Chinese Numbers Explained
To express how many there are of something Chinese uses 'measure' words (also called classifiers). These are words that connect the number (quantity) and the thing being counted. So while in English we can say "three people", or "ten dollars", in Chinese the number and the noun always need to be connected with a measure word. English sometimes does this, too, for example we often say "two cups of coffee". The word "cup" here is essentially a measure word. The most common measure word in Chinese is , which essentially just means a 'unit' of something. Many nouns have their own specific measure word or words that need to be used. Here are some examples with 个:
| One Person |
|---|
| one | (unit) | person |
| 一 | 个 | 人 |
| yī | gè | rén |
| One Friend |
|---|
| one | (unit) | friend |
| 一 | 个 | 朋友 |
| yī | gè | péng you |
| One Month |
|---|
| one | (unit) | person |
| 一 | 个 | 月 |
| yī | gè | yuè |
Here are some other common measure words:
| Three Rivers |
|---|
| three | (strip) | river |
| 三 | 条 | 河 |
| sān | tiáo | hé |
| Four Bottles of Soda |
|---|
| four | bottles | soda |
| 四 | 瓶 | 汽水 |
| sì | píng | qì shuǐ |
| Nine Dogs |
|---|
| nine | (lone) | dog |
| 九 | 只 | 狗 |
| jiŭ | zhǐ | gǒu |
For more measure words, see the classifiers page on this website, and also check out the Chinese Grammar Wiki page.
The 'Other' Two
To express the number of items when the quantity is two, the word is used instead of
| Two People |
|---|
| two | (unit) | people |
| 两 | 个 | 人 |
| liǎng | gè | rén |
| Two Dollars |
|---|
| two | (pieces) | money |
| 两 | 块 | 钱 |
| liǎng | kuài | qián |
| Two Cups of Coffee |
|---|
| two | cups (of) | coffee |
| 两 | 杯 | 咖 啡 |
| liǎng | bēi | kā fēi |
In general you use 两
instead of 二 whenever it comes before measure words such as
, with some exceptions. More on that below, and as we'll see later it also appears often in large numbers.
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