What is a Chinese classifier?

A classifier or measure word (量词) is a word placed between a number and a noun, like the 本 in 三本书 (three books). Mandarin requires one whenever you count or point to a noun, and the conventional choice depends on the noun's shape or category.

How does the checker decide a measure word is wrong?

It looks for a numeral or a demonstrative such as 这 or 那 followed by a measure word and a known noun, then compares the measure word to that noun's conventional classifier in its lookup. If they differ, and 个 was not used, it flags the pair as a likely mismatch.

Why is 个 always accepted?

个 is the generic, all-purpose classifier and is often acceptable in casual speech even where a more specific word is preferred. To avoid false alarms the checker treats 个 as valid for every noun, while still suggesting the conventional measure word.

Will it catch every error?

No. It is a heuristic that only knows a curated list of common nouns and their classifiers, so rare nouns, proper nouns, and unusual phrasings are skipped. Treat green results as no problem found rather than a guarantee of correctness.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. The noun-classifier lookup is bundled with the page and all analysis happens in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent to a server.

Chinese Classifier Usage Checker

Email me this result

Get this tool's output sent to your inbox, plus one useful tool a week. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

Mandarin Chinese requires a measure word (量词) between a number and a noun, and the conventional choice depends on the noun. This checker scans your text for counted phrases and flags pairs where the measure word does not match the conventional classifier.

How it works

The checker walks the text looking for the pattern:

NUMERAL/DEMONSTRATIVE + CLASSIFIER + NOUN
   三 / 这 …            本 / 只 …      书 / 狗 …

When it finds a measure word that directly follows a numeral (一二三…, 0-9, 几, 两) or a demonstrative (这, 那, 哪, 每), it reads the next one or two characters as a candidate noun. If that noun is in its lookup table, it compares the measure word you used against the conventional one. A difference is flagged unless you used the generic 个, which is always accepted.

Tips and examples

三本书 (three books) is correct because 书 conventionally takes 本. 五匹书 would be flagged, because 匹 is the classifier for horses and bolts of cloth, not books. Common pairings worth memorising include 一只狗 (animals), 两条鱼 (long thin things), 一辆车 (vehicles), 一杯水 (cupfuls), and 一位老师 (polite, for people). The tool only knows common nouns, so unusual vocabulary is skipped rather than guessed.