Kilo Lingo

(jiàn) - (measure word for items, matters, clothing) in Mandarin

jiàn

Traditional: 件

Line drawing of 件
Coloured illustration of 件
#1551 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

(measure word for items, matters, clothing)

Word origin

A compound of 人 (rén, person) and 牛 (niú, ox), thought to depict dividing an ox into portions, from which it took on the sense of a single item or piece.

Origin
compound
Root
人 (rén, person) + 牛 (niú, ox)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 件

Examples

I bought a new piece of clothing.

This matter is very important.

There are several pieces of luggage on the table.

He did a good deed.

This gift is for you.

件 (jiàn) is a measure word used for individual items, matters and articles of clothing, as in 一件衣服 (an item of clothing) and 一件事 (a matter). It counts discrete things rather than abstract amounts.

Where this fits

Appears in 4 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 件.

Used in

Grammar articles

(18)

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Mandarin · Free printables

件: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "件" ((measure word for items, matters, clothing)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 32.