Classifiers in Chinese 中文里的量词 | Learn Chinese with Yoyo Mo

今天我们来讲讲中文里的量词  

Jīn tiān wǒ men lái jiǎng jiang zhōng wén lǐ de liàng cí  

Today we are going to talk about classifiers in Chinese  

量词应该是让学中文的人最头痛的问题之一  

Liàng cí yīng gāi shì ràng xué zhōng wén de rén zuì tóu tòng de wèn tí zhī yī  

Classifiers are probably one of the most confusing problems for people learning Chinese  

今天我不想告诉大家什么东西用什么量词  

Jīn tiān wǒ bù xiǎng gào su dà jiā shén me dōng xi yòng shén me liàng cí  

Today, I don’t want to tell everyone which classifier to use for which thing  

大家自己查字典就行了  

Dà jiā zì jǐ chá zì diǎn jiù xíng le  

Everyone can just look it up in the dictionary yourselves  

我想说的是  

Wǒ xiǎng shuō de shì  

What I want to say is  

不要害怕  

Bù yào hài pà  

Don’t be afraid  

所有的东西都可以用一个来表达  

Suǒ yǒu de dōng xi dōu kě yǐ yòng yī gè lái biǎo dá  

You can use "一个 (yī gè, a/one)" to express all things  

在北京话里面  

Zài běi jīng huà lǐ miàn  

In Beijing dialect  

常常只用“一”来表达  

Cháng cháng zhǐ yòng "yī" lái biǎo dá  

People often only use "一 (yī, one)" to express  

类似于英语里的a  

Lèi sì yú yīng yǔ lǐ de a  

Similar to "a" in English  

比如：这是一兔子  

Bǐ rú: Zhè shì yī tù zi  

For example: This is a rabbit (in Beijing dialect)  

普通话就是：这是一个兔子  

Pǔ tōng huà jiù shì: Zhè shì yī gè tù zi  

In Mandarin, it would be: This is a rabbit  

这是一只兔子  

Zhè shì yī zhī tù zi  

This is a rabbit (the standard classifier "只 (zhī)" for small animals)  

不用担心  

Bù yòng dān xīn  

Don’t worry  

语言是拿来运用的  

Yǔ yán shì ná lái yùn yòng de  

Language is for practical use  

只要大家能听懂就行  

Zhǐ yào dà jiā néng tīng dǒng jiù xíng  

As long as everyone can understand, that’s enough  

有些人需要考试  

Yǒu xiē rén xū yào kǎo shì  

Some people need to take exams  

那么我们轻松愉快地去记一些量词就行  

Nà me wǒ men qīng sōng yú kuài de qù jì yī xiē liàng cí jiù xíng  

Then we can memorize some classifiers in a relaxed and pleasant way  

你们猜中国人是怎么记住那么多的量词的  

Nǐ men cāi zhōng guó rén shì zěn me jì zhù nà me duō de liàng cí de  

Guess how Chinese people remember so many classifiers  

答案是：重复  

Dá àn shì: Chóng fù  

The answer is: Repetition

重复到已经成为了习惯  

Chóng fù dào yǐ jīng chéng wéi le xí guàn  

Repeat until it becomes a habit  

我们根本不知道自己在说什么  

Wǒ men gēn běn bù zhī dào zì jǐ zài shuō shén me  

We don’t even know what we are saying  

就这样从嘴巴里吐出去了  

Jiù zhè yàng cóng zuǐ ba lǐ tǔ chū qù le  

It just comes out of our mouths like that  

我们也常常只用“个”来表示  

Wǒ men yě cháng cháng zhǐ yòng "gè" lái biǎo shì  

We also often only use "个 (gè)" to express

一个马  

Yī gè mǎ  

A horse (using "个" instead of the standard "匹 (pǐ)")  

一个纸  

Yī gè zhǐ  

A piece of paper (using "个" instead of the standard "张 (zhāng)")  

都可以的  

Dōu kě yǐ de  

All of these are acceptable  

像我的孩子们学说话  

Xiàng wǒ de hái zi men xué shuō huà  

Like when my children were learning to speak  

他们说什么我都鼓励  

Tā men shuō shén me wǒ dōu gǔ lì  

I encouraged them no matter what they said  

不需要必须纠正他们的错误  

Bù xū yào bì xū jiū zhèng tā men de cuò wù  

There’s no need to necessarily  correct their mistakes  

如果下次你说“一个门”  

Rú guǒ xià cì nǐ shuō "yī gè mén"  

Next time if you say "a door"  

别人非要纠正你说“是一扇门”  

Bié rén fēi yào jiū zhèng nǐ shuō "shì yī shàn mén"  

And someone insists on correcting you, saying "It’s 一扇门"  

那你可以说  

Nà nǐ kě yǐ shuō  

Then you can say  

我知道，但是我就想说一个门  

Wǒ zhī dào, dàn shì wǒ jiù xiǎng shuō yī gè mén  

I know, but I just want to say "a door"  

当一个北京人说“那儿有一门”  

Dāng yī gè běi jīng rén shuō "nà er yǒu yī mén"  

When a Beijinger says "There’s a door over there" (using "一" directly in Beijing dialect)  

我不相信有人会去纠正他说  

Wǒ bù xiāng xìn yǒu rén huì qù jiū zhèng tā shuō  

I don’t believe anyone would correct him by saying  

你应该说那里有一扇门  

Nǐ yīng gāi shuō nà lǐ yǒu yī shàn mén  

You should say "There is 一扇门 over there"

好了，我希望大家开心学中文  

Hǎo le, wǒ xī wàng dà jiā kāi xīn xué zhōng wén  

Okay, I hope everyone learns Chinese happily  

不要被这些教条主义束缚  

Bù yào bèi zhè xiē jiào tiáo zhǔ yì shù fù  

Don’t be constrained by these dogmatic rules