5. 张 – 座，栋 – For buildings

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一座城堡	yīzuò chéngbǎo	A castle
一座桥	yī zuò qiáo	A bridge
一座别墅	yī zuò biéshù	A villa
一栋大楼	yí dòng dàlóu	A big building
一栋房子	yí dòng fángzi	An apartment

6. 盒，箱子 – 盒for smaller 箱 for a bigger box of an object

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一盒巧克力	yī hé qiǎokèlì	A box of chocolate
一盒口罩	yī hé kǒuzhào	A box of face masks
一盒草莓	yī hé cǎoméi	A box of strawberry
一箱水果	yī xiāng shuǐguǒ	A box/ crate of fruit
一箱文件	yī xiāng wénjiàn	A box of documents

7. 块 – For chunks or pieces of something

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一块香皂	yíkuài xiāngzào	A bar of soap
一块玻璃	yíkuài bōli	A piece of glass
一块手表	yíkuài shǒubiǎo	A watch
一块蛋糕	yíkuài dàngāo	A piece of cake
一块饼干	yíkuài bǐnggān	A cookie

8. 只， 匹， 头 – For animals, shoes & socks, jewelry

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一头大象	yìtóu dàxiàng	An elephant
一匹马	yì pī mǎ	A horse
一只鸟	yì zhǐ niǎo	A bird
一只袜子	yì zhǐ wàzi	A sock
一只耳环	yì zhǐ ěrhuán	An earring

9. 辆， 列， 架 – For transportation objects

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一辆轿车	yí liàng jiàochē	A carriage
一辆自行车	yí liàng zìxíngchē	A bike
一列火车	yí liè huǒchē	A train
一列高铁	yí liè gāotiě	A bullet-train
一架飞机	yí jià fēijī	A plane

10. 杯， 瓶，罐 – For glass/cup, bottle and can/pot/jar

CHARACTERS	PINYIN	MEANING
一杯水	yī bēi shuǐ	A glass of water
一杯咖啡	yī bēi kā fēi	A cup of coffee
一瓶红酒	yī píng hóng jiǔ	A bottle of wine
一瓶可乐	yī píng qì shuǐ	A bottle of Coke
一罐蜂蜜	yī guàn fēng mì	A jar of honey

Day and Year as Classifiers
There are some situations that the measure words occur without a noun. The words for day and year are classifiers. They may be preceded by a number, and they are never followed by a noun.

WITHOUT MEASURE WORD		WITH MEASURE WORD
一天 yī tiān	A day	一天 天 yī tiān tiān	A day of day
一年 yī nián	A year	一年 yī nián nián	A year of year