We have good news for gourmands. When it comes to ordering food in China, you're on a level playing field with the most famous Sinologists. Want to know how John Fairbank and John DeFrancis ordered beef noodles back in the day, or how Victor Mair gets his chicken and peanuts to this very day?The secret is that no matter how high-class the restaurant, China is a country where you can still get away with pointing at the menu and grunting. Chinese menus actually encourage this. And while grunting may be frowned upon in some finer establishments, we can replace those with a few choice words and you'll be good to go, charming serving staff throughout the Orient and blending in with the locals. Listen up and learn how.
jim.veseley
said on February 20, 2009
Nice introduction to measure words. There's another good example in that last line: one person - yi ge ren. I would have come on stronger here backing "ge" as a generic measure word. It may not be the best choice for everything, but it's grammatically correct to use it for everything. I found getting into the habit of using any measure word was harder than switching them up at a later date.
user3576
said on March 6, 2009
Nice lesson. How should we say in mandarin we need a menu in English instead of a chinese menu in a restaurant in China.
Thanks
Gail天堂的声音
said on March 6, 2009
@user3576，
服务员，菜单。有英文的吗？
trevelyan
said on March 6, 2009
@Gail,
Useful to include the pinyin too. I'd suggest:
有英文菜单吗？
You3 ying1wen2 cai4dan1 ma5?
--dave
Gail天堂的声音
said on March 6, 2009
@trevelyan,@user3576,
Ok, then the correct answer should be:
服务员(fúwùyuán)，菜单(càidān)。有(yǒu)英文(yīngwén)的(de)吗(ma)？
or,
服务员(fúwùyuán)，有(yǒu)英文(yīngwén)菜单(càidān)吗(ma)？
Gail天堂的声音
said on March 6, 2009
o(∩_∩)o...
user3576
said on March 6, 2009
Thanks Gail and Trevelyan
vikram.rs
said on June 2, 2009
@user3576
Wo3 yao4 " mei2 nu3" lol
ideotek
said on September 25, 2010
I don't know if this even exists in chinese, or if its too complicated to worry about at this point,
but does the first 个 function differently than the second in 一个那个?
And why isn't it 二个那个？
Fire69
said on October 7, 2010
Nice lesson, this will probably come in handy if I ever get to go to China :-DBut, like ideotek already asked, why liǎng ge and not èr ge?And what if you need "3 of those"? san1 ge or it it also another word then for 3?Sorry about all the questions, I'm a real absolute beginner! :-P
chadyanpitre
said on October 7, 2010
Hi Fire69 and ideotek,
Echo can correct me if I'm wrong, but it helps to think of liang3ge as "a couple of". So it's like saying I'll have a couple of this, rather than two of this. I don't think there's any special word for 3, so we'd usually just say "给我来三个“ of something.
Chad
Echo
said on October 7, 2010
@Fire69&chadyanpitre,
When you are counting "one, two, three, four..." or talking about "the second" , you can only say "二". However, you should use 两 before most of the measure words. For instance, "两个","两张","两块".
Also like chadyanpitre said, you want to use "两" to refer to "a couple of" things.
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
chadyanpitre
said on October 8, 2010
Thanks Echo.
One more note to all learners, you will often also hear "lia3" 俩 (pls someone correct me if this is the wrong character), instead of 两个，but in different usage.
If I'm not mistaken, it's most often used when referring to others or ourselves (e.g. people). For instance, 他们俩挺好看的. Those two look good / are attractive. Come to think of it, it's probably also used for referring to things as well, its just I hear it most often when referring to people.
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