Mandarin · Chapter 4 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Classifiers (measure words)
个, 岁, 年, 天, 只, 本, 口 and friends. The rule that every counted noun needs one, and the 这个/那个 demonstrative + classifier pattern.
The short version
Demonstratives need a classifier too, not just numbers
Everyone learns 一本书 (yì běn shū). The bit English speakers skip is that 这 (zhè) and 那 (nà) cannot sit against a noun either: 这本书 (zhè běn shū), 那只猫 (nà zhī māo), 那张纸 (nà zhāng zhǐ), using the same classifier the noun takes when counted. Forget which one and default to 个 (gè), because a wrong measure word beats no measure word.
这本书 zhè běn shū
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