Level 3 · Lesson 2

一本书
One book

一本书，一本杂志，一支笔，一个学生。

A number never touches a noun directly: Chinese puts a measure word between them.

听 · Listen

你买什么？
 安娜 —  李明，这是什么？ 
Li Ming, what is this?  
 李明 —  这是一本词典。 
This is a dictionary.  
 安娜 —  那也是词典吗？ 
Is that a dictionary too?  
 李明 —  不是，那是三本杂志。 
No, those are three magazines.  
 安娜 —  今天你买书吗？ 
Are you buying books today?  
 李明 —  我买一本书，也买一支笔。 
I'm buying one book, and a pen too.  
 安娜 —  我买五支笔！ 
I'm buying five pens!  
 李明 —  五支笔？你很忙！ 
Five pens? You must be busy!  

讲解 · Explanation

一本书。三本杂志。五支笔。

Here is the rule the whole level rests on: a number may never sit straight against a noun. Between them stands a third word, the measure word. English says one book; Chinese says one volume book — 一本书. Say 一书 and no one will understand you. The order is fixed and never varies: number, then measure word, then noun.

一个人，一个学生，一个名字。

个 is the workhorse. It counts people and a great many everyday things, and when you truly cannot remember the right measure word it is the one to reach for — you will be understood. Two sound notes: 个 falls, so 一 rises in front of it (yí gè), and in fast speech 个 itself goes light.

一本书，一本杂志，一本词典。一支笔。

Most measure words carry a picture. 本 counts anything bound between covers — books, magazines, dictionaries, notebooks. 支 counts thin rigid sticks, so it takes pens and pencils. Because 本 and 支 do not fall, 一 in front of them is written yì: yì běn, yì zhī. Learn every new noun together with its measure word, the way you learn its meaning.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
个	general measure word	一个人 yí gè rén, 一个学生 yí gè xuésheng
本	measure word for bound volumes	一本书 yì běn shū, 一本杂志 yì běn zázhì
支	measure word for pens and sticks	一支笔 yì zhī bǐ
杂志	magazine	一本杂志 yì běn zázhì
词典	dictionary	一本词典 yì běn cídiǎn

练习 · Practice

这是一 ______ 笔。 Which measure word goes with 笔?

那是三 ______ 学生。 Which measure word counts people here?

李明买四 ______ 杂志。 Fill in the measure word for magazines.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I'm buying one dictionary.'

用一用 · Use it

我买一本书，一本杂志，一支笔。

Say a shopping list aloud, three items long, and put a measure word into every single one. Then count what is actually on your desk: 一本书，三支笔… If you catch yourself saying a bare number plus a noun, stop and say the phrase again with 个 in the gap — 个 is always better than nothing.