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

Mandarin Time
May 4, 2024
7 min read

NO.	Measure word	Pinyin (MW)	Used for	Example	Pinyin (Example)	Translation
1	个	gè	people or objects	一个人	yí gè rén	a person
2	块	kuài	pieces of cloth, cake, soap, etc.; money and currency units (colloquial)	一块蛋糕	yí kuài dàngāo	a piece of cake
3	只	zhī	birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, boats, etc.	一只鸟	yì zhī niǎo	a bird
4	本	běn	books, parts of a serial, etc.	一本书	yì běn shū	a book
5	辆	liàng	vehicles	一辆车	yí liàng chē	a car
6	瓶	píng	quantity contained in a bottle, vase, jar or flask	一瓶啤酒	yì píng píjiǔ	a bottle of beer
7	杯	bēi	certain containers of liquids: glass, cup	一杯水	yì bēi shuǐ	a glass of water
8	双	shuāng	pairs (of shoes, socks, chopsticks, etc.)	一双袜子	yì shuāng wàzi	a pair of socks
9	件	jiàn	clothes, events, things, etc.	一件衣服	yí jiàn yīfu	a piece of clothing
10	张	zhāng	flat objects and sheets (bed, desk, paper, etc.); certain body parts (face, mouth)	一张纸	yì zhāng zhǐ	a piece of paper
11	碗	wǎn	measurement of food and drink (bowl)	一碗饭	yì wǎn fàn	a bowl of rice
12	种	zhǒng	types, kinds, sorts	一种动物	yì zhǒng dòngwù	a type of animal
13	匹	pǐ	horses, mules; bolts of cloth	一匹马	yì pǐ mǎ	a horse
14	头	tóu	certain domestic animals (cattle, mules, pigs, etc.); garlic	一头猪	yì tóu zhū	a pig
15	条	tiáo	long, narrow or thin objects (ribbon, river, road, trousers, etc.)	一条鱼	yì tiáo yú	a fish
16	位	wèi	people (courteous)	一位女士	yí wèi nǚshì	a lady
17	项	xiàng	itemized things (clauses, tasks, research projects, etc.)	一项项目	yí xiàng xiàngmù	a project
18	名	míng	people	一名学生	yì míng xuéshēng	a student
19	些	xiē	a small amount or small number (greater than one)	一些东西	yì xiē dōngxi	some things
20	家	jiā	families or business establishments	一家公司	yì jiā gōngsī	a company
21	点(儿)	diǎn(r)	a little; a bit; some	一点(儿)纸	yìdiǎnr zhǐ	some paper
22	场	chǎng	recreational, sports or other activities	一场球赛	yì chǎng qiúsài	a ball game; a match
23	句	jù	sentences	一句话	yì jù huà	a sentence
24	段	duàn	stories, periods of time, lengths of thread, etc. (a section, segment or part)	一段时间	yí duàn shíjiān	a period of time
25	分	fēn	spoken form of fractions and percentages; minutes; various units of measure	三分之一	sān fēn zhī yī	one-third
26	处	chù	places, occurrences or activities in different places; items of damage (spot, point)	两处错误	liǎng chù cuòwù	two mistakes
27	片	piàn	slices, tablets, tracts of land, areas of water; CDs, movies, DVDs; scenes, feelings, atmospheres, etc.	一片土地	yí piàn tǔdì	a stretch of land
28	套	tào	books, furniture, rooms, methods, remarks (a set, suit or suite)	一套书	yí tào shū	a set of books
29	座	zuò	mountains, buildings and other immovable objects	一座山	yí zuò shān	a mountain
30	部	bù	works of literature, films, machines, etc.	一部电影	yí bù diànyǐng	a film
31	则	zé	written items	一则广告	yì zé guǎnggào	an advertisement
32	层	céng	layers, stratums (a storey, a floor)	一层灰尘	yì céng huīchén	a layer of dust
33	样	yàng	kind, type	两样点心	liǎng yàng diǎnxin	two types of pastries
34	群	qún	people or animals (a group, herd, flock or pack)	一群人	yì qún rén	a crowd of people
35	届	jiè	events, meetings, elections, sporting fixtures, years (of graduation)	一届论坛	yí jiè lùntán	a forum (for discussion)
36	支	zhī	long, thin, inflexible objects (pens, guns); rods; army divisions; songs or compositions	一支笔	yì zhī bǐ	a pen
37	批	pī	batches, lots, groups	一批学生	yì pī xuéshēng	a group of students
38	篇	piān	paper, book leaves, written items, articles, etc. (sheet, leaf, piece)	一篇文章	yì piān wénzhāng	an article
39	番	fān	actions, deeds; occurrences (of an event, action or speech utterance); situations (kind, sort)	一番功夫	yì fān gōngfu	a lot of effort
40	股	gǔ	smells, smoke, etc. (puff, whiff); sudden, forceful actions; long winding things (ropes, rivers); bands of people	一股香味	yì gǔ xiāngwèi	a whiff of fragrance
41	首	shǒu	songs and poems	一首歌	yì shǒu gē	a song
42	声	shēng	sounds	一声炮响	yì shēng pàoxiǎng	the sound of a cannon
43	颗	kē	roundish objects (small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites, etc.)	一颗星星	yì kē xīngxing	a star
44	组	zǔ	sets, series, groups of people, batteries	一组学生	yì zǔ xuéshēng	a group of students
45	盏	zhǎn	lamps	一盏灯	yì zhǎn dēng	a lamp
46	口	kǒu	things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells, etc.)	一家三口人	yì jiā sān kǒu rén	a family of three
47	把	bǎ	objects with handles; small objects (a handful); certain abstract concepts	一把刀	yì bǎ dāo	a knife
48	间	jiān	rooms; sections of rooms	一间卧室	yì jiān wòshì	a bedroom
49	笔	bǐ	sums of money, financial accounts, debts, deals, etc.	一笔钱	yì bǐ qián	a sum of money
50	所	suǒ	houses, small buildings, institutions, etc. (schools, hospitals, etc.)	一所学校	yì suǒ xuéxiào	a school
51	对	duì	pair, couple	一对夫妇	yí duì fūfù	a married couple
52	根	gēn	long, thin objects (cigarettes, guitar strings, etc.)	一根头发	yì gēn tóufa	a strand of hair
53	幅	fú	textiles or pictures	一幅画	yì fú huà	a painting
54	出	chū	dramas, plays, operas, etc.	一出戏	yì chū xì	a play; an opera
55	道	dào	long, narrow objects; doors, walls; orders, questions; courses in a meal, stages in a procedure, etc.	一道题	yí dào tí	a question (on a test)
56	拨	bō	people (group; batch)	一拨人	yì bō rén	a group of people
57	队	duì	files, lines or rows	一队战士	yí duì zhànshì	a file of soldiers
58	堆	duī	heaps or piles; crowds	一堆垃圾	yì duī lājī	a pile of rubbish
59	阵	zhèn	events or states of short duration	一阵掌声	yí zhèn zhǎngshēng	a burst of applause
60	面	miàn	flat things or surfaces (drums, mirrors, flags); the number of times people meet each other	一面镜子	yí miàn jìngzi	a mirror
61	台	tái	machinery, apparatus, instruments, etc.; a complete stage performance	一台电脑	yì tái diànnǎo	a computer
62	局	jú	games (match, set, round, etc.)	一局棋	yì jú qí	a game of chess
63	棵	kē	plants	一棵树	yì kē shù	a tree
64	盒	hé	small box, case	一盒糖果	yì hé tángguǒ	a box of candy
65	户	hù	households or families	一户人家	yí hù rénjiā	a household
66	栋	dòng	houses or buildings	一栋楼	yí dòng lóu	a building
67	节	jié	segments (lessons, train wagons, biblical verses, etc.)	一节课	yì jié kè	a class (period)
68	封	fēng	sealed objects (letters or other things in envelopes)	一封信	yì fēng xìn	a letter
69	班	bān	a group of people; a trip by bus, boat, etc.	下一班火车	xià yì bān huǒchē	the next train
70	盘	pán	food (dish, helping); coils of wire; games of chess	一盘菜	yì pán cài	a plate of food
71	副	fù	pairs, sets of things and facial expressions	一副笑脸	yí fù xiàoliǎn	a smiling face
72	趟	tàng	times, round trips or rows	这趟火车	zhè tàng huǒchē	this train
73	款	kuǎn	versions or models (of a product)	一款新鞋子	yì kuǎn xīn xiézi	a new style of shoe
74	团	tuán	lumps or soft masses (wad of paper, ball of wool, cloud or smoke)	一团面	yì tuán miàn	a lump of dough
75	束	shù	bunches, bundles, beams of light, etc.	一束花	yí shù huā	a bunch of flowers
76	门	mén	subjects of study or fields of technical training	一门外语	yì mén wàiyǔ	a foreign language
77	架	jià	machines, airplanes and instrument which rest on a tripod or stand	一架飞机	yí jià fēijī	an airplane
78	顿	dùn	meals, beatings, scoldings, etc.	一顿饭	yí dùn fàn	a meal
79	堵	dǔ	walls	一堵墙	yì dǔ qiáng	a wall
80	壶	hú	bottled liquid (kettle, pot, bottle, flask)	一壶茶	yì hú chá	a pot of tea
81	朵	duǒ	flowers and clouds	一朵花	yì duǒ huā	a flower
82	排	pái	lines, rows	一排椅子	yì pái yǐzi	a row of chairs
83	份	fèn	shares, parts or portions (of a whole); copies (of documents, newspapers, periodicals, etc.)	一份报纸	yí fèn bàozhǐ	a newspaper
84	具	jù	devices, coffins or dead bodies	一具尸体	yí jù shītǐ	a corpse
85	包	bāo	packages, bundles or sacks	一包大米	yì bāo dàmǐ	a sack of rice
86	罐	guàn	jars, pots or tins	一罐葡萄酱	yí guàn pútaojiàng	a jar of grape jam
87	粒	lì	grainlike things; small round things (peas, bullets, peanuts, pills, grains, etc.)	一粒米	yí lì mǐ	a grain of rice
88	卷	juǎn	small rolled things (wad of paper money, movie reel, spool, etc.)	一卷卫生纸	yì juǎn wèishēngzhǐ	a roll of toilet paper
89	堂	táng	classes, lectures, etc.; sets of furniture	一堂课	yì táng kè	a class
90	起	qǐ	occurrences or unpredictable events (case, instance); groups (batch, group)	一起交通事故	yì qǐ jiāotōng shìgù	a car accident
91	枝	zhī	flowers with stems intact; sticks, rods, pencils, etc.	一枝梅花	yì zhī méihuā	a spray of plum blossoms
92	株	zhū	plants and small trees; seedlings	一株树苗	yì zhū shùmiáo	a sapling
93	轮	lún	big round objects (disk, sun, moon); recurring events (round, turn)	一轮会谈	yì lún huìtán	a round of talks
94	桌	zhuō	tables of guests at a banquet; table; tableful	两桌客人	liǎng zhuō kèrén	two tables of guests
95	桶	tǒng	buckets, pails, cans, barrels, tubs, kegs	一桶油	yì tǒng yóu	a barrel of oil
96	滴	dī	drops	一滴水	yì dī shuǐ	a drop of water
97	串	chuàn	a string of things (string, bunch, cluster)	一串珠子	yí chuàn zhūzi	a string of beads
98	列	liè	a series or row of things	一列火车	yí liè huǒchē	a train
99	箱	xiāng	large boxes, cases, trunks	一箱纸	yì xiāng zhǐ	a box of paper
100	扇	shàn	doors and windows	一扇门	yí shàn mén	a door