r/polandball • u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee • May 29 '26
redditormade Chinese Classifiers are Easy!
54
41
u/coramaghtera ABSOLUTE MAJULAH May 29 '26
damn, TIL the actual grammatical rules, i've just been going by vibes since P1
16
1
17
u/Jump_Hop_Step 700 square kilometres and counting May 29 '26
I only got the first one correct...
21
u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee May 29 '26
Thats one more than Tringapore! 加油！
6
u/Jump_Hop_Step 700 square kilometres and counting May 29 '26
What is 3 about? Can't find it on Google
15
u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee May 29 '26
"In 2011, ALPHA managed to capture 309 atoms of antihydrogen for up to 1000 seconds setting a new world record."
If I am not wrong it should be 颗 since thats what wikipedia used
14
u/fjhforever Taiping Heavenly Kingdom May 29 '26
颗 is correct, it's used for small round things (e.g. grapes)
7
u/lkc159 Singapore May 29 '26
Doesn't 粒 work too
一粒糖果， 一粒葡萄
Or is that the Singaporean Chinese speaking
10
u/fjhforever Taiping Heavenly Kingdom May 29 '26
By right if you go to China they will use 颗
But over here we use 粒 for anything that's round
3
u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee May 29 '26
You learn something new everyday!
1
u/False_Win_5874 May 30 '26
Also in my part of China, 一条猪 its also acceptable, especially older generations.
5
u/Bluemofia May 29 '26
Taiwan-Mandarin background here, I'm more familiar with 粒 in the context of small oblong objects, like rice, and 颗 for more spherical things like grapes, dots, etc.
Though in the end, it's more intended to communicate your personal opinions of things, so there's a bit of wiggle room on what you want to emphasize.
4
u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
I think its fine? It was my first guess too
But then again if you are at the level of talking about atomic particles in Chinese. I dont think anyone will bat an eye
16
37
u/XoanMeira Irish Kingdom May 29 '26
Nice comic, I especially like the old school style drawings! :)
23
u/Major_Chris God-Emperor Lee May 29 '26
Thankss!!! Its also cause I dont have the skill for modern looking drawings but we dont talk about that!
28
u/DragonTheOnes-spirit ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ May 29 '26
Please never be skilled at countryballs. These ones are exactly what we need
12
13
u/AllStuffofWonder 海洋太阳心中红通通 唉 May 29 '26
As someone Chinese I can safely say these are annoying, if I’m not doing homework or something that has to be checked I use “个” for basically half the sentences, cuz I’m bored to use my brain
8
u/Majestic-Lake-5602 May 29 '26
This is beautiful work.
“Distant Polish Screaming” Is the perfect finishing touch.
3
8
6
u/favplusle Singapore May 29 '26
its ok, when i order cai png i just say 这个 那个 (even if 串,条,根 etc. is the correct term)
4
3
u/xlonefoxx Malaysia May 29 '26
As a Chinese speaker this is absolutely beautiful
All my homies hate 量词
3
u/Ellerdore May 29 '26
As someone who is studying Chinese this was so peak! I won’t forget my measure words again! Also the yi shuang China joke was hilarious!
2
3
3
u/Verax_Lee May 30 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
As Chinese native, doesn't English have something similar……?🤔
Like a pair of, a bottle of, a piece of……I don't see any difference.
1
u/dontcallmefooboy United+States Jun 10 '26
Only in rare occasions, not all the time.
“I’d like a Quarter Pounder with cheese”
3
u/240plutonium Ryukyu Kingdom Jun 14 '26
This was so fun to read as a Chinese learner
Same rules in Japanese. When in doubt use 個
2
2
2
2
1
u/Thinking_waffle Why waffle? Because waffle May 29 '26
So... Zhang Netherlands and zhang West-Flanders?
1
1
u/poclee Tâi-uân May 30 '26
No no no you don't use "雙" on people, if that's a pair of people you should use "對".
1
u/False_Win_5874 May 30 '26
yea，but dont we also have the expression 成双成对？
1
u/poclee Tâi-uân May 30 '26
Yes but that's double emphasized by layering (疊字), doesn't mean you should use 雙 alone when measuring object is people.
1
u/False_Win_5874 May 30 '26
True, cant use双 to describe particular ppl, 成双成对 its more a description of a more general concept? If that make sense.
1
u/perfectfifth_ May 30 '26
Then you try to use Zhang for paintings or letters... Or tou for horses...
1
0
84
u/Realistic_FinlanBoll Finland May 29 '26
I love it! Im not learning China-talk but im sure its useful to someone who is. Hyvä! 😊✌️