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Are there uncountable nouns in Chinese? I have noticed, that Chinese often use uncountable nouns as if they were countable: "stuffs", "furnitures", "luggages". Is it just a mistake, or in Chinese language all the nouns are countable?
Aug 27, 2010 10:06 PM
Answers · 10
3
in chinese we don't separate nouns to countable ones and uncountable ones. because we don't have plural in nouns in chinese. if you choose the right quantifier for the nouns then the expression will be right.for example:money in english is usually uncoutable ,but in chinese you can say "一沓钱、一叠钱"that will be ok,but if you say "一个钱"it will be wrong;also wind in english is usually uncoutable ,but in chinese you can say"一阵风"it's right ,but 一个风,wrong. and in some situations,there is no appropriate quantifier for a noun ,then you just use it without a quantifier which looks like a "uncoutable noun" .for example: homework(作业),we usually don't use the quantifier with it ,we just say 写作业,not 写一个作业。 i hope it will be helpfull
August 28, 2010
2
yeah everything is countable (as long as it is a thing, not an abstract concept). for example water is a "uncountable" noun in English, but you can say "a gallon of water" and you are counting it! you say it's uncountable because you can't say "waters", but is the little "s" so important? In chinese we are too lazy to tell the differences between discrete countable objects and other whatever things. Using the right measure (such as "gallon") is all we need. So there is no such concept as "countable" or "plural" in Chinese. All we care is how you count the things. For example, we count people using the measure 个. 一个人 means "one person" or "one entity of people" literally. We count animals using the measure 只 or 头 or 匹. 一只猪 a pig, 一头大象 an elephant, 一匹马 a horse. So I think it's simpler in Chinese. You don't have to change the nouns. What you have to do is choose the right measure to count them.
August 29, 2010
1
All nouns in Chinese are uncountable. The words you are referring to are a special kind of word, called "counters". They are not nouns, even though some of them look like nouns. Whenever you count things in Chinese, you must use it's respective counter. The list is quite large, so you have a bit of work to do here. 一个人;一只狗;一本书;一条路; to name but a few.
August 28, 2010
All the word are countable in chinese. Because eveything are countable in Chinese eye!
August 29, 2010
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