115 Chinese Measure Words: A Beginner's Practical Guide

To get good at Mandarin Chinese, you need to know how to use measure words right. In Chinese, these are called ‘liàng cí’. They’re crucial for counting nouns correctly. Unlike in English, where you can be pretty flexible with quantifiers, in Mandarin, each noun often pairs with a specific measure word that fits its physical shape or role in society.

115 Chinese Measure Words for Beginners

Measure Word	Pinyin	Example Use (English)	Example Use (Chinese)
个	gè	one person	一个人 (yī gè rén)
本	běn	one book	一本书 (yī běn shū)
张	zhāng	one piece of paper	一张纸 (yī zhāng zhǐ)
只	zhī	one animal	一只狗 (yī zhī gǒu)
条	tiáo	one fish	一条鱼 (yī tiáo yú)
件	jiàn	one piece of clothing	一件衣服 (yī jiàn yī fú)
杯	bēi	one cup of tea	一杯茶 (yī bēi chá)
瓶	píng	one bottle of water	一瓶水 (yī píng shuǐ)
双	shuāng	one pair of shoes	一双鞋 (yī shuāng xié)
辆	liàng	one car	一辆车 (yī liàng chē)
匹	pǐ	one horse	一匹马 (yī pǐ mǎ)
头	tóu	one head of cattle	一头牛 (yī tóu niú)
根	gēn	one stick	一根木头 (yī gēn mù tóu)
片	piàn	one slice	一片面包 (yī piàn miàn bāo)
块	kuài	one piece	一块蛋糕 (yī kuài dàn gāo)
次	cì	one time	一次 (yī cì)
遍	biàn	one time (action)	一遍 (yī biàn)
场	chǎng	one event	一场比赛 (yī chǎng bǐ sài)
顿	dùn	one meal	一顿饭 (yī dùn fàn)
盘	pán	one plate	一盘菜 (yī pán cài)
片	piàn	one tablet	一片药 (yī piàn yào)
枚	méi	one coin	一枚硬币 (yī méi yìng bì)
套	tào	one set	一套书 (yī tào shū)
本	běn	one volume (book)	一本书 (yī běn shū)
间	jiān	one room	一间房 (yī jiān fáng)
座	zuò	one building	一座楼 (yī zuò lóu)
家	jiā	one family/business	一家公司 (yī jiā gōng sī)
面	miàn	one mirror	一面镜子 (yī miàn jìng zi)
首	shǒu	one song	一首歌 (yī shǒu gē)
首	shǒu	one poem	一首诗 (yī shǒu shī)
台	tái	one machine	一台电脑 (yī tái diàn nǎo)
部	bù	one movie	一部电影 (yī bù diàn yǐng)
首	shǒu	one poem/song	一首歌 (yī shǒu gē)
张	zhāng	one table	一张桌子 (yī zhāng zhuō zi)
封	fēng	one letter	一封信 (yī fēng xìn)
架	jià	one plane	一架飞机 (yī jià fēi jī)
座	zuò	one mountain	一座山 (yī zuò shān)
条	tiáo	one road	一条路 (yī tiáo lù)
条	tiáo	one strip	一条鱼 (yī tiáo yú)
条	tiáo	one towel	一条毛巾 (yī tiáo máo jīn)
粒	lì	one grain	一粒米 (yī lì mǐ)
片	piàn	one slice	一片面包 (yī piàn miàn bāo)
串	chuàn	one string (of beads)	一串珠子 (yī chuàn zhū zi)
节	jié	one section	一节课 (yī jié kè)
页	yè	one page	一页纸 (yī yè zhǐ)
部	bù	one part	一部小说 (yī bù xiǎo shuō)
棵	kē	one tree	一棵树 (yī kē shù)
篇	piān	one article	一篇文章 (yī piān wén zhāng)
段	duàn	one section	一段话 (yī duàn huà)
杯	bēi	one glass	一杯水 (yī bēi shuǐ)
面	miàn	one side	一面墙 (yī miàn qiáng)
座	zuò	one bridge	一座桥 (yī zuò qiáo)
台	tái	one television	一台电视 (yī tái diàn shì)
枚	méi	one badge	一枚奖章 (yī méi jiǎng zhāng)
条	tiáo	one dragon	一条龙 (yī tiáo lóng)
节	jié	one segment	一节车厢 (yī jié chē xiāng)
颗	kē	one pearl	一颗珍珠 (yī kē zhēn zhū)
枝	zhī	one branch	一枝花 (yī zhī huā)
块	kuài	one lump	一块糖 (yī kuài táng)
块	kuài	one block	一块砖 (yī kuài zhuān)
根	gēn	one root	一根绳子 (yī gēn shéng zi)
张	zhāng	one ticket	一张票 (yī zhāng piào)
篇	piān	one essay	一篇作文 (yī piān zuò wén)
瓶	píng	one bottle	一瓶牛奶 (yī píng niú nǎi)
袋	dài	one bag	一袋米 (yī dài mǐ)
杯	bēi	one glass	一杯果汁 (yī bēi guǒ zhī)
车	chē	one vehicle	一辆自行车 (yī liàng zì xíng chē)
段	duàn	one passage	一段时间 (yī duàn shí jiān)
棵	kē	one plant	一棵草 (yī kē cǎo)
户	hù	one household	一户人家 (yī hù rén jiā)
块	kuài	one piece	一块石头 (yī kuài shí tóu)
根	gēn	one stick	一根冰棍 (yī gēn bīng gùn)
套	tào	one suite	一套西装 (yī tào xī zhuāng)
张	zhāng	one sheet	一张桌子 (yī zhāng zhuō zi)
盘	pán	one dish	一盘饺子 (yī pán jiǎo zi)
节	jié	one knot	一节竹 (yī jié zhú)
台	tái	one platform	一台舞台 (yī tái wǔ tái)
道	dào	one question	一道题 (yī dào tí)
句	jù	one sentence	一句话 (yī jù huà)
棵	kē	one shrub	一棵灌木 (yī kē guàn mù)
段	duàn	one section	一段木头 (yī duàn mù tóu)
张	zhāng	one sheet	一张图片 (yī zhāng tú piàn)
杯	bēi	one cup	一杯咖啡 (yī bēi kā fēi)
张	zhāng	one ticket	一张电影票 (yī zhāng diàn yǐng piào)
顶	dǐng	one hat	一顶帽子 (yī dǐng mào zi)
根	gēn	one stick	一根香肠 (yī gēn xiāng cháng)
盏	zhǎn	one lamp	一盏灯 (yī zhǎn dēng)
台	tái	one computer	一台笔记本 (yī tái bǐ jì běn)
幅	fú	one picture	一幅画 (yī fú huà)
瓶	píng	one jar	一瓶果酱 (yī píng guǒ jiàng)
份	fèn	one portion	一份早餐 (yī fèn zǎo cān)
幅	fú	one scroll	一幅字画 (yī fú zì huà)
层	céng	one floor	一层楼 (yī céng lóu)
条	tiáo	one blanket	一条毯子 (yī tiáo tǎn zi)
盘	pán	one plate	一盘水果 (yī pán shuǐ guǒ)
斤	jīn	one pound	一斤苹果 (yī jīn píng guǒ)
串	chuàn	one bunch	一串葡萄 (yī chuàn pú táo)
盘	pán	one plate	一盘水果 (yī pán shuǐ guǒ)
根	gēn	one string	一根琴弦 (yī gēn qín xián)
枝	zhī	one stick	一枝蜡烛 (yī zhī là zhú)
只	zhī	one watch	一只手表 (yī zhī shǒu biǎo)
片	piàn	one leaf	一片树叶 (yī piàn shù yè)
枚	méi	one piece	一枚纽扣 (yī méi niǔ kòu)
粒	lì	one grain	一粒沙 (yī lì shā)
根	gēn	one root	一根牙签 (yī gēn yá qiān)
张	zhāng	one ticket	一张票 (yī zhāng piào)
封	fēng	one letter	一封邮件 (yī fēng yóu jiàn)

Conclusion

You must know how to measure words well to get good at Mandarin Chinese. The book ‘115 Chinese Measure Words: A Beginner’s Practical Guide’ gives you the essential tools you need. It helps you figure out how much or how much of something you’re talking about, which makes your speaking more evident. Knowing these words also enables you to fit in better in Mandarin-speaking places. It’s all about making your conversations flow better and sound more natural.

115 Chinese Measure Words for Beginners

Conclusion

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