Chinese Measure Words List

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Chinese Pinyin Usage Example

个 gè person, thing 一个人 (yī ge rén) “a person”

位 wèi person 三 位 老 师 (s ā n w è i l ǎ osh ī ) “ three

teachers”

名 míng person, professional 一名医生 (yī míng yīshēng) “a doctor”

口 kǒu dependent 六口家眷 (li ù k ǒ u ji ā ju à n) “ six

dependents”

具 jù corpse 一具尸体 (yījù shītǐ) “a corpse”

户 hù household 十戶人家 (sh í hù r é nji ā ) “ 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”

鱼 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 一株花 (yī zhū huā) “a flower”

the ground

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”

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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 一扇门(yī shàn mén) “a door”

turns on a hinge

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 (y ī sh ù hu ā ) “ a boquet of

flowers”

本 běn book 一本书 (yī běn shū) “a book”

份 fèn newspaper 一份报紙 (yī fèn bàozhǐ) “a newspaper”

件 jiàn incident 一 件 事 (y ī ji à n sh ì ) “ 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 你在修几门课 n (nǐ zài xiū jǐ mén kè)

classes “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”

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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, 一 番 好 气 象 (y ī f ā n h ǎ o q ì xi à ng) “ a

or an activity that stretch of good weather”

requires significant

effort

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 (y ī d ò ng d à l ó u) “ 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 一所医院 (yī suǒ yīyuàn) “a hospital”

complex

场 chǎng field, open public 一场宴会 (yī chǎng yànhuì) “a party”

space

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 (y ī f è n mi à n) “ 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”

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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 (y ī gu à n f ē ngm ì ) “ 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 (y ī f ú hu à ) “ a painting or

drawing”

帧 zhēn printed picture 一 帧 照 片 (y ī zh ē n zh à opi à n) “ a

photograph”

件 jiàn article of clothing 一 件 衣 服 (y ī ji à n y ī f ú ) “ an article of

clothing”

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条 tiáo a long article of 一条领带 (yī tiáo lǐngdài) “a necktie”

clothing

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 一双眼睛 (yī shuāng yǎnjīng) “pair of

objects eyes”

副 fù pair of 一副 碗筷 (yī fù wǎ n kuà i) “bowl and

complementary chopsticks”

objects

对 duì man-woman pair 一 对 夫 妻 (y ī du ì f ū q ī ) “ a married

couple”, literally “one pair husband wife”

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 (y ī zh ò ng r é n) “ 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 一 列 火 车 (y ī li è hu ǒ ch ē ) “ a train ” ,

items literally “a chain of cars”

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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 (y ī di é xi ā ng) “ 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 (y ī pi ā n w é nzh ā ng) “ a

newspaper article”

则 zé advertisement, news 一 则 广 告 (y ī z é gu ǎ ngg à o) “ an

report, story advertisement”

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 (y ī zh ō u) “ one week ” (used in

literature and journalism)

年 nián year 一年 (yī nián) “one year”

代 dài era, generation 上 一 代 (sh à ng y ī d à i) “ the previous

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 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