<p>Interestingly the ways to identify plurality in Chinese are almost the same as in English only except the noun itself doesn't change its form.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Count word larger than one: <b>两</b>只老虎 (<b>two</b> tigers)</p></li>
<li><p>Collective measure word: 一<b>打</b>啤酒 (a <b>dozen</b> of beer)</p></li>
<li><p>Collective noun (grammatically singular, semantically singular or plural depending on the context): 狼<b>群</b> (wolf <b>pack</b>)</p></li>
<li><p>Degree adverb pertaining to quantity: <b>很多</b>书 (<b>many</b> books)</p></li>
<li><p>Degree adverb that implies plurality: <b>所有</b>证据 (<b>all</b> the evidences)</p></li>
<li><p>Plural suffix: 小朋友<b>们</b> (the kids)</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-25T20:05:54.900Z
2014-08-25T20:05:54.900Z
NS.X.
<p>I figured this deserved more than a comment.</p>

<p>Another <em>big</em> indicator of plurality would be <strong>都</strong> - 都 means: <code>all</code> - so obviously it can't be <em>all</em> of <em>one</em>. </p>

<p>...孩子都... all the kids</p>

<p>...老虎都... all the tigers</p>

<p>...啤酒都... all the beers</p>

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2014-08-26T06:59:01.107Z
Dang, you're right! Is there a better way to word this?
Mou某
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2014-08-26T04:48:30.760Z
2014-08-26T04:48:30.760Z
Mou某
<p>In English we have '<strong>s</strong>' at the back of the noun to identify it's plural or singular, however it's not apply to Chinese, with the noun itself, we can't tell. So we have to add the quantifier to show it's plural when it come to many.</p>

<p>For quantifier, it should be something like 两个,三间，四条，五把 and etc, measure-words would be the 个, 间, 条, 把 and etc. </p>

<p>In English, we just use one car, but in Chinese, we need to add the measure-words : 一辆汽车, different object will have different measure-words.</p>

<p>Certain measure-words do define the quantity like 一双，(a pair of) 一打(a dozen), 一排(a row of) but not all of them.</p>

<p>So what I mean is with the word <strong>cars</strong>, we can tell it's multiple cars. However we do not have something like 汽车s </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-26T05:06:11.597Z
I've heard of measure-words, is this the same thing as the quantifier? Would you be able to give one or two examples? If they are not the same could you explain the difference a bit?
Tommie C.
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2014-08-26T05:20:37.380Z
@TommieC., updated my answer with the example
ah_hau
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2014-08-26T00:57:45.833Z
2014-08-26T05:20:17.560Z
2014-08-26T05:20:17.560Z
ah_hau
<p>So in a recent answer someone told me:</p>

<pre><code>预言 here most likely is not plural - hence the whole 的大
</code></pre>

<p>Which brings to mind a question about other ways of determining plurality. Certainly I've heard of using 們 as in 他們 and I know that 的 acts as a possessive and plurality is then based on the subject (n.)的... </p>

<p>Are there other common plurality indicators?</p>

<grammar><meaning-in-context>
Ways to determine whether a noun phrase is plural
# Ways to determine whether a noun phrase is plural

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-25)

So in a recent answer someone told me:
预言 here most likely is not plural - hence the whole 的大

Which brings to mind a question about other ways of determining plurality. Certainly I've heard of using 們 as in 他們 and I know that 的 acts as a possessive and plurality is then based on the subject (n.)的... 
Are there other common plurality indicators?

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


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-08-25. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Interestingly the ways to identify plurality in Chinese are almost the same as in English only except the noun itself doesn't change its form.

* Count word larger than one: **两**只老虎 (**two** tigers)
* Collective measure word: 一**打**啤酒 (a **dozen** of beer)
* Collective noun (grammatically singular, semantically singular or plural depending on the context): 狼**群** (wolf **pack**)
* Degree adverb pertaining to quantity: **很多**书 (**many** books)
* Degree adverb that implies plurality: **所有**证据 (**all** the evidences)
* Plural suffix: 小朋友**们** (the kids)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-08-26. Score: 3

I figured this deserved more than a comment.

Another *big* indicator of plurality would be **都** - 都 means: `all` - so obviously it can't be *all* of *one*.

...孩子都... all the kids

...老虎都... all the tigers

...啤酒都... all the beers

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Dang, you're right! Is there a better way to word this?  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-08-26. Score: 2

In English we have '**s**' at the back of the noun to identify it's plural or singular, however it's not apply to Chinese, with the noun itself, we can't tell. So we have to add the quantifier to show it's plural when it come to many.

For quantifier, it should be something like 两个,三间，四条，五把 and etc, measure-words would be the 个, 间, 条, 把 and etc.

In English, we just use one car, but in Chinese, we need to add the measure-words : 一辆汽车, different object will have different measure-words.

Certain measure-words do define the quantity like 一双，(a pair of) 一打(a dozen), 一排(a row of) but not all of them.

So what I mean is with the word **cars**, we can tell it's multiple cars. However we do not have something like 汽车s

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I've heard of measure-words, is this the same thing as the quantifier? Would you be able to give one or two examples? If they are not the same could you explain the difference a bit?  
> **username_3**: @TommieC., updated my answer with the example  

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