Level 3 · Lesson 4

一条鱼，一只猫
A fish, a cat

一条鱼，一只猫，一只狗，一只鸟。

条 for long flexible things, 只 for animals — and 这只猫, 那条鱼 to point at one.

听 · Listen

鱼、猫、狗、鸟
 安娜 —  李明，这是什么？ 
Li Ming, what is this?  
 李明 —  这是一条鱼。 
This is a fish.  
 安娜 —  那只猫吃鱼吗？ 
Does that cat eat fish?  
 李明 —  吃！猫吃鱼，狗也吃鱼。 
It does! Cats eat fish, and dogs eat fish too.  
 安娜 —  那是一只狗吗？ 
Is that a dog?  
 李明 —  不是，那是一只鸟。 
No, that is a bird.  
 安娜 —  一条鱼，一只猫，一只狗，一只鸟。 
One fish, one cat, one dog, one bird.  
 李明 —  不错！ 
Not bad at all!  

讲解 · Explanation

一条鱼，三条鱼。

条 counts things that are long, thin and bendable: a fish, a road, a river, a rope, a pair of trousers. Fish are the odd ones out among animals — they are counted by their shape, not as creatures. Because 条 rises (second tone), 一 in front of it is written yì: yì tiáo.

一只猫，一只狗，一只鸟。

只 is the measure word for most animals — cats, dogs, birds, chickens, tigers. Two warnings. This 只 is read zhī here; the same character is also a common adverb read zhǐ, so let the position tell you which word it is. And do not mix it up with 支 zhī from lesson two: same sound, different character, and 支 counts pens, not living things.

这只猫，那条鱼。

这 and 那 obey the same rule numbers do: they cannot touch the noun either. Slot the measure word in between and you can pick out exactly one thing — 这只猫 this cat, 那条鱼 that fish, 这本书 this book. Compare it with 这是猫, which merely says what the animal is. 这只猫 chooses one animal out of several.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
条	measure word for long flexible things	一条鱼, 一条路, 一条裤子
只	measure word for animals	一只猫, 一只狗; the same character read zhǐ is a different word
鱼	fish	一条鱼 yì tiáo yú
猫	cat	一只猫 yì zhī māo
狗	dog	一只狗 yì zhī gǒu
鸟	bird	一只鸟 yì zhī niǎo

练习 · Practice

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

______ 猫吃鱼。 Point at one particular cat in front of you: 'This cat eats fish.'

安娜买一 ______ 鸟。 Fill in the measure word for a bird.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'That is a fish.'

用一用 · Use it

这是一只猫。这只猫吃鱼。

Name the animals you have seen today, each with 一只 or 一条 in front: 一只狗，一只鸟，一条鱼。 Then point at one of them, real or imagined, and say something about it: 这只猫吃鱼。那只狗不吃鱼。 The pointing form 这只 and 那条 is what you will reach for every time you single one thing out.