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Chinese Measure Words (Part 4): Foods, Household Items, Clothing

Food

Food is a huge part of Chinese culture, so it is no surprise that there is a colorful assortment of specifiers for foods, meals and the dishes in which they are served.

food

fènportion一份面 (yī fèn miàn) “an order of noodles”

一份汉堡 (yī fèn hànbǎo) “a hamburger”

piànpiece一片饼干 (yīpiàn bǐnggān) “a piece of cookie”

(塊)

kuàipiece, slice一块蛋糕 (yīkuài dàngāo) “a slice of cake”
kǒusip, mouthful口 means “mouth”.

一口水 (yīkǒu shuǐ) “a sip of water”

一口面包 (yīkǒu miànbāo) “a byte of bread”

dàodish一道名菜 (yīdào míng cài) “a famous dish”
dùnmeal一顿早餐 (yī dùn zǎocān) “a breakfast”
wǎnbowl一碗饭 (yī wǎn fàn) “a bowl of (cooked) rice”

(盤)

pánplate一盘水果 (yī pán shuǐguǒ) “a plate of fruit”

(籠)

lóngbamboo drum一笼蒸饺(yī lóng zhēng jiǎo) “an order of steamed dumplings”

The character’s top part is the symbol for bamboo.

drop一滴水 (yī dīshuǐ) “a drop of water”
bēicup一杯茶 (yī bēi chá) “a cup of tea”
píngbottle一瓶啤酒 (yī píng píjiǔ) “a bottle of beer”

(壺)

teapot一壶茶 (yī hú chá) “a pot of tea”
guàncan, jar一罐蜂蜜 (yī guàn fēngmì) “a jar of honey”
whiff, smell一股香味 (yī gǔ xiāngwèi) “a pleasant aroma”

Household Items

houssehold-item

chuángbedsheets一床棉被 (yī chuáng mián bèi) “a cotton blanket”

床 means “bed”.  The character shows the symbol for wood under a roof.

(條)

tiáotowel, tablecloth一条毯子 (yī tiáo tǎnzi) “a blanket”

(盞)

zhǎnlamp一盏台灯 (yī zhǎn táidēng) “a standing lamp”
painting or drawing一幅画 (yī fú huà) “a painting or drawing”

The left side of 幅 is the symbol for cloth.

(幀)

zhēnprinted picture一帧照片 (yī zhēn zhàopiàn) “a photograph”

The left side of 帧 is the symbol for cloth.

Photos can also be counted using张 (zhāng), which emphasizes their flat shape.

Clothing

clothing

jiànarticle of clothing一件衣服 (yī jiàn yīfú) “an article of clothing”

一件衬衫 (yī jiàn chènshān) “a shirt”

(條)

tiáoa long article of clothing一条领带 (yī tiáo lǐngdài) “a necktie”
tàocostume一套西装 (yī tào xīzhuāng) “a (Western) suit”

一套制服 (yī tào zhìfú) “a uniform”

(頂)

dǐnghat一顶帽子 (yī dǐng màozi) “a hat”

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Joe Varadi

Joe Varadi lived and studied in Shanghai and Taiwan, in a simpler time before blogs and smartphones got big. He is the creator of Trasee! for Chinese Trasee, a mobile app for Chinese reading and handwriting that incorporates many of the techniques he developed while learning Mandarin.

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