Group and Container Measures
队 (duì): teams; 群 (qún): crowds; 些 (xiē): some; 对 (duì): matched pairs; 家 (jiā): families/companies; 班 (bān): classes. When to use container words vs. classifier words.
A lesson of Mandarin A2 — Elementary, in Measure Words, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will use measure words for groups, crowds, sets, and institutional entities, and understand when to choose group measures over general ones.
Beyond Individual Objects
The measure words in the previous lesson (个, 本, 张…) dealt mainly with individual objects. Mandarin also has measure words for collections, groups, and matched sets — words that encode how things are organized or related, not just their shape.
队 (duì) — organized teams and lines
队 describes organized groups, especially teams, lines, and formations:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 一队人 | yī duì rén | a group/troop of people |
| 两队球员 | liǎng duì qiúyuán | two teams of players |
| 排成一队 | páichéng yī duì | line up in a row |
一队士兵走了过来。 (Yī duì shìbīng zǒu le guòlái.) — A troop of soldiers came over.
群 (qún) — unorganized crowds and flocks
群 describes a loosely gathered crowd, flock, or pack — the difference between an organized team (队) and a crowd (群) is the same as in English:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 一群人 | yī qún rén | a crowd of people |
| 一群鸟 | yī qún niǎo | a flock of birds |
| 一群学生 | yī qún xuésheng | a group of students |
| 一群羊 | yī qún yáng | a flock of sheep |
广场上有一大群人。 (Guǎngchǎng shang yǒu yī dà qún rén.) — There's a large crowd in the square.
些 (xiē) — some, a few
些 is a very common measure word meaning "some" or "a number of." It always follows 一 (yīxiē) or 这/那:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 一些人 | yīxiē rén | some people |
| 一些问题 | yīxiē wèntí | some questions |
| 这些书 | zhèxiē shū | these books |
| 那些学生 | nàxiē xuésheng | those students |
我有一些问题想问你。 (Wǒ yǒu yīxiē wèntí xiǎng wèn nǐ.) — I have some questions for you. 这些都是我的。 (Zhèxiē dōu shì wǒ de.) — All of these are mine.