Master Chinese Measure Words

Learn 量词 (liàngcí) — the classifiers that make your Chinese sound natural.

50 essential classifiers · Interactive quizzes · Visual memory tips

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50 words

The universal classifier. Used for people and most general objects when no specific measure word applies.

Polite/formal classifier for people, used to show respect to guests, teachers, elders.

Formal classifier for people in a specific role or profession, often used in written Chinese.

Classifier for members of a group or organization, such as team members or crew.

Classifier for batches or groups of people (or goods) arriving or being processed together.

Classifier for groups of people, often with a casual or sometimes negative connotation.

Classifier for small animals, birds, and one of a pair. Also used for some objects.

Classifier for long, thin things — fish, snakes, roads, and some abstract items like news.

Classifier for large animals, especially livestock like cattle, pigs, and elephants.

Classifier for horses, mules, and sometimes cloth/wolf.

Classifier for litters or nests of animals born together.

Classifier for books, notebooks, magazines, and other bound publications.

Classifier for flat, thin objects: paper, tickets, tables, photos, faces.

Classifier for articles, essays, and written compositions.

Classifier for letters and sealed envelopes.

Classifier for cups/glasses of beverages.

Classifier for bowls of food, especially noodles, rice, and soup.

Classifier for plates of food.

Classifier for pieces, chunks, or slices of solid things. Also used for money (kuài = yuan).

Classifier for bottles of liquid.

Classifier for rooms and spaces.

Classifier for large structures: buildings, mountains, bridges, statues.

Classifier for layers, floors, or stories in a building.

Classifier for buildings, especially residential houses or apartment blocks.

Classifier for wheeled vehicles: cars, bikes, buses.

Classifier for boats and ships.

Classifier for machines with a frame: airplanes, pianos, cameras.

Classifier for trains and trains of data/events.

Classifier for pieces of clothing, luggage, and abstract matters/cases.

Classifier for pairs of things: shoes, socks, chopsticks, hands.

Classifier for things worn on the head: hats, caps.

Classifier for sets of things: suit, furniture, system, method.

Classifier for things with a handle: chairs, umbrellas, keys, knives, fans.

Classifier for long, stick-like objects: pens, songs, troops.

Classifier for long, thin, rigid objects: sticks, ropes, noodles, hair.

Classifier for machines and equipment: computers, TVs, cars, stages.

Classifier for trees and plants.

Classifier for flowers, clouds, and other fluffy/blooming things.

Classifier for flat, thin pieces: leaves, slices, land areas.

Classifier for drops of liquid.

Classifier for occurrences, times, or frequency of actions.

Classifier for events, performances, games, rain, and battles.

Classifier for turns, sorts, or kinds of effort/experience. Literary tone.

Classifier for bursts, gusts, or waves of something that comes and goes.

Classifier for movies, books, phone models, and machines.

Classifier for items in a list: tasks, rules, policies, research.

Classifier for sections, segments, lessons, and batteries.

Classifier for segments, passages, or periods of time/experience.

Classifier for paintings, pictures, maps, and curtains.

Classifier for sentences and lines of speech.

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