📕 Advanced — HSK 5-6 vocabulary
Meaning
Classifier for songs, poems, and musical compositions (as whole works).
🏮 Cultural Story
中文 Chinese
"首"是艺术作品的量词。"一首歌"让你想跟着哼，"一首诗"让你想慢慢品味，"一首曲子"让你闭上眼睛欣赏。"首"的原意是"头"（人体的头部），引申为"开始"、"第一"，所以"一首"就是"一篇完整的作品从头到尾"。在古代，"首"也用来计算诗歌——诗人说"吟成一首"就是完成了一篇作品。现在我们说"这首歌太好听了"，"首"已经成为音乐和诗歌的专属量词了。
English
**首 (shǒu)** is for artistic works. "A song" makes you hum along, "a poem" makes you savor slowly, "a musical piece" makes you close your eyes and appreciate. 首 originally meant "head" (body's head) → "beginning/first," so "一首" = "one complete work from start to finish." Ancient poets said "composed one 首" = finished one work. Now "this song is amazing" — 首 is the dedicated classifier for music and poetry.
💡 Memory Tip
For artistic/literary works: songs, poems, melodies. Think 'a piece of art expressed in words or music'.
Examples
Common Nouns Used With
Video Examples
Hear how native speakers use this measure word in real videos and sentences.
YouGlish
See real usage videos on YouGlish
Reverso Context
See example sentences in context
Links open in a new window — no account required
Classifier for songs, poems, and musical compositions (as whole works).