Chinese Measure Words (liàngcí 量词)
Measure words are used in Chinese whenever one is talking about numbers and quantities. These measure words are placed between the numeral and the noun or verb. These counters generally serve to describe the thing they are counting. This can be seen in the use of "tiáo 条" for long, narrow things or "kē 棵" for small, roundish things; or in the use of "bēi 杯" and "kǒu 口" for "a cup of" and "a mouth of" to show amounts. The English Language has an equivalent of measure words for use with uncountable nouns (and some countable). Examples are: "a CUP of water", "2 BAGS of rice", "ten pieces of cake", "a handful of mud", or "1 pair of shoes". However, whereas in English we can say "6 trees" or "13 cars" because many objects do not require the use of a counter word； Chinese grammar demands a measure word for just about everything you can count.
This page is not a grammar page explaining how to use measure words, but rather just a list of 157 common Chinese measure words. The list includes both the pinyin and the character for each word. In the future, each word will have the meaning as well as the most common nouns or verbs associated with it.
- bǎ 把
- bān 班
- bàn(r) 瓣
- bāng 帮
- bāo(r) 包
- bēi 杯
- běn 本
- bǐ 笔
- biàn 遍
- bù 部
- cān 餐
- céng 层
- cháng 场
- chǎng 场
- chéng 程
- chóng 重
- chū 出
- chù 处
- chuàn 串
- chuáng 床
- cì 次
- cù 簇
- cuō 撮
- dá 沓
- dài(r) 袋
- dào 道
- dī 滴
- diǎn(r) 点
- dié 碟
- dǐng 顶
- dòng 栋
- dǔ 堵
- dùzi 肚子
- duàn 段
- duī 堆
- duì 队
- duì 对
- dùn 顿
- duǒ 朵
- fā 发
- fān 番
- fēn 分
- fèn 份
- fēng 封
- fú 幅
- fú 服
- fù 副
- gè 个
- gēn 根
- gǔ 股
- guà 挂
- háng 行
- hé 盒
- hú 壶
- hù 户
- huí 回
- huǒ 伙
- jí 级
- jiā 家
- jià 架
- jiān 间
- jiàn 件
- jié 节
- jié 截
- jiè 届
- jú 局
- jù 句
- jù 具
- juǎn(r) 卷
- juàn 卷
- kē 棵
- kē 颗
- kǒu 口
- kuài 块
- kǔn 捆
- lèi 类
- lì 粒
- liǎn 脸
- liǎng 两
- liàng 辆
- liè 列
- liǔ(r) 绺
- liù 溜
- lǚ 缕
- luò 摞
- lún 轮
- méi 枚
- mén 门
- miàn 面
- míng 名
- pái 排
- pán(r) 盘
- pén 盆
- pī 批
- pǐ 匹
- piān(r) 篇
- piàn(r) 片
- piě 撇
- píng 瓶
- qī 期
- qǐ 起
- quān 圈
- qún 群
- réncì 人次
- shàn 扇
- sháo 勺
- shēn 身
- shēng 声
- shǒu 手
- shǒu 首
- shù 束
- shuāng 双
- sī 丝
- sōu 艘
- suì 岁
- suǒ 所
- tái 台
- tān 摊
- táng 堂
- tàng 趟
- tào 套
- tiāo 挑
- tiáo 条
- tǒng 桶
- tǒng 筒
- tòng 通
- tóu 头
- tuán 团
- wán 丸
- wǎn 碗
- wèi 位
- wèi 味
- wō 窝
- xí 席
- xiá 匣
- xià 下
- xiàng 项
- xiē 些
- yá 牙
- yǎn 眼
- yàng 样
- yè 页
- zhǎn 盏
- zhàn 站
- zhāng 张
- zhàng 丈
- zhèn 阵
- zhī 支
- zhī 只
- zhī 枝
- zhǒng 种
- zhuāng 桩
- zhuàng 幢
- zhuō 桌
- zūn 尊
- zuǒ(r) 撮
- zuò 座
