Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

cLASSIFIerS

8.4

8.2.3 个/個 gè, the general classifier

The most commonly used classifier is 个/個 gè. It is used with many different nouns including

people and things. It does not contribute any meaning to the noun phrase in which it occurs. It

is generally pronounced with neutral tone.

一个人/一個人

yī gè rén

a person

一个问题/一個問題

yī gè wèntí

a problem/a question

一个东西/一個東西

yī gè dōngxi

a thing (a physical object)

In mainland China, in informal speech, 个/個 gè can be used as the classifier for almost any

noun, even those with an established classifier. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as

个化/個化 gè huà ‘ge-ization.’

一个车/一個車

yī gè chē

(compare with 一辆车/一輛車 yī liàng chē) a car

一个房子/一個房子

yī gè fángzi

(compare with 一所房子 yī suǒ fángzi) a house

8.3 Omission of the head noun

In modern Mandarin, if a noun phrase includes a specifier and/or a number, the classifier may

not be omitted. However, the head noun may be omitted from the noun phrase.

Say this Not this

三本书 [or] 三本 *三书

三本書 三書

sān běn shū [or] sān běn sān shū

three books [or] three

那个学校 [or] 那个 *那学校

那個學校 [or] 那個 那學校

nàge xuéxiào [or] nàge nà xuéxiào

that school [or] that one

C7, 9

8.4 Classifiers that occur without a noun

The words for ‘day’ and ‘year’ are classifiers. They may be preceded by a number, and they

are never followed by a noun.

天 tiān day 一天 yī tiān one day 两天/兩天 liǎng tiān two days

年 nián year 一年 yī nián one year 两年/兩年 liǎng nián two years

C34.1, 36.1, 37.8, 49.2