<p>房子 can be a detached house or an apartment unit</p>
<p>一棟新房子 -  棟(a pillar/ a stack of) is a classifier for something tall and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house</p>
<p>一幢新房子 - 幢(a block of) is a classifier for something big and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house</p>
<p>一座新房子 - 座(a base of) is a classifier for something heavy and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house</p>
<p>一所新房子 - 所(a site of) is a classifier for something big that occupying a location, suitable for describing a detached house</p>
<p>一套新房子 - 套(a suite of) is a classifier for something that is constructed with different parts, e.g. bedroom, living room, kitchen, and so on, suitable for describing a detached house or an apartment unit</p>
<p>一間新房子 - 間(a unit of) is a classifier for an enclosed space for storage or human occupancy, in other words &quot;a room&quot;, suitable for describing an apartment unit</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-15T19:39:14.347Z
2023-09-15T19:39:14.347Z
Tang Ho
<p>There are several measure words or classifiers that we can use with the Chinese noun 房子 fángzi. The ones I've come across are 棟 dòng, 幢 zhuàng, 座 zuò, 所 suǒ, 套 tào and 間 jiān. Now I know measure words in Chinese aren't just dummy, meaningless particles, but they actually carry a specific semantic content (just like in English a clove of garlic is a different thing from a bulb of garlic), and in this case it seems that there are differences at least between some of them. If my understanding is correct, 一套房子 and 一間房子 usually refer to one flat/apartment, whereas the others seem to refer to big, individual houses. Is this correct? Are there any other subtle differences in meaning (or style) between them?</p>
<p>For example, imagine I come across a Chinese friend who has recently bought a new home. In order to tell me about this, would they be likely to use any of the following six sentences? Which one would be the most common expression for a detached house? Or for a flat?</p>
<pre><code>我最近買了一棟新房子 (1)
我最近買了一幢新房子 (2)
我最近買了一座新房子 (3)
我最近買了一所新房子 (4)
我最近買了一套新房子 (5)
我最近買了一間新房子 (6)
</code></pre>

<vocabulary><measure-word>
Meanings of the various measure words for 房子
# Meanings of the various measure words for 房子

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-09-15)

There are several measure words or classifiers that we can use with the Chinese noun 房子 fángzi. The ones I've come across are 棟 dòng, 幢 zhuàng, 座 zuò, 所 suǒ, 套 tào and 間 jiān. Now I know measure words in Chinese aren't just dummy, meaningless particles, but they actually carry a specific semantic content (just like in English a clove of garlic is a different thing from a bulb of garlic), and in this case it seems that there are differences at least between some of them. If my understanding is correct, 一套房子 and 一間房子 usually refer to one flat/apartment, whereas the others seem to refer to big, individual houses. Is this correct? Are there any other subtle differences in meaning (or style) between them?

For example, imagine I come across a Chinese friend who has recently bought a new home. In order to tell me about this, would they be likely to use any of the following six sentences? Which one would be the most common expression for a detached house? Or for a flat?

```
我最近買了一棟新房子 (1)
我最近買了一幢新房子 (2)
我最近買了一座新房子 (3)
我最近買了一所新房子 (4)
我最近買了一套新房子 (5)
我最近買了一間新房子 (6)

```

**Tags:** vocabulary, measure-word


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-09-15. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

房子 can be a detached house or an apartment unit

一棟新房子 - 棟(a pillar/ a stack of) is a classifier for something tall and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house

一幢新房子 - 幢(a block of) is a classifier for something big and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house

一座新房子 - 座(a base of) is a classifier for something heavy and stationary, suitable for describing a detached house

一所新房子 - 所(a site of) is a classifier for something big that occupying a location, suitable for describing a detached house

一套新房子 - 套(a suite of) is a classifier for something that is constructed with different parts, e.g. bedroom, living room, kitchen, and so on, suitable for describing a detached house or an apartment unit

一間新房子 - 間(a unit of) is a classifier for an enclosed space for storage or human occupancy, in other words "a room", suitable for describing an apartment unit


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