In this episode we look at measure words in Mandarin Chinese. Subscribe to Learn Chinese Now! / learnchinesenow Ben on Twitter: www.twitter/com... T-Shirts and other products: www.zazzle.com/...
Пікірлер: 314
@Yeediatable9 жыл бұрын
I find it interesting that when a foreigner speaks in mandarin , the person pronounces the tones very noticeably but when a native speaks in mandarin, the tone is not that prominent...do other beginners feel that way too?
@PatchyE9 жыл бұрын
+Yeediatable That's true because pronouncing the tones very noticeably is quite tiring and prevents you from speaking fast. Anchors in television or broadcast tend to pronounce tones very heavily though.
@Yeediatable9 жыл бұрын
This tone thing is NOT cool..:\...but at least the grammar is simple..actually the tone thing is cool in one way..it makes languages from the far east sound very distinct and different than other languages...it's their individual beauty...it's hard to have the confidence to practice with a real person because of fear of being laughed at..I think I will create an alter ego with a heavy chinese accent and practice with him...creepy...yes..but whatever works...:\..
I think it might have something to do with confidence. Foreigners, like me, feel the need to enunciate the tones, because they want to sound better. Natives feel more confident, because they are fluent, so it comes out naturally and they don't feel the need to enunciate as much. I don't know, this is just my point of view lol.
@kiwimcmango4 жыл бұрын
AlMaslool Yes, I’m a non-native chinese speaker and barely pay attention to tones and have never really payed attention to them. Definitely beginning chinese speakers pay too much attention to tones which gets in the way of their progression. And people that are thinking about starting Chinese get scared by the tones because they think it makes it really complicated but really it’s not that scary.
@scottsanett10 жыл бұрын
I think we use "支” more often than “枝” when referring to an ordinary pen. "枝" is more likely to measure 毛筆。
@VulcanTrekkie4511 жыл бұрын
In Turkish, they have only one counting word. They use 'tane' for everything. If you leave it off, it turns into an indefinite article.
@smartmandarinkatrinalee10 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video, measure words has been one of the most important Chinese grammar. :)
@KerryMarsh8 жыл бұрын
You two are marvelous educators and communicators. I really appreciate the help from you well-planned presentation. I'm a self-taught student of only three months learning and practicing just two hours a day on average, and I've used a combination of Fluenz (through 1 and 2 so far), Rosetta Stone (at Unit 1-4 now) and developing a notecard set on my iOS devices. I've seen many nice Mandarin resources on KZbin, but I just love you guys and look forward to finding more great lessons!
@Cathytkerns8 жыл бұрын
片 and 塊 are also used a lot. ie, 一片樹葉, 一片雪花, 一片麵包, 一片肉, 一片魚, 一塊麵包, 一塊肉... depends on how thick of the piece.
@neildolinger682011 жыл бұрын
I'm glad you explained that 條 / 条 tiáo is the measure word used for many animals. I always heard it used for dogs, and thought it was funny to be talking about "a strip of dog". Another useful measure word is 套 tào, used for sets of things.
@MihaiKrieger8 жыл бұрын
there are secret measure words hiddin at the end of the video in the "make off" conversation between Karen and Ben. Karen mentiones the thea measure word for light. 一盞燈 :) or 一面鏡子, 一捆
@Bruceleeeroy10 жыл бұрын
Interesting. Japanese has a lot of different counter words too, and some of them are the same as in Chinese, such as 個 which can be used for pretty much anything, except not for people. Also 頭 is used for counting cattle in Japanese, and sounds almost the same (一頭 = ittou). Plus 一匹 (ippiki) is used for lots of animals.
@vatnidd11 жыл бұрын
It's marked as the 4 tone since it's the original pronunciation. It's pronounced the second since it's the tone changing rule. There's actually two tone changing rules in Mandarin, which is the tone change of 不 and 一 respectively.
@codemyster32311 жыл бұрын
These grammar lessons are by far my favorite on your channel. Helping me so much. Please keep them coming!
@ragemydream11 жыл бұрын
I love the chats Ben and Karen have after - so funny to listen to them.
@John5mith11 жыл бұрын
people often change the first word's tone to avoid two repeated tones, or emphasize the first tone for better understanding,because so many different words have the same or similar sound and tone in Chinese. Maybe in ancient times, this situation was not that serious, but got worse in recent several centuries, the kinds of words' sound reduced, people have to make some words become longer(one character word to two character word) for better listening and understanding,avoiding same pronunciation
@snstar200611 жыл бұрын
If I remember correctly, 一 is pronounced in first tone when used as a number name, as in One, Two, Three... It is pronounced in 2th tone before 4th tone characters as in 一定、一刻, and 4th tone in other conditions, as in 一起、一同.
@samlo523411 жыл бұрын
Always a pleasure to see Karen
@spooderglass8 жыл бұрын
Ba3 is also a verb which means to grab so it makes sense that it's the measure word for things you can grab. (Umbrella, fang, chair, riffle...etc)
@GuilhermePerez9 жыл бұрын
There's a character for vehicles, right? liang4 輛
@Brandon-di2km9 жыл бұрын
Interesting. In Japanese, 本 is used as a counter for long, cylindrical objects, but the word by itself means book. Books are counted in 冊.
@kenny7703229 жыл бұрын
+Brandon Lindström Right! You may use 冊in Chinese using country. But that it sounds very formal. The word usually use when we are writing some official documents.
@johnorsomeone460910 жыл бұрын
I have a hard time putting things in past tense- could you please explain when to use "le" and when to use "guo"? These videos are very helpful (and entertaining)- thank you!
@timromo254111 жыл бұрын
shui zhu yu is my favorite si chuan dish. I almost opted for it yesterday I went for the frog instead shui zhu qingwa. It was delicious and very numbing.
@user-xo1jj5kq4e10 жыл бұрын
I think it is a little complicated for foreign beginners.You can always use "个" if you like. Although it is not perfect, it is understandable to all Chinese.
@DavidsonLoops10 жыл бұрын
Yeah but sooner or later they will get better at Chinese and get to the point where using "个" for everything will no longer be justifiable.
@cllcn88810 жыл бұрын
car uses "tai" and use"ge" is fine for house. % is "bai fen zi", like 20% is "bai fen zi 20". For time, the literal expression "xx dian xx fen" is used, sort of meaning "xx hour xx minute". For example 8:10, it is "8 dian 10 fun". Check out the numbers pronunciation if you want.
@NightoExorcisto10 жыл бұрын
You two have excellent chemistry together, i really like you :) Keep doing what you're doing, it's great and perfect. Also, as a beginner, i would look for a video that states with what a starter should know about the chinese language and if there are sources for self-teaching methods. Thank you!
@aznandyroo11 жыл бұрын
郝毅博很可愛。我三年學了漢語。這件影片是一個很好的復習。影片前,我不知道把也是一個量詞。
@b0r0g0ve11 жыл бұрын
Yes, it was on the video. What I mean is in Taiwan people say 一件褲子 and it's interesting for me to compare the differences.
@b0r0g0ve11 жыл бұрын
So interesting! I see lot of differences in usage. In Taiwan I'm used to saying 個 in 輕聲 as a measure word, 4th tone for nouns like 個性 etc. Do people say 一個人 with 4th tone in mainland China? And also 一件褲子, not 條 and both 把 and 張 for chairs.
@John5mith11 жыл бұрын
一 yi is often said as 4th tone, especially in spoken Chinese, sometimes even said as second tone, maybe because of what the next word's tone is, such as : yi(2) ge(4) 一個,yi(4) shuang(1) 一雙(a pair), yi(2) wei(4) 一位,yi(4) tiao(2)一條, so I think the rule is: yi pronounces 4th tone when the next word is first ,second and third tone, yi pronounces 2nd tone when the next word is 4th tone.
@123thepokemonmaster9 жыл бұрын
the measuring word for book is like the japanese word for book "本" which means book 😂😂
@kenny7703229 жыл бұрын
+GamesBase You are right. In fact, the core meaning of 本 is "origin". So, Japan is 日本. That actually means "where sun comes from".
@PatchyE9 жыл бұрын
+Kenny Lin The radical meaning of 本 is the trunk of a tree. The meaning origin derives from it because all branches and leaves of a tree originate from the trunk.
@kenny7703229 жыл бұрын
Patchy .E. right
@1Anime4you7 жыл бұрын
Chinese is very similar to Japanese in this way. Japanese also has a variety of different counters (as well as a general set, however, it can not be used for people) I like how pants are considered long objects in Chinese, but flat objects in Japanese.
It's great to know that Chinese has this measure-words feature too like Japanese
@irisx11 жыл бұрын
Chinese counters are weird, you can also say 一张椅子. You should do a different verbs video too if you haven't already. I know my sister always confuses 带帽子 with 穿帽子 which is just hilarious.
@John5mith11 жыл бұрын
another tip, when two 3rd-tone words link, the first 3rd tone change to 2nd tone.
@SuperMirock10 жыл бұрын
Exellent. I'm forgetting measuring words all time. Just 个杯只条 i can use automatically.
@eelilac9 жыл бұрын
Just discovered your channel and plowing through your videos. I love that you are using traditional characters as I am currently learning that at the moment. I hope you keep uploading the longer type videos. Thanks.
@enjuichang10 жыл бұрын
一盞燈,一捆繩子,一串葡萄,一面鏡子,一根甘蔗,一碗牛肉麵,一根湯匙 Haha!
@RealNRD10 жыл бұрын
Great work folks! More long format videos please! :)
@NataliaAlmario10 жыл бұрын
These grammar videos are great! Please, contiue making them!!
@fifi18611 жыл бұрын
LOVE the grammar guides! giving me an advantage at chinese school, so keep going! :)
@DenisShch937 жыл бұрын
Please, list all characters and their meanings in the description.
@matthew67653 жыл бұрын
u just want to skip school work dont u
@pascalxus7 жыл бұрын
These shows are awesome! Keep up the good work!
@surdude2828 жыл бұрын
What about "Set", as in "a set of dishes" or "a set of action figures". It's only piece, but has multiple items within the "set".
@reneedooma10 жыл бұрын
Please show us the measure words you were talking about at the end!
@dannylee654911 жыл бұрын
It is not a dragon. It is a Chinchillalaniger which is the main character of a Japanese animate movie called "My neighbor Totoro" directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
@cllcn88810 жыл бұрын
I think you should include the explanation between these measure words and articles. Cuz there is no article in Chinese, the indefinite article "a" is always replaced as "one+measure word" when translating into Chinese. All of the expressions in the video can be translated back into English simply "a+object" rather than "one+object", cuz saying "one+object" is kind of weird.
@knap-dalf221510 жыл бұрын
Would it be possible for you guys to do a sort of introductory lesson to reading and writing traditional chinese characters? :-)
@user-ef8bg3vq9b9 жыл бұрын
i am a Chinese native Speaker ,maybe I can help you if you really want to learn mandarin well .and it's all free ,just wish for we can get along and become good friends.here is my Email :quanbaow@sina.com
@noramaddy44099 жыл бұрын
Cattle is plural Head is a variable. I have a herd of cattle. In that herd I have 300 animals. I have 300 head of cattle. Your question should be, 'How many head of cattle?'
@guyincognito15978 жыл бұрын
I find measure words quite difficult. And that's not even all, is it? I would be happy if the few ones you were talking about is all I need to learn.
@ximenggao92008 жыл бұрын
measure words(or quantifier) is difficult for foreigners,especially something can be discribed by more than one word.for ex:一支枪,一条枪,一杆枪,一柄枪,一把枪,they all mean 'a gun'.if it's a machine gun,一挺枪,一架枪 are right too.
@Broadbased9 жыл бұрын
Hi Ben and Peggy, please do another grammar video. Your grammar video's are very instructive and useful! :)
@YLS150611 жыл бұрын
Karen is so beautiful!
@ShearsOfAtropos10 жыл бұрын
do more of these please!
@maelstrom578 жыл бұрын
Part 3! Part 3!
@brod2man11 жыл бұрын
Hi, sorry this isn't relevant to the current video but I was wondering how the tone marks should be placed on the following: 不見不散 Bu Jian Bu San Bùjiànbúsàn Is this correct or should the first Bu have a 4th(rising) tone and the 2nd "bu" have no tone?
@winsomecai67657 жыл бұрын
Hello there, your teaching style is amazing with lots of fun, clear explaination and lively examlpes. Look forward to watching more. Thanks and best wishes ^^
@jayramdahal37996 жыл бұрын
thank you teacher
@carlavlund58418 жыл бұрын
I'm having trouble understanding why a lot of the examples used in the video end on 子. It means “child”, right? So why is it used in the words for “umbrella” and “table”?
@stinot8758 жыл бұрын
Yes, 子 (zǐ, third tone) can mean "son, child". For the video examples, you can think of the 子 character (zi, neutral tone) as an arbitrary suffix that doesn't really have any meaning in isolation. It's a sort of ending we slap on the names for certain objects; that's all. Same character as far as writing, but a distinct pronunciation and distinct usage from the "son, child" one.
@stinot8758 жыл бұрын
There's a similar case with the character 兒/儿. It can mean "child" (pronounced ér, second tone) but can also function as a suffix (-r). Again, same character on paper, different works.
@carlavlund58418 жыл бұрын
Thank you! :)
@LonghornShootingSports9 жыл бұрын
Haha I love her, she's totes adorbs.
@bashirmasih19912 жыл бұрын
大家好新年快乐⚘⚘⚘⚘上帝祝福你 ⚘⚘⚘⚘
@irinazakharova8159 жыл бұрын
this channel is hilarious XD well done
@mariohoude778810 жыл бұрын
congratulation for your video it is very funny to listen and interesting. continue your good job.i'm happy to look your video wt a bit sense of humour . it begin to learn chinese and polish my english at the same time.thank for your happy job.
@nueah10 жыл бұрын
Thanks
@MRKLBS11 жыл бұрын
I read somewhere that the character "一" changes it's tone, like in "一定 "(yídìng). I'm actually not sure about the rules for changing the tone of "一", I only pronounce those things as how my dictionary shows them :P so I think it would be nice if Ben and Karen do a video about tone changes.
@Baolidao10 жыл бұрын
Karen is so charming,i like her Smiling ....
@nueah10 жыл бұрын
You guys have great chemistry! So cute! Please make more vid
@kieranmurphy149 жыл бұрын
Just wondering if you could put the list up please? :)
@owenwilson41458 жыл бұрын
Why does the 一 change tones? And it can't even be simple enough to change once, but it changes to a range of different tones. Is it just a meaningless rule? Like in 爱好 the 好changes tones, too. I imagine it does it a lot more, too. Is there a reason?
@SimHarrison8 жыл бұрын
+Owen Wilson It's just to make the sentence flow better and it makes it easier to pronounce. for example, when two 3rd tone words are put next to each other, the first word becomes 2nd tone to make it easier to pronounce. If you aren't sure how to say the tones in a sentence because the tones might change, the tones which roll off the tongue most easily are your best bet.
@owenwilson41458 жыл бұрын
Haz Hartridge Thanks! It really stumped me until now. :)
@ximenggao92008 жыл бұрын
ah,in fact 好changes its tone because the part of speech.it pronunciates hǎo when used as a adj. or a adv.,it means good,well,beautiful,easy,nice...when used as a verb or noun,it pronunciates hào,meaning like doing,be fond of,be interested in...for example:他好读书(he likes reading)
@owenwilson41458 жыл бұрын
Ximeng Gao Thanks!
@tomdavies747010 жыл бұрын
More grammar please!
@imthevictorr11 жыл бұрын
you did not cover: the measurement for cars. the measurement for houses. serving sizes. measurement for time. percentages.
@alexander1989x10 жыл бұрын
What do you mean we don't have something like that in English? "A string of hair" "A piece/slice of cake"
@John5mith10 жыл бұрын
English may have some, but not as frequently used as Chinese.
@39thala10 жыл бұрын
John Smith I think the difference is, english words like piece of, string of, lump of, stack of, etc can be used for a lot of different unrelated things and have to do more with how things are presented etc rather than what classification an object falls into. For instance, you just say a cat, a fish, a horse, a log, a cake. Whereas if those things are presented in a certain way, then you have a slice or piece of cake, a herd of cows or horses, a stack of logs, a pack of dogs, a school of fish etc.
@jadeliu49928 жыл бұрын
+Alexandru Popa One difference is that without using these terms, you literally cannot get by sounding like a normal Chinese speaker, whereas no one will notice the difference if you say "I pulled out a hair" instead of "I pulled out a string of hair." In Chinese, every term has to have one of these measure words.
@recklessroges11 жыл бұрын
Is there a Chinese counting word for abstracts like ideas or hopes or words? Great session guys, thank you. (A shame that youtube chose to cover up the text at the bottom with a link to another video - thankfully it can be closed with the little x.) I have not found the link or list of todays words in the description, but writing them out from the video is probably good homework ;-) Thanks again.
@nganphung98110 жыл бұрын
Hi guys, can you put the transcript in the description like you did with the Lao Wai 2.0 video. Thank you very much.
@shep158211 жыл бұрын
Another great session. The only problem with measure words is trying to remember them all. Yikes. Continued success here!!
@xiaoli44379 жыл бұрын
Totoro is a fairy in a forest. He protects children from bad luck and take them to the wodeful dream for a while.
@symonealemania98843 жыл бұрын
are the measure words in the video traditional chinese or simplified chinese?
@lichaochinese49615 жыл бұрын
measure word explained: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXzOqHarfrioZ9U
@JuhnLuk10 жыл бұрын
你們好! I'd be wicked happy if you guys did a tutorial on when to use 兩 vs 二. Like when someone is telling time, one would say 兩點鐘, and is telling a friend what floor is his apartment, he would probably say 第二楼... So, why can't the two be switched? And what's the rule for when to use each one respectively? (I always grew up knowing naturally when to use those. I moved out of China by the age of 8, and the rural area my parents moved me to in the states more or less made me focus on English more. So, my Chinese was developed through in home speaking, and a lot of listening to my parents. I never knew the formal why or how behind 两 and 二, I just conveniently happen to be using each one correctly out of luck.) Hope this comment is seen! Thanks!
@RandolphHuang10 жыл бұрын
I think if you want to say something only 2, you have to use 兩, but you have to use 二 if it's a serial number. Something starts with 第 that must be a serial number.
@jordax47Hydrogen11 жыл бұрын
super awesomely epicly helpful
@unoki9910 жыл бұрын
Learnchinesenow, could you make a gramar video abaou past tense and future tense?
@MatthewHenderson111 жыл бұрын
did pinyin input write the wrong character at 5:03? It wrote 只 instead of 隻. (correct me if I'm wrong you're the experts)
@xjacktitan11 жыл бұрын
wheres the words in the description and at the end?
@angelesrivera9339 жыл бұрын
Hey, i have a question...How can you know if someone is eating rice or just food? I mean, i understood that fan is food but also means rice, so how can you know which one you have been told or which one you are saying?
@kenny7703229 жыл бұрын
+Angeles Rivera It's a little bit complicate to explain. I would say "it depends on the occasion" Like if you are eating and someone ask you "would you like to eat fanˋ", that means rice. If you are not eating, but you get the same question, that means food. However, this is not 100% sure. At some rare times, we also need to ask for double check.
@tylersimmons6543 жыл бұрын
Why are there so many different measure words in China? Is there a specific reason or is this just their culture?
@su06su0611 жыл бұрын
我也覺得中文的量詞很複雜XD
@John5mith11 жыл бұрын
I have a dream = 我有(一個)夢想=我有(一个)梦想。
@dnaimusic2 жыл бұрын
Ben is hilarious, I miss that guy!
@buaroembalomendelev88224 жыл бұрын
谢谢你们。。。
@nuqleo10 жыл бұрын
muchas gracias
@user-tc2wb8fi1e11 жыл бұрын
awesome video this made my day!! thanks guys!
@Charity2211 жыл бұрын
Very informative, greatly appreciated!!
@Carvajalito3110 жыл бұрын
we need more videos like this one. wo hen xi huan!!
@protimap6 жыл бұрын
What is measure word for 画报?
@thavinxayyakhamphan18278 жыл бұрын
Very useful video for new Chinese beginner like me, but need a little bit slow. Coz I can't write them all 😊
@exequielalzogaray9047 жыл бұрын
why "liang" instead of "er" for the number 2?
@MatthewHenderson111 жыл бұрын
ahh you're right thanks, didn't even think. doesn't this channel only use traditional though? was it still a mistake or are they yielding to the complaints?
@YunZhiZhongYi10 жыл бұрын
This is so amazing and helpful but you guys only use traditional characters, which makes it harder to keep up though. They're really good to understand the concept of the character itself but i get kind of lost. At college they only teaches us the simplified version Could you please try to put some of the "harder" ones in both traditional and simplified characters? Even if u can't you're still the best!!!! Thank you!!!
@laoziagainstthemachine53234 жыл бұрын
yì o yí? Traditional or simplified Chinese?
@maddie49210 жыл бұрын
this had to be uploaded!!! xie xie nin! so helpful!
@qirinrsln88519 жыл бұрын
What about die2? Eg. Classifier for saucers?
@bldstrike9 жыл бұрын
+Safia Syaqirin "die" can be "碟" plate or "叠" stack.
@qirinrsln88519 жыл бұрын
bldstrike I see. Thanks!! :)
@pandemonium10189 жыл бұрын
is it 條 used as well to count rivers and tubes?
@birdkako72909 жыл бұрын
yes!
@zhang1118 жыл бұрын
+Fabian Hiragisawa For tubes, it is also possible to use "根" to count, depending on what kind of tubes you refer to.
@pandemonium10188 жыл бұрын
I see, could you please provide me a few examples?
@birdkako72908 жыл бұрын
+Fabian Hiragisawa 一條魚 a fish 一條河 a river 條 used to count something in long shape 一根筆 a pen 一根叉子 a fork 根 is quiet same as 條 but with limited length, so we don't use 根 to count something very long hope you can understand my English
@zhang1118 жыл бұрын
+Fabian Hiragisawa For example, 一根(段/截)钢管(水管)and 一个(支)试管. Actually, I found "條" is seldom used for "管". Perhaps for a soft and winding tube, like thin rubber tube, you might use "條". But even in that case, "根" can also be used.
@icandoanollie11 жыл бұрын
the url of bens twitter is wrong, there should be a point not an slash !