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There are several reasons why learning measure words is well worth your time.
个 (gè) is the most common Chinese measure word and the easiest to use. It’s a generic, catch-all measure word.
It’s possible to use 个 (gè) with almost any Chinese noun and still be understood. Sometimes, native speakers even default to 个 (gè) after forgetting which measure word to use with a certain noun. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always correct to use 个 (gè).
After realizing how common 个 (gè) is, many students quickly begin overusing it. This overuse of 个 (gè) as a beginner can lead to bad habits that will be hard to change later on. If you don’t pay attention to learning and using the correct measure words now, it may be difficult to remember to do so in the future.
Measure words are an integral part of Chinese
Measure words are an important part of the Chinese language. If you don’t learn to use them correctly, you won’t ever be able to claim real fluency.
Just because Chinese speakers can understand what you mean to say when you use 个 (gè) instead of the correct measure word doesn’t mean that your speech sounds grammatically correct. If you want to be taken seriously by Chinese speakers, you’ll need to get the details right.
Measure words help with understanding
Using measure words correctly can also help people understand you better. This is because Chinese is full of homophones, which are words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings.
Since different nouns take different measure words, using the right measure word-noun pairing can help clarify your meaning.
Chinese measure word learning strategies
So, what’s the best way to learn Chinese measure words? Unfortunately, learning Chinese measure words requires a certain amount of rote memorization. Eventually, you’ll need to memorize which measure words go with which nouns.
Luckily, the use of measure words in Chinese isn’t random. There are definitely some patterns which can help Chinese learners memorize them more efficiently.
When learning Chinese measure words, it helps to remember that they contain clues about the nouns they classify. Measure words can indicate whether the noun is an animal, an object, a person or a concept. They can also tell you something about the noun’s size and shape. Therefore, it’s helpful to memorize the types of things measure words usually describe.
For example, 张 (zhāng) is usually used to describe flat objects. If you memorize this fact, next time you’re talking about something flat, you can try using 张 (zhāng) as your measure word. Chances are, you’ll have used it correctly.
Some students find it helpful to learn groups of measure words based on the qualities of the objects they usually classify. For example, a student might make a list of the most common measure words used to describe animals, including 只 (zhī), 匹 (pǐ), 头 (tóu), 条 (tiáo) and 峰 (fēng). Then, they might memorize them all together. This makes it easier to make educated guesses about which measure words to use for animals.
This method certainly narrows the field of choices, but you’ll still need to know which measure word to use with which animal. Unfortunately, knowing to use 匹 (pǐ) with horses, 只 (zhī) with chickens and 峰 (fēng) with camels still requires memorization.
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