Mandarin Chinese Grammar for Pimsleur Students/Nouns

Nouns Examples Countable Nouns that go with the measure word 个 / ge ("unit"/"individual") 班机 bān jī flight, airplane 儿子 érzĭ son 飞机 fēijī airplane 飞机场 fēijīchăng airport 女儿 nǚér daughter 人 rén person 太太 tài tài wife 先生 xiānshēng husband 小孩儿 xiăo hái'er child 小时 xiăoshí hour Nouns that go with the measure word 条 / tiáo ("string") 街 jiē street 路 lù road蛇shésnake Nouns that go with the measure word 家 / jiā ("house"/"family") 饭店 fàn diàn restaurant 酒店 jiŭ diàn hotel Nouns that don't require another measure word 家里 jiā lĭ home, family 家人 jiā rén family, household 洗手间 xĭ shŏu jiān bathroom Not countable 茶 chá tea 啤酒 píjĭu beer 钱 qián money 水 shuĭ water Others 东西 dōngxi thing, something 晚饭 wănfàn dinner 午饭 wŭfàn lunch Notes Measure words, or classifiers, are placed before nouns and any modifying adjectives. They are generally based on shape, size, amount, animacy, and/or function. Contrary to what some might believe, which classifier is used with a noun is often not strictly one classifier. As such, one should not liken classifiers to the gendered articles found in many languages such as German or Spanish. When you do not know which classifier to use, guess 个, as native speakers often default to 个 in daily conversation unless the classifier is obvious. Generally, people and intangible nouns (like ideas, processes, etc.) take 个. To signal respect to a person's job, that role (e.g. teacher) may take the classifier 位 (wei4). Animals take 只 (zhi1) by default, but for large animals like cattle (牛) and sheep (羊), 头 ("head") is used. For dogs, either 条 or 只 is used depending on the speaker and region, and if the dog seems long in shape.