Measure words

In English, we say one person, two eggs, three birds, etc. In Chinese, a measure word is used between the number and the noun to express the same.

For example, the Chinese for 'one person' is 'yí (one) gè rén (person)'. gè is a measure word here. Similarly, the Chinese for 'two eggs' is 'liǎng (two) gè dàn (eggs)'. Although gè is a very frequently used measure word, there are many other measure words in Chinese, depending on the nouns.

'zhī' is another measure word, commonly used for birds. So, now you can say 'three birds' in Chinese - 'sān (three) zhī niǎo (birds)'.

'tái' is the measure word for machines or equipment, e.g. 'yī tái diàn nǎo' - 'one computer'.

You will come across many measure words as you learn Chinese. You will need to learn them one by one and accumulate a whole collection of measure words.