量词总说
The classifier system

第三级你背过一本书、一张桌子、一条鱼、一件衣服、一杯茶。当时你只知道要这么说，不知道为什么。现在可以说清楚了：汉语的名词说的是种类，不说个数。书就是书，可能是一本，也可能是三十本。要把它数出来，中间得先放一个量词。

In level 3 you memorised 一本书, 一张桌子, 一条鱼, 一件衣服, 一杯茶. You knew you had to say it that way; you did not know why. Now it can be said plainly: a Chinese noun names a kind, not a count. 书 is simply 'book' — one of them or thirty. To count it, a classifier has to go in between.

这是汉语跟英语最大的分别之一。英语说 three books，数词直接放在名词前面；汉语一定要说三本书。量词把名词切成一个一个的单位，数词才有东西可数。所以量词不是装饰，是句子结构里的一环。

This is one of the deepest differences between Chinese and English. English puts three straight in front of books; Chinese must say 三本书. The classifier cuts the noun into units, and only then is there something for the numeral to count. It is structure, not decoration.

位置就是最好的记号：名量词在名词前边（三本书），动量词在动词后边（看了三次）。动量词过两课再细说，这里只要记住一件事：汉语连动作也是要用量词来数的。

Position is the surest marker: a 名量词 stands before its noun (三本书), a 动量词 after its verb (看了三次). Verbal classifiers get a lesson of their own shortly. For now just register the fact that Chinese counts actions with classifiers too.

个体量词数一个一个的东西，你会的大部分都是：本、张、条、只、件、位、辆、座。集合量词数成组的东西：一双鞋、一群学生、一套书。度量衡量词是重量、长度、时间这些标准单位：三斤苹果、两米、一个小时。三类的用法完全一样，都是数 + 量 + 名。

个体量词 count things one at a time — 本, 张, 条, 只, 件, 位, 辆, 座 and most of what you already know. 集合量词 count groups: 一双鞋, 一群学生, 一套书. 度量衡量词 are standard units of weight, length and time: 三斤苹果, 两米, 一个小时. All three behave identically — number, classifier, noun.

这、那、哪、几都站在数词的位置上，所以后面同样要有量词：这本书、哪只猫。数词也可以跟它们一起出现，顺序是这 + 三 + 本 + 书。可以省掉的只有一个：数词一。这本书就是这一本书，一没说出来而已。

这, 那, 哪 and 几 occupy the numeral's slot, so a classifier follows them too: 这本书, 哪只猫. A numeral may join them, in the order 这 + 三 + 本 + 书. The one element that may drop out is 一 itself — 这本书 is 这一本书 with the 一 left unsaid.