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6 Essential Measure Words for Transportation Vehicles in Chinese

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In Chinese language, measure words are a crucial part of speech used to quantify nouns, and different measure words are used for different types of objects such as animals and clothes. In this article, we will explore the Chinese measure words used for transportation.

辆 (liàng)

辆 is the most commonly used measure word for vehicles, including cars, buses, bikes and trucks.
Examples:

一辆汽车 (yī liàng qì chē) – One car
两辆公交车 (liǎng liàng gōngjiāo chē) – Two buses
三辆自行车(sān liàng zì xíng chē) – Three bikes
五辆卡车 (wǔ liàng kǎ chē) – Five trucks

架 (jià)

架 is used for flying vehicles such as airplanes and helicopters.
Examples:

一架飞机 (yī jià fēi jī) – One airplane
两架直升机 (liǎng jià zhí shēng jī) – Two helicopters
三架小型飞机 (sān jià xiǎo xíng fēi jī) – Three small airplanes

艘 (sōu)

艘 is commonly used for boats and ships that are relatively large.
Examples:

一艘船 (yī sōu chuán) – One boat
两艘快艇 (liǎng sōu kuài tǐng) – Two speedboats
五艘货轮 (wǔ sōu huò lún) – Five cargo ships

条 (tiáo)

条 is commonly used for long and narrow vehicles such as boats and ships. When used to describe boats, it is normally used with the smaller boats with simple structure.

Examples:

三条小船 (sān tiáo xiǎo chuán) – Three small boats
一条渔船 (yītiáo yúchuán) – One small fishing boat

列 (liè)

列 is used for trains which have more than one wagons.
Examples:

一列火车 (yī liè huǒ chē) – One train
两列地铁 (liǎng liè dì tiě) – Two subway trains
五列货运火车 (wǔ liè huò yùn huǒ chē) – Five freight trains

节 (jié)

节is another measure word commonly used vehicles that have separate compartments or sections, such as trains, subway trains, etc.
Here are some examples:

一节火车车厢 (yī jié huǒ chē chē xiāng) – One train car
两节地铁车厢 (liǎng jié dì tiě chē xiāng) – Two subway cars
三节动车车厢 (sān jié dòng chē chē xiāng) – Three high-speed train cars

Note that 节 is usually used for individual train cars, while 辆/列 is used for the entire train.➡️Get the flashcards in our store.

In conclusion, Chinese measure words are an essential part of the language, and learning them is crucial to understanding and communicating effectively. The measure words for transportation can be challenging to remember, but with enough practice and exposure, they can be natural when you use them together with different transportation vehicles.

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