Measure word finder

Measure word for music

音乐 yīn yuè music HSK 3

  • 一首音乐 yì shǒu yīnyuè

    首 shǒu · For songs and poems

  • 一段音乐 yí duàn yīnyuè

    段 duàn · For sections, passages and stretches of time or road

Also counted with 首

Type a noun in English, pinyin or Chinese.

    What is the measure word for music in Chinese?

    Music is 音乐 (yīn yuè), and its measure word is 首 or 段: one music is 一首音乐. The dictionary also gives 段 (一段音乐).

    What is a measure word?

    In Chinese a number can’t go straight before a noun: you say 一本书 (one “volume” of book), not 一书. The word in the middle is the measure word, or classifier. Each noun takes its own, often by its shape: 张 for flat things, 条 for long thin ones, 本 for books.

    What if I don’t know the measure word?

    个 (gè) works for people and most things, and native speakers use it a lot in speech. The right measure word sounds more natural, and some nouns never take 个.

    Why is 一 said yí here?

    一 is said yí before a fourth tone (一个 yí ge, 一件 yí jiàn) and yì before the other tones (一本 yì běn, 一张 yì zhāng).

    More free tools

    How hard is this text?: a text’s HSK level and the words to learn first. Pinyin chart: every syllable, all four tones. Read any Mandarin: point at a word for its meaning.

    Measure words from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0), for the official HSK word list. Speakers use others too.