If you’ve just started to learn Mandarin, you might try to translate sentences directly from English word-for-word.

For example, if you want to say “one person”, you might look up the word for “one” (yī) and the word for “person” (rén).

So, you say: Yī rén.

But wait!

A native speaker might look at you with a bit of confusion. That’s because in Mandarin Chinese, you cannot simply put a number next to a noun. You need a “bridge” to connect them.

That bridge is called a measure word (or classifier).

The correct way to say “one person” is yī ge rén.

Measure words are one of the most unique and initially confusing parts of Chinese grammar, but don’t worry - they’re actually quite logical once you understand how they work.

In this guide, I’ll break down exactly what they are and give you the most common ones you need to survive.

What exactly is a measure word?

Believe it or not, we actually use measure words in English, too!

We just don’t use them for everything like Chinese does.

In English, you can’t say “a water” or “two breads”. You have to use a specific word to measure or count these uncountable nouns.

• A glass of water.
• A slice of bread.
• A pair of pants.

Words like “glass”, “slice”, and “pair” are measure words.

In Chinese, every single noun requires one of these words when you are counting it or pointing at it (saying “this” or “that”). You can’t just say “a book”. You have to say “a [volume of] book”.

The golden formula for using them

Using measure words is actually very easy structurally. You just need to remember this simple order.

Number + Measure Word + Noun

Here is an example using “three books”. The measure word for books is běn (本).

You also use them when pointing at things using “this” (zhè) or “that” (nà).

This/That + Measure Word + Noun

The “Magic” measure word: Ge (个)

If you look at a grammar list, you will see there are over a hundred different measure words in Mandarin.

That sounds scary, right?

Here is the good news: You don’t need to memorize all of them right away.

There is one measure word that is used for people and thousands of general objects. It is the generic, “universal” measure word: Ge (个).

If you are speaking to a native speaker and you forget the specific measure word for “table” or “apple”, you can almost always use ge.

While it is better to use the specific word if you know it, using ge will usually be understood. It is your safety net!

List of common Chinese measure words

While ge is useful, using the correct measure word makes you sound much more natural and fluent.

Chinese measure words are often based on the shape or feature of the object. For example, things that are flat often share the same measure word, and things that are long and thin share another.

Here are the most essential ones you should learn first.

Measure words for people and animals

Measure words for objects by shape

This is where Chinese gets interesting. You categorize objects by what they look like.

Measure words for food and drink

These act very similarly to English “containers”.

Regional variations (Mainland vs. Taiwan)

Just like British and American English have differences (lift vs. elevator), Mandarin spoken in Mainland China and Mandarin spoken in Taiwan sometimes use different measure words.

The most common difference is for vehicles and machines.

In Mainland China:

They typically use Liàng (辆) for cars, bikes, and buses.

In Taiwan:

They typically use Tái (台) for vehicles, and also for machines like computers and televisions. (Note: Mainland China uses tái for appliances/machines too, but usually not for cars).

Another subtle difference is usually just preference. For example, in colloquial conversation, you might hear Taiwanese speakers use the generic ge (个) slightly less often than Northern Mainland speakers, preferring specific classifiers, or vice versa depending on the local dialect influence.

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Learning measure words takes time, so don’t pressure yourself to memorize the whole list in one day.

Here’s my best advice for studying them:

1. Don’t memorize them in isolation. When you learn a new vocabulary word (noun), learn its measure word at the same time. Don’t just learn shū (book); learn yī běn shū (one book).
2. Look for patterns. Remember that flat things usually use zhāng and long flexible things usually use tiáo.
3. When in doubt, use Ge! It is better to communicate your meaning with the “wrong” (generic) measure word than to stay silent because you forgot the specific one.