Master Chinese Measure Words

Learn 量词 (liàngcí) — the classifiers that make your Chinese sound natural.

78 essential classifiers · Interactive quizzes · Visual memory tips

📚 Covering all HSK 1-6 measure words + high-frequency vocabulary

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78 words

The universal classifier. Used for people and most general objects when no specific measure word applies.

Polite/formal classifier for people, used to show respect to guests, teachers, elders.

Formal classifier for people in a specific role or profession, often used in written Chinese.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for members of a group or organization, such as team members or crew.

Classifier for batches or groups of people (or goods) arriving or being processed together.

IntermediateHSK 2

Classifier for groups of people, often with a casual or sometimes negative connotation.

Classifier for small animals, birds, and one of a pair. Also used for some objects.

Classifier for long, thin things — fish, snakes, roads, and some abstract items like news.

Classifier for large animals, especially livestock like cattle, pigs, and elephants.

IntermediateHSK 2

Classifier for horses, mules, and sometimes cloth/wolf.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for litters or nests of animals born together.

Classifier for books, notebooks, magazines, and other bound publications.

Classifier for flat, thin objects: paper, tickets, tables, photos, faces.

Classifier for essays, articles, writings, and compositions.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for letters, emails, and sealed documents.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for cup-shaped containers and beverages.

Classifier for bowls of food, especially noodles, rice, and soup.

Classifier for plates of food.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for pieces, chunks, or slices of solid things. Also used for money (kuài = yuan).

Classifier for bottled items and liquids in bottles.

Classifier for rooms and spaces.

Classifier for large structures: buildings, mountains, bridges, statues.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for layers, floors, or stories in a building.

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for buildings, especially residential houses or apartment blocks.

Classifier for wheeled vehicles: cars, bikes, buses.

Classifier for boats and ships.

IntermediateHSK 6

Classifier for aircraft, machines with frames, and large musical instruments.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for trains and trains of data/events.

Classifier for pieces of clothing, luggage, and abstract matters/cases.

Classifier for pairs of things: shoes, socks, chopsticks, hands.

Classifier for things worn on the head: hats, caps.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for sets of things: suit, furniture, system, method.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for things with a handle: chairs, umbrellas, keys, knives, fans.

Classifier for long, stick-like objects: pens, songs, troops.

IntermediateHSK 2

Classifier for long, thin, rigid objects: sticks, ropes, noodles, hair.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for machines and equipment: computers, TVs, cars, stages.

Classifier for plants (trees, flowers, grass) — those with roots.

Classifier for flowers, clouds, and anything with a blossom-like shape.

Classifier for flat, thin pieces: leaves, slices, land areas.

Classifier for drops of liquid.

Classifier for occurrences, times, or frequency of actions.

Classifier for events, activities, sessions, and natural phenomena of some duration.

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for turns, sorts, or kinds of effort/experience. Literary tone.

Classifier for bursts, gusts, or waves of something that comes and goes.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for movies, books, phone models, and machines.

Classifier for items in a list: tasks, rules, policies, research.

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for sections, segments, lessons, and batteries.

Classifier for segments, passages, or periods of time/experience.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for paintings, pictures, maps, and curtains.

Classifier for sentences, lines of poetry, or spoken utterances.

Classifier for actions done from beginning to end (complete iterations).

IntermediateHSK 3

Classifier for round trips or journeys to and from a place.

Classifier meaning 'a dozen' (12 items). From English 'dozen'.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for bagged items and contents of a bag.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for institutions, schools, hospitals, and buildings (formal).

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for plants (more formal/literary than 棵). Also used in biology.

Classifier for things bound together — bundles, bunches, rays (of light).

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for things strung together on a string, skewer, or thread.

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for groups/flocks of people or animals.

IntermediateHSK 5

Indefinite classifier meaning 'some' or 'a few' — indicates a small, unspecified quantity.

Classifier for songs, poems, and musical compositions (as whole works).

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for news items, notices, advertisements, and short entries.

Classifier for phone calls, formal documents, and lengthy communications.

Classifier for rolled-up objects — scrolls, tape, paper, fabric.

IntermediateHSK 6

Classifier for spoonfuls of substances.

IntermediateHSK 6

Classifier for lamps, lights, and drinking vessels (literary/poetic).

Classifier for doses of medicine (especially traditional Chinese medicine preparations).

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Classifier for family members (counting people in a household) and things spoken.

Classifier for households or families as administrative units.

IntermediateHSK 5

Classifier for doors and windows (things that open like a fan).

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for wrapped items, packages, bags of small goods.

Classifier for boxed items — boxes, cartons, containers with lids.

Classifier for bucket/barrel-sized containers and their contents.

Classifier for beddings — quilts, blankets, sheets.

IntermediateHSK 4

Classifier for lump-shaped masses — dough, tangled things, clusters.

IntermediateHSK 6

Classifier for couples, paired items, and matched sets.

IntermediateHSK 2

Classifier for stacked/layered flat objects.

IntermediateHSK 6

Classifier for pot/flask-sized containers and their contents.

IntermediateHSK 5

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