Today we're doing a basic explanation of measure words. Although they are quite simple, measure words can pose a challenge to Westerners because they rarely appear in English. I'll try to concentrate this post on the rule you need to understand and the examples/exceptions you'll actually use, to save time and keep you from going crazy. There are many, many technical nuances out there, but for beginner learners/survival Chinese purposes, these should be low priority.
What are Measure Words? Measure words are used when counting something. They are placed between the number and the noun, and define the unit the speaker is using. For example, if you're telling your friend how much cake you ate, you tell your friend a number and the unit: pieces. ("three pieces of cake" is different than "three whole cakes"). Theoretically, every noun should have one of these words. But we often leave it out in English, especially if there is only one unit that would make sense in context. For example: we saw three buildings. There's no extra word between three and buildings.
Chinese (with very few exceptions) always includes the measure word. So "we saw three buildings" would translate to "we saw three individual buildings". Categories of nouns have different measure words (books and other bound literature has a different measure word than that used for people, which is again different than that used for tables). Therefore, the measure word used in "three individual buildings" would be different than, say, "three individual shirts".
Where do they go in the sentence?
number + Mw+ Noun forms the basic pattern.
我有三个朋友。（I have three friends)
So which one do I use?
Chinese has hundreds of these, with varying levels of usage. Many have become obsolete or exist only in traditional Chinese. Focus on these:
个 (位) The most generic. If you don't know the one you're trying to use, substitute 个. Used for people, sometimes buildings, months, packages, and all manner of other things. (位) is a more respectful version, and used only for people (in professional settings or when speaking to an older/more authoritative person)
本 for books and other bound things
把 for things with handles (chairs, etc)
年 天 year/day
快 毛 money.快 forms the larger unit (something like dollars) and 毛 forms the cents
只 used for one of a pair, and also certain pets (this part is annoying so just stick to dog and cat. Most animals have their own Measure word). 1 sock, 3 cats will both use the same measure word.
辆 used for cars
件 clothes (except pants)
条 long, thin objects (pants, snakes etc)
双 a pair (a pair of chopsticks, a pair of sneakers)
Exceptions?
- years and days don't use a measure word. In fact, they kind of function as a measure word with an unmentioned noun (a month of time, where time would be the noun).
- The phrase would look like this: number + 年／天 ＋the rest of the sentence.
- 我学中文学了三年了。I have taken Chinese for three years.
- months and weeks use the regular pattern ( 三 个星期) this is especially important with months, since if you leave you the measure word you get 三月, which means March.
- More exist, but for the first few years of learning Measure words should remain straightforward.