量词【liàngcí】

To count a noun, put a measure word between the number and the noun: number, measure word, noun.

The measure word is not optional, and it is not chosen freely. Most nouns have one that belongs to them, the way English fixes "a loaf of bread" and "a slice of bread".

The ones to learn first

• 个 – people and anything with no measure word of its own: 一个人
• 本 – bound volumes: 一本书, 一本词典
• 张 – flat things: 一张纸, 一张桌子, 一张照片
• 支 – long thin things: 一支笔
• 杯 – cupfuls: 一杯茶
• 件 – clothes and abstract items: 一件衣服, 一件事
• 位 – people, politely: 一位老师
• 口 – people in a household: 五口人

Not just after numbers

zhè这, Nā那, nǎ哪 and jī几 take a measure word too. Once it is clear what you are talking about, the noun can drop and the measure word stands for it.

Common mistakes

个 covers a lot, but not nouns that have their own measure word. Learn the measure word with the noun rather than after it. "Two" before a measure word is liǎng两, not 二.

• × 一个书 → 一本书
• × 一个纸 → 一张纸
• × 二本书 → 两本书