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100 Chinese Measure Words You Must Know &How to Use Them

-The most popular measure words list in Chinese

Chart 1 with Pinyin:

Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words
Chinese measure words

*Students who follow Mandarin Time curriculum, please learn 15 words per course from Level 1-3, 20 words per course for Level 4:

No.1-15(Level 1), No.16-30(Level 2)

No.31-45(Level 3-Course 1),No.46-60(Level 3-Course 2)

No.31-45(Level 3-Course 1),No.46-60(Level 3-Course 2)

No.61-80(Level 4-Course 1),No.81-100(Level 4-Course 2)



Chart 2-Without Pinyin:

NO.

Hànzì

Used for:

Example

Translation

1

people or objects

一个人

a person

2

pieces of cloth, cake, soap, etc.; money and currency units (colloquial)

一块蛋糕

a piece of cake

3

birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, boats, etc.

一只鸟

a bird

4

books, parts of a serial, etc.

一本书

a book

5

vehicles

一辆车

a car

6

quantity contained in a bottle, vase, jar or flask

一瓶啤酒

a bottle of beer

7

certain containers of liquids: glass, cup

一杯水

a glass of water

8

pairs (of shoes, socks, chopsticks, etc.)

一双袜子

a pair of socks

9

clothes, events, things, etc.

一件衣服

a piece of clothing

10

flat objects and sheets (bed, desk, paper, etc.); certain body parts (face, mouth)

一张纸

a piece of paper

11

measurement of food and drink (bowl)

一碗饭

a bowl of rice

12

types, kinds, sorts

一种动物

a type of animal

13

horses, mules; bolts of cloth

一匹马

a horse

14

certain domestic animals (cattles, mules, pigs, etc.); garlic 

一头猪

a pig

15

long, narrow or thin objects (ribbon, river, road, trousers, etc.)

一条鱼

a fish

16

people (courteous)

一位女士

a lady

17

itemized things (clauses, tasks, research projects, etc.)

一项项目

a project

18

people

一名学生

a student

19

a small amount or small number (greater than one)

一些东西

some things

20

families or business establishments

一家公司

a company

21

点(儿)

a little; a bit; some

一点(儿)纸

some paper

22

recreational, sports or other activities

一场球赛

a ball game; a match

23

sentences

一句话

a sentence

24

stories, periods of time, lengths of thread, etc. (a section, segment or part)

一段时间

a period of time

25

spoken form of fractions and percentages; minutes; various units of measure

三分之一

one-third

26

places, occurrences or activities in different places; items of damage (spot, point)

两处错误

two mistakes

27

slices, tablets, tracts of land, areas of water; CDs, movies, DVDs; scenes, feelings, atmospheres, etc.

一片土地

a stretch of land

28

books, furniture, rooms, methods, remarks (a set, suit or suite)

一套书

a set of books

29

mountains, buildings and other immovable objects 

一座山

a mountain

30

works of literature, films, machines, etc. 

一部电影

a film

31

written items

一则广告

an advertisement

32

layers, stratums (a storey, a floor)

一层灰尘

a layer of dust

33

kind, type

两样点心

two types of pastries

34

people or animals (a group, herd, flock or pack)

一群人

a crowd of people

35

events, meetings, elections, sporting fixtures, years (of graduation)

一届论坛

a forum (for discussion)

36

long, thin, inflexible objects (pens, guns); rods; army divisions; songs or compositions

一支笔

a pen

37

batches, lots, groups

一批学生

a group of students

38

paper, book leaves, written items, articles, etc. (sheet, leaf, piece)

一篇文章

an article

39

actions, deeds; occurances (of an event, action or speech utterance); situations (kind, sort)

一番功夫

a lot of effort

40

smells, smoke, etc. (puff, whiff); sudden, forceful actions; long winding things (ropes, rivers); bands of people

一股香味

a whiff of fragrance

41

songs and poems

一首歌

a song

42

sounds

一声炮响

the sound of a canon

43

roundish objects (small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites, etc.)

一颗星星

a star

44

sets, series, groups of people, batteries

一组学生

a group of students

45

lamps

一盏灯

a lamp

46

things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells, etc.)

一家三口人

a family of three

47

objects with handles; small objects (a handful); certain abstract concepts

一把刀

a knife

48

rooms; sections of rooms

一间卧室

a bedroom

49

sums of money, financial accounts, debts, deals, etc.

一笔钱

a sum of money

50

houses, small buildings, institutions, etc. (schools, hospitals, etc.)

一所学校

a school

51

pair, couple

一对夫妇

a married couple

52

long, thin objects (cigarettes, guitar strings, etc.)

一根头发

a strand of hair

53

textiles or pictures

一幅画

a painting

54

dramas, plays, operas, etc.

一出戏

a play; an opera

55

long, narrow objects; doors, walls; orders, questions; courses in a meal, stages in a procedure, etc.

一道题

a question (on a test)

56

people (group; batch)

一拨人

a group of people

57

files, lines or rows

一队战士

a file of soldiers

58

heaps or piles; crowds

一堆垃圾

a pile of rubbish

59

events or states of short duration

一阵掌声

a burst of applause

60

flat things or surfaces (drums, mirrors, flags); the number of times people meet each other

一面镜子

a mirror

61

machinery, apparatus, instruments, etc.; a complete stage performance

一台电脑

a computer

62

games (match, set, round, etc.)

一局棋

a game of chess

63

plants

一棵树

a tree

64

small box, case

一盒糖果

a box of candy

65

households or families

一户人家

a household

66

houses or buildings

一栋楼

a building

67

segments (lessons, train wagons, biblical verses, etc.)

一节课

a class (period)

68

sealed objects (letters or other things in envelopes)

一封信

a letter

69

a group of people; a trip by bus, boat, etc. 

下一班火车

the next train

70

food (dish, helping); coils of wire; games of chess

一盘菜

a plate of food

71

pairs, sets of things and facial expressions

一副笑脸

a smiling face

72

times, round trips or rows

这趟火车

this train

73

versions or models (of a product)

一款新鞋子

a new style of shoe

74

lumps or soft masses (wad of paper, ball of wool, cloud or smoke)

一团面

a lump of dough

75

bunches, bundles, beams of light, etc.

一束花

a bunch of flowers

76

subjects of study or fields of technical training

一门外语

a foreign language

77

machines, airplanes and instrument which rest on a tripod or stand

一架飞机

an airplane

78

meals, beatings, scoldings, etc.

一顿饭

a meal

79

walls

一堵墙

a wall

80

bottled liquid (kettle, pot, bottle, flask)

一壶茶

a pot of tea

81

flowers and clouds

一朵花

a flower

82

lines, rows

一排椅子

a row of chairs

83

shares, parts or portions (of a whole); copies (of documents, newspapers, periodicals, etc.)

一份报纸

a newspaper

84

devices, coffins or dead bodies

一具尸体

a corpse

85

packages, bundles or sacks

一包大米

a sack of rice

86

jars, pots or tins

一罐葡萄酱

a jar of grape jam

87

grainlike things; small round things (peas, bullets, peanuts, pills, grains, etc.)

一粒米

a grain of rice

88

small rolled things (wad of paper money, movie reel, spool, etc.)

一卷卫生纸

a roll of toilet paper

89

classes, lectures, etc.; sets of furniture

一堂课

a class

90

occurrences or unpredictable events (case, instance); groups (batch, group)

一起交通事故

a car accident

91

flowers with stems intact; sticks, rods, pencils, etc. 

一枝梅花

a spray of plum blossoms

92

plants and small trees; seedlings

一株树苗

a sapling

93

big round objects (disk, sun, moon); recurring events (round, turn)

一轮会谈

a round of talks

94

tables of guests at a banquet; table; tableful

两桌客人

two tables of guests

95

buckets, pails, cans, barrels, tubs, kegs

一桶油

a barrel of oil

96

drops

一滴水

a drop of water

97

a string of things (string, bunch, cluster)

一串珠子

a string of beads

98

a series or row of things

一列火车

a train

99

large boxes, cases, trunks

一箱纸

a box of paper

100

doors and windows

一扇门

a door

*Students who follow Mandarin Time curriculum, please learn 15 words per course from Level 1-3, 20 words per course for Level 4:

No.1-15(Level 1), No.16-30(Level 2)

No.31-45(Level 3-Course 1),No.46-60(Level 3-Course 2)

No.31-45(Level 3-Course 1),No.46-60(Level 3-Course 2)

No.61-80(Level 4-Course 1),No.81-100(Level 4-Course 2)

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