Mandarin Chinese Words Used To Describe Quantity

Imagine you’ve been studying Chinese very hard and you want to find an appropriate word that you can use to brag about the quantity of Mandarin Chinese you have learned. Well, a knowledge of some commonly-used Mandarin Chinese words to describe quantity is what you need in this situation.

Hence, The purpose of this article is to give a brief introduction to some typical Mandarin Chinese words used to describe quantity.

1. 很多 (hěn duō)

In this word, 很 (hěn) means “very”, and 多 (duō) means “many”. Despite of the fact that多 (duō) already has the meaning of “many”, what you need to remember regarding the use of this word is that很 (hěn) has to be included every time you want to express “many + noun” in Chinese.

 

 

Examples

 

 

Learn Mandarin Chinese words used to describe quantity

我有很多中国朋友
wǒ yǒu  hěnduō  zhōngguó  péngyou
I have many Chinese friends

2. 大量 (dà liàng)

If you analyze this word character by character, you’ll find out that the meaning of this word is “a large amount” or “a large number”. The second character “量 (liàng)” can refer to either quantity (数量 shù liàng) or volume (容量róng liàng).

 

 

Examples

Quantity Cash

他有大量现金
tā  yǒu  dàliàng  xiànjīn
He has a large amount of cash

 

Vocabulary:

现金 (xiàn jīn): cash

不少 (bù shǎo)

 

This word is actually a synonym of很多 (hěn duō), which also means “many” or “quite a few”. The logic behind this word is that its original meaning is “not only a few”, in which “not” stands for “不 bù”, and the equivalent of “only a few” in Chinese is “少 shǎo”.

 

Examples

Learn Mandarin Chinese Polyphones

上海有不少法国餐厅
shànghǎi  yǒu  bùshǎo  fǎguó  canting
There are quite a few French restaurants in Shanghai

很少 (hěn shǎo)

 

As 很 (hěn) means “very”, it’s easy to deduce that the meaning of this word is “scarce”.

 

Examples

Mandarin Chinese Words used to describe quantity

Tom的工作经验很少
Tom  de  gōngzuò  jīngyàn  hěnshǎo
Tom has had only a little work experience

 

Vocabulary

  • 经验 (jīng yàn): experience
  • 工作 (gōng zuò): to work, job

     

一些 (yī xiē)

 

一些 (yī xiē) means “some”, and it is commonly used in Chinese people’s daily lives. The word can be used to describe both countable and uncountable nouns.

 

Examples

汉语 Chinese (language) | Chinese Words With Similar Pronunciation

我有一些中文书
wǒ  yǒu  yīxiē  zhōngwén  shū
I have some Chinese books

 

一点儿 (yī diǎnr)

 

一点儿 (yī diǎnr) means “a little”, and it is usually followed by an uncountable noun. Instead of一点儿 (yī diǎnr), “有点儿 (yǒu diǎnr)” should be used if you would like to express “a little + adjective”.

 

Examples

汉语 Chinese (language) | Chinese Words With Similar Pronunciation

我会说一点儿中文
wǒ  huì  shuō  yī diǎnr  zhōngwén
I can speak a little Chinese

汉语 Chinese (language) | Chinese Words With Similar Pronunciation

牛肉有点儿辣
niúròu yǒu diǎnr là
The beef is a bit spicy

 

(jǐ) + measure word

 

If you have more or less learnt some Chinese, you must know that几 (jǐ) means “how many”, and it is often used to ask a question. However, 几 (jǐ) can also mean “several” if it is used in a positive statement. Here are two examples to help you better understand the difference.

 

Examples

Mandarin Chinese Words used to describe quantity

你要几杯茶?
nǐ  yào  jǐ  bēi  chá?
How many cups of tea would you like?

汉语 Chinese (language) | Chinese Words With Similar Pronunciation

我有几个问题
wǒ yǒu jǐ gè wènti
I have several questions

 

Vocabulary

  • 问题 (wènti): question, problem

We hope this article on Mandarin Chinese words used to describe quantity was helpful! If you’re looking to learn some more Mandarin, have a read about Mandarin Chinese Polyphones

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