Measure Word
What's the measure word?
It is used to describe the noun. For example, 一块蛋糕(a piece of cake), "块" is the measure word for cake.
There are more than 160 measure words in Chinese. Most of them can be collocated with most nouns.
How to match the noun and the measure word?
1、We match them based on the features of the things. For example,
For thin and long things, we often use "条", such as
一条鱼 a fish
一条河 a river
一条路 a road
For the things which has a plan or can be extended, we often use “张”, such as
一张纸 a piece of paper
一张床 a bed
一张照片 a photo
For large and fixed things, we can use “座”, such as,
一座山 a mountain
一座桥 a bridge
一座楼 a building
2、We can use the container to describe the noun. The common containers are “碗”, “杯”, “房间”. For example,
一碗饭 a bowl of rice
一杯水 a cup of water
一房间书 a room of books
3、The measurement unit also can be used to describe the number of things. For example,
一升水 a liter of water
一公斤苹果 a kilo of apples
一公里路 a kilometer of road