<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar</a></p>

<p><em>Plurals
Chinese nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker 们 [們] men, which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in 我们 [我們] wǒmen, meaning "we" or "us" (from 我 wǒ, "I, me"), and can be used with nouns representing humans, most commonly those with two syllables, like in 朋友们 [朋友們] péngyoumén "friends" (from 朋友 péngyou "friend"). Its use in such cases is optional.[13] It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a numeral.[14]
The demonstrative pronouns 这 [這] zhè "this" and 那 nà "that" may be optionally pluralized by the addition of 些 xiē, making 这些 [這些] zhèxiē "these" and 那些 nàxiē "those".</em></p>

<p>Since Chinese nouns usually do not have plural form, we have to use plural markers to indicate plural like the Wiki article stated, you can also indicate a noun is singular or plural with measure words like 一個(a /one), 兩個 (two); or predeterminer like 所有(all) 有些(some)</p>

<p>In the case of " 桃是水果" we can deduct from the context that we are talking about "all peaches" , because 一個桃是水果 (a peach is fruit) doesn't make sense.</p>

<p>In 桃都是水果, 所有 is implied</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-26T18:37:50.783Z
桃 是 水果  can mean "a peach is a fruit"  cf. jukuu:1.  Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? 蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜?
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-26T18:40:45.293Z
"a peach is a fruit" in Chinese is "一個桃是一個水果"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-26T18:47:53.387Z
"蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜?" in English is  "Is tomato fruit or a vegetable? " here 蕃茄 meant "tomato" in general, "is (all) tomato fruit or a vegetable?" is implied.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-26T18:58:39.893Z
桃 是 水果 "a peach is a fruit" or  "peaches are fruits" or "peach in general is a fruit"
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T11:21:59.123Z
Totally on board with @TangHo here. Contextually there is nothing else that it could be other than  "all peaches", because there is no possible circumstance that someone is going to say '桃 是 水果' to mean anything else. I would even say translating "蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜? " as 'Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?' is wrong. It wouldn't be 'Is a tomato' rather 'are tomatoes'
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-26T18:28:36.340Z
2016-07-26T18:38:39.763Z
2016-07-26T18:38:39.763Z
Tang Ho
<p>How do we know if there is only one peach or multiple peaches in the sentence
桃是水果?
How do we know in general? With the use of measure words?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T18:20:49.680Z
Not really. Though this was a fill in the blank and the answer was peaches instead of peach.
Ian L
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T04:39:03.527Z
The character 桃 in 桃是水果 and 我吃了个桃, likes the character 人 in 中国人 (the Chinese people, 中国人民) and 中国人 (a Chinese person, 中国的人), the former one means **people** but not a particular **person**. The meaning of 桃 here likes that the Chinese character 人 in 中国人民 equals to the English word **people** but not one **person**.
xenophōn
<translation><meaning-in-context>
How many peaches in 桃是水果?
# How many peaches in 桃是水果?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-07-26)

How do we know if there is only one peach or multiple peaches in the sentence
桃是水果?
How do we know in general? With the use of measure words?

**Tags:** translation, meaning-in-context

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Not really. Though this was a fill in the blank and the answer was peaches instead of peach.  
> **username_1**: The character 桃 in 桃是水果 and 我吃了个桃, likes the character 人 in 中国人 (the Chinese people, 中国人民) and 中国人 (a Chinese person, 中国的人), the former one means **people** but not a particular **person**. The meaning of 桃 here likes that the Chinese character 人 in 中国人民 equals to the English word **people** but not one **person**.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-07-26. Score: 4

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar>

*Plurals
Chinese nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker 们 [們] men, which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in 我们 [我們] wǒmen, meaning "we" or "us" (from 我 wǒ, "I, me"), and can be used with nouns representing humans, most commonly those with two syllables, like in 朋友们 [朋友們] péngyoumén "friends" (from 朋友 péngyou "friend"). Its use in such cases is optional.[13] It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a numeral.[14]
The demonstrative pronouns 这 [這] zhè "this" and 那 nà "that" may be optionally pluralized by the addition of 些 xiē, making 这些 [這些] zhèxiē "these" and 那些 nàxiē "those".*

Since Chinese nouns usually do not have plural form, we have to use plural markers to indicate plural like the Wiki article stated, you can also indicate a noun is singular or plural with measure words like 一個(a /one), 兩個 (two); or predeterminer like 所有(all) 有些(some)

In the case of " 桃是水果" we can deduct from the context that we are talking about "all peaches" , because 一個桃是水果 (a peach is fruit) doesn't make sense.

In 桃都是水果, 所有 is implied

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 桃 是 水果  can mean "a peach is a fruit"  cf. jukuu:1.  Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? 蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜?  
> **username_2**: "a peach is a fruit" in Chinese is "一個桃是一個水果"  
> **username_2**: "蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜?" in English is  "Is tomato fruit or a vegetable? " here 蕃茄 meant "tomato" in general, "is (all) tomato fruit or a vegetable?" is implied.  
> **username_3**: 桃 是 水果 "a peach is a fruit" or  "peaches are fruits" or "peach in general is a fruit"  
> **username_4**: Totally on board with @TangHo here. Contextually there is nothing else that it could be other than  "all peaches", because there is no possible circumstance that someone is going to say '桃 是 水果' to mean anything else. I would even say translating "蕃茄是水果还是蔬菜? " as 'Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?' is wrong. It wouldn't be 'Is a tomato' rather 'are tomatoes'  

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