Chinese Measure Words List

There are many unique features of the Chinese language. One of the features is the Chinese measure words, which are used to measure words to count nouns. As you can see, the typical structure is “number + measure word + noun.” Since there are no changes in the noun, no matter it’s singular or plural, the Chinese use the number to specify the quantity. And the use of the measure words is often based on the noun’s shape, characteristic, container, or common use. Many Chinese learners, especially the beginners, often use “个” as their preference. It is indeed a general measure word, but not for everything. Here is a list for you to learn more about the use of the very commonly used Chinese measure words.

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Chinese	Pinyin	Usage	Example
个	gè	individual person or object	一个人 (yī gè rén) “a person” or 三个苹果 (sān gè píngguǒ) “three apples”
位	wèi	person	三位老师 (sān wèi lǎoshī) “three teachers”
名	míng	person, professional	一名医生 (yī míng yīshēng) “a doctor”
口	kǒu	dependent	六口家眷 (liù kǒu jiājuàn) “six dependents”
具	jù	corpse	一具尸体 (yījù shītǐ) “a corpse”
户	hù	household	十戶人家 (shí hù rénjiā) “ten households”
只	zhī	animal	一只鸟 (yī zhī niǎo) “a bird”
头	tóu	livestock	一头牛 (yī tóu niú) “a cow”
匹	pǐ	horse	一匹马 (yī pǐ mǎ) “a horse”
条	tiáo	fish, snakes	一条鱼 (yītiáo yú) “a fish”
棵	kē	tree	一棵树 (yī kē shù) “a tree”
株	zhū	plant, flower still in the ground	一株花 (yī zhū huā) “a flower”
朵	duǒ	flower bulb or stem	一朵玫瑰 (yī duǒ méiguī) “a stem of rose”
把	bǎ	handful	一把花 (yī bǎ huā) “a bunch of flowers”
支	zhī	long (and straight)	一支笔 (yī zhī bǐ) “a pen”
条	tiáo	long (and winding)	一条河 (yī tiáo hé) “a river”
根	gēn	long (and thin)	一根头发 (yī gēn tóufǎ) “a strand of hair”
张	zhāng	flat	一张票 (yī zhāng piào) “a ticket”
团	tuán	pile	一团乱 (yī tuán luàn) “a mess (lit. a pile of junk)”
堆	duī	big pile	一堆瓦砾 (yī duī wǎlì) “a pile of rubble”
颗	kē	small, compact	一颗珠 (yī kē zhū) “a perl”
粒	lì	tiny	一粒药 (yī lì yào) “a pill”
扇	shàn	leaf, something that turns on a hinge	一扇门(yī shàn mén) “a door”
包	bāo	a pack	一包面纸 (yī bāo miàn zhǐ) “a pack of tissues”
卷	juǎn	a roll	一卷卫生纸 (yī juǎn wèishēngzhǐ) “a roll of toilet paper”
封	fēng	an envelope	一封信 (yī fēng xìn) “a letter”
桶	tǒng	tube, bucket	一桶油漆 (yī tǒng yóuqī) “a bucket of paint”
盒	hé	box	一盒巧克力 (yī hé qiǎokèlì) “a box of chocolates”
束	shù	boquet	一束花 (yī shù huā) “a boquet of flowers”
本	běn	book	一本书 (yī běn shū) “a book”
份	fèn	newspaper	一份报纸 (yī fèn bàozhǐ) “a newspaper”
件	jiàn	incident	一件事 (yī jiàn shì) “an incident, a circumstance, a thing”
节	jié	event, episode	一节课 (yī jié kè) “one class” from a series or a course
门	mén	a subject or series of classes	你在修几门课n (nǐ zài xiū jǐ mén kè) “How many subjects are you taking?”
次	cì	time, occurrence	三次 (sān cì) “three times”
场	chǎng	large event	一场大雨 (yī chǎng dàyǔ) “a heavy rain”
段	duàn	a period of time	一段往事 (yī duàn wáng shì) “a past event”
阵	zhèn	sudden, passing event	一阵雨 (yī zhèn yǔ) “a quick rain shower”
刻	kè	a moment	一刻疯狂 (yīkè fēngkuáng) “a moment of madness”
番	fān	a long period of time, or an activity that requires significant effort	一番好气象 (yī fān hǎo qìxiàng) “a stretch of good weather”
席	xí	banquet	一席宴会 (yīxí yànhuì) “a banquet”
趟	tàng	a trip	一趟旅行 (yī tàng lǚxíng) “a tour”
间	jiān	room, house	一间屋子 (yī jiān wūzi) “a room”
栋	dòng	tall building	一栋大楼 (yī dòng dàlóu) “a tall building”
层	céng	floor	五层大楼 (wǔ céng dàlóu) “a five story building”, literally “five floors of building”
堵	dǔ	wall	一堵墙 (yī dǔ qiáng) “a wall”
面	miàn	wall	一面墙 (yīmiàn qiáng) “a wall”
所	suǒ	multi building complex	一所医院 (yī suǒ yīyuàn) “a hospital”
场	chǎng	field, open public space	一场宴会 (yī chǎng yànhuì) “a party”
家	jiā	place of work	一家公司 (yī jiā gōngsī) “a company”
座	zuò	large structure	一座桥 (yī zuò qiáo) “a bridge”
份	fèn	portion	一份面 (yī fèn miàn) “an order of noodles”
片	piàn	piece	一片饼干 (yīpiàn bǐnggān) “a piece of cookie”
块	kuài	piece, slice	一块蛋糕 (yīkuài dàngāo) “a slice of cake”
口	kǒu	sip, mouthful	口 means “mouth”.
道	dào	dish	一道名菜 (yīdào míng cài) “a famous dish”
顿	dùn	meal	一顿早餐 (yī dùn zǎocān) “a breakfast”
碗	wǎn	bowl	一碗饭 (yī wǎn fàn) “a bowl of (cooked) rice”
盘	pán	plate	一盘水果 (yī pán shuǐguǒ) “a plate of fruit”
笼	lóng	bamboo drum	一笼蒸饺(yī lóng zhēng jiǎo) “an order of steamed dumplings”
滴	dī	drop	一滴水 (yī dīshuǐ) “a drop of water”
杯	bēi	cup	一杯茶 (yī bēi chá) “a cup of tea”
瓶	píng	bottle	一瓶啤酒 (yī píng píjiǔ) “a bottle of beer”
壶	hú	teapot	一壶茶 (yī hú chá) “a pot of tea”
罐	guàn	can, jar	一罐蜂蜜 (yī guàn fēngmì) “a jar of honey”
股	gǔ	whiff, smell	一股香味 (yī gǔ xiāngwèi) “a pleasant aroma”
床	chuáng	bedsheets	一床棉被 (yī chuáng mián bèi) “a cotton blanket”
条	tiáo	towel, tablecloth	一条毯子 (yī tiáo tǎnzi) “a blanket”
盏	zhǎn	lamp	一盏台灯 (yī zhǎn táidēng) “a standing lamp”
幅	fú	painting or drawing	一幅画 (yī fú huà) “a painting or drawing”
帧	zhēn	printed picture	一帧照片 (yī zhēn zhàopiàn) “a photograph”
件	jiàn	article of clothing	一件衣服 (yī jiàn yīfú) “an article of clothing”
条	tiáo	a long article of clothing	一条领带 (yī tiáo lǐngdài) “a necktie”
套	tào	costume	一套西装 (yī tào xīzhuāng) “a (Western) suit”
顶	dǐng	hat	一顶帽子 (yī dǐng màozi) “a hat”
双	shuāng	pair of identical objects	一双眼睛 (yī shuāng yǎnjīng) “pair of eyes”
副	fù	pair of complementary objects	一副碗筷 (yī fù wǎn kuài) “bowl and chopsticks”
对	duì	matching pair	一对夫妻 (yī duì fūqī) “a married couple”, literally “one pair husband-wife” ; 一对耳环 (yī duì ěrhuán) “a pair of earrings”
些	xiē	a few	一些東西 (yī xiē dōngxī) “a few things”
种	zhǒng	a kind	一种动物 (yī zhǒng dòngwù) “a type of animal”
群	qún	group, flock	一群人 (yī qún rén) “a group of people”
众	zhòng	a crowd	一众人 (yī zhòng rén) “a crowd of people”
组	zǔ	an organization	一组用戶 (yī zǔ yòng hù) “consumers’ organization”
帮	bāng	a group or a band	一帮贼 (yī bāng zéi) “a group of thieves”
班	bān	a class	一班学生 (yī bān xuéshēng) “a class of students”
排	pái	a row, queue	一排电杆 (yī pái diàn gān) “a row of electrical posts”
队	duì	a team, battalion	一队军人 (yī duì jūnrén) “a battalion of soldiers”
列	liè	a chain, exhibited items	一列火车 (yī liè huǒchē) “a train”, literally “a chain of cars”
项	xiàng	item in a list, headline	一项标题 (yī xiàng biāotí) “a headline”
串	chuàn	skewer	一串肉 (yī chuàn ròu) “a skewer of meat”
打	dá	dozen	一打鸡蛋 (yī dá jīdàn) “a dozen eggs”
叠	dié	stack	一叠箱 (yī dié xiāng) “a stack of boxes/containers”
句	jù	sentence	一句话 (yī jù huà) “a spoken sentence”
首	shǒu	poem, song	一首诗 (yī shǒu shī) “a poem”
场	chǎng	speech	一场演说 (yī chǎng yǎnshuō) “a speech”
通	tōng	phone call	接到三通电话 (jiē dào sān tōng diànhuà) “receive three phone calls”
篇	piān	written piece	一篇文章 (yī piān wénzhāng) “a newspaper article”
则	zé	AD, news report, story	一则广告 (yī zé guǎnggào) “an AD”
出	chū	a play	一出戏 (yī chū xì) “a play, a drama”
部	bù	a movie	一部电影 (yī bù diànyǐng) “a movie”
台	tái	machine	一台电视 (yī tái diànshì) “a television”
辆	liàng	road vehicle	一辆汽车 (yī liàng qìchē) “a car”
架	jià	airplane	一架飞机 (yī jià fēijī) “an airplane”
艘	sōu	ship	一艘帆船 (yī sōu fānchuán) “a sailboat”
秒	miǎo	second	一秒钟 (yī miǎo zhōng) “one second”
分	fēn	minute	一分钟 (yī fēnzhōng) “one minute”
天	tiān	day	一天 (yī tiān) “one day”
日	rì	day	一日 (yī rì) “one day” (used in literature and journalism)
周	zhōu	week	一周 (yī zhōu) “one week” (used in literature and journalism)
年	nián	year	一年 (yī nián) “one year”
代	dài	era, generation	上一代 (shàng yīdài) “the previous generation”
个	gè	unit	一个小时 (yīgè xiǎoshí) “one hour”
斤	jīn	unit of weight (~0.5 kg)
吨	dūn	unit of weight (ton)
磅	bàng	unit of weight (pound)
坪	píng	unit of area (~0.6 m2)
块	kuài	monetary unit (1 yuan)
毛	máo	monetary unit (1/10 yuan)
笔	bǐ	an unspecified amount of money
寸	cùn	one inch (~1/30 m)
尺	chǐ	one foot (~1/3 m)
里	lǐ	unit of distance (~0.5 km)
升	shēng	unit of volume (1 liter)
斗	dòu	unit of volume (10 liter)
度	dù	degree, level

The Beauty of Chinese Measure Words

One of the distinguishing features of the Chinese language is the importance and variety of measure words. It is true that measure words can be found in English as well: for example, when we say a strand of hair or a head of cattle, these are considered measure words. But for the most part, they are needed only to specify a collection of things, such as a flock of sheep, or an uncountable quantity, such as a gust of wind. But in Chinese, even single, countable objects require measure words, so that you cannot simply say “a flower”, “two people” or “five houses”.

The reason why measure words are so important in Chinese (and other Southeast Asian languages like Thai or Vietnamese) is because names of simple objects are typically words with one or two syllables, and so there are many homophone word pairs which are pronounced the same but having different meanings. The measure word serves as a kind of context that helps us to identify the meaning of the word that follows. Without measure words, the chance of misunderstanding what someone is saying becomes higher.

Chinese measure words can categorize the noun that follows it according to its function, shape, or some other property related to that noun. In some cases, more than one measure word may be used for the same noun, and our choice depends on which characteristic we wish to emphasize. With this in mind, “measure word” may not be the best label; we could also call them “specifiers”.

It’s difficult to count exactly how many there are — partly because most measure words also serve as other parts of speech. Chinese often uses simple object or action names to count other objects with similar properties. This construct can be observed in English as well, as with phrases like a slice of bread or a handful of salt. The Measure Word Dictionary, published by China Daily in Taiwan, contains over 420 measure words, and mentions that there are over 500 currently in use. (You can also check the measure words comparisons as well as more HSK4 related grammar tutorial videos at here.)

Since I am a big fan of learning by recognizing patterns, I compiled 115 frequently used measure words, grouped into sixteen logical categories. There are seven that appear in two categories each. There is one, 场/場 (chǎng), which appears in three, and another one, 条/條(tiáo), which appears in four. These categories will be presented in seven parts:

Author: Joe Varadi