<p>There is a lot that could be said here, but the basic problem is that Chinese just doesn't have articles, either definite or indefinite.  Chinese is not the only language like this.  Japanese and Latin don't have articles either.</p>

<p>Here is the difference between English and Chinese in its simplest form:</p>

<ol>
<li>He is student.   Not possible.<br></li>
<li><p>He is a student. Possible<br></p></li>
<li><p>他是學生。      Possible<br></p></li>
<li>他是一個學生。   Possible<br></li>
</ol>

<p>Is it possible to produce a BAD sentence like (1) in Chinese? No. So we can't really say that in Chinese sometimes the article is dropped.  There is no article, so nothing has been dropped.</p>

<p>This is very confusing to English speakers. My solution is to give up. Don't ask why, just accept it, and don't use 一個 as a substitute for 'a'. Using your example:</p>

<ol start="5">
<li>I want an ice-cream.  (vague)<br></li>
<li>I want one ice-cream  (precise)<br></li>
</ol>

<p>I don't think vague/precise captures all of the differences here, but let's be pragmatic:</p>

<ol start="5">
<li>is what you say to a friend to suggest that you go into the ice-shop and buy something.<br> </li>
<li>is what you say to the guy at the counter. <br></li>
</ol>

<p>How does this work in Chinese?</p>

<p>5' 我想吃冰淇淋.<br>
6' 我要一個冰淇淋.<br></p>

<p>If you were to say 5' to the clerk, it would be a bit odd, I think. The clerk mumbles under his breath 廢話! 6' produces the desired result. </p>

<p>If you were to say 6' to your friend, not odd, perhaps, but on a bad day it is possible your friend would think you were trying to buy an ice cream from her (跟我要沒有用), or telling her to go get you one (自己去買吧!)</p>

<p>Pragmatics is thus very important in interpreting the lack or provision of a numeral in front of a noun.  That's all there's room to write here.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-17T10:03:20.163Z
2015-08-17T10:03:20.163Z
wpt
<p>I think ice cream is probably not the best example to demonstrate this, since it comes in many forms and some are counted as <em>one ice cream</em> (e.g. those that are attached to a stick), others as <em>some ice cream</em> (those that come in a huge platic box and you need to create portions and serve them to your family members). So I'll use a different example, something that is fully countable, 毛衣 (sweater or pullover).</p>

<p>If you want to say that you would like to buy a sweater, in Chinese you have three options.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>我想买毛衣。No classifier/measure word, no number, just the bare <em>noun</em>. In this case the number of the sweaters is fully indefinite.</p></li>
<li><p>我想买件毛衣。No number, only the <em>measure word + noun</em>. Here 一 is dropped for the sake of brevity, but tacitly you always mean one item. This is the best way to use if you would like to say "a sweater".</p></li>
<li><p>我想买一件毛衣。<em>Number + measure word + noun</em>. This corresponds the best to "one sweater". </p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-17T09:37:44.003Z
2015-08-17T09:37:44.003Z
imrek
<p>Sometimes, when the English has an indefinite article ("a", "an"), the Chinese translation has a numeral ("一", yī).
So, for example, "I want to buy <strong>a</strong> ticket" sounds like "I want to buy <strong>one</strong> ticket".
Sometimes the article in Chinese is just dropped.</p>

<p>So, is there a distinction between a singular indefinite article and a unity numeral?</p>

<p>Is there a way to distinguish between a "vague" quantity (e.g.: "I want <strong>an</strong> ice cream", meaning that "I feel like having something fresh to heat") and an exact quantity (e.g.: "I want <strong>one</strong> ice cream", in the sense that "I want one and exactly one ice cream")?</p>

<p>When the article and/or the numeral should be omitted?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-17T09:12:47.613Z
As far as German is concerned, there is no separate "an ice cream" and "one ice cream", only "ein Eis" (meaning both).
imrek
<grammar>
Indefinite article vs numeral: use of "一" (yī)
# Indefinite article vs numeral: use of "一" (yī)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-08-17)

Sometimes, when the English has an indefinite article ("a", "an"), the Chinese translation has a numeral ("一", yī).
So, for example, "I want to buy **a** ticket" sounds like "I want to buy **one** ticket".
Sometimes the article in Chinese is just dropped.

So, is there a distinction between a singular indefinite article and a unity numeral?

Is there a way to distinguish between a "vague" quantity (e.g.: "I want **an** ice cream", meaning that "I feel like having something fresh to heat") and an exact quantity (e.g.: "I want **one** ice cream", in the sense that "I want one and exactly one ice cream")?

When the article and/or the numeral should be omitted?

Thanks!

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: As far as German is concerned, there is no separate "an ice cream" and "one ice cream", only "ein Eis" (meaning both).  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-08-17. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

I think ice cream is probably not the best example to demonstrate this, since it comes in many forms and some are counted as *one ice cream* (e.g. those that are attached to a stick), others as *some ice cream* (those that come in a huge platic box and you need to create portions and serve them to your family members). So I'll use a different example, something that is fully countable, 毛衣 (sweater or pullover).

If you want to say that you would like to buy a sweater, in Chinese you have three options.

* 我想买毛衣。No classifier/measure word, no number, just the bare *noun*. In this case the number of the sweaters is fully indefinite.
* 我想买件毛衣。No number, only the *measure word + noun*. Here 一 is dropped for the sake of brevity, but tacitly you always mean one item. This is the best way to use if you would like to say "a sweater".
* 我想买一件毛衣。*Number + measure word + noun*. This corresponds the best to "one sweater".


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### Answer by username_2 on 2015-08-17. Score: 6

There is a lot that could be said here, but the basic problem is that Chinese just doesn't have articles, either definite or indefinite. Chinese is not the only language like this. Japanese and Latin don't have articles either.

Here is the difference between English and Chinese in its simplest form:

1. He is student. Not possible.
2. He is a student. Possible
3. 他是學生。 Possible
4. 他是一個學生。 Possible

Is it possible to produce a BAD sentence like (1) in Chinese? No. So we can't really say that in Chinese sometimes the article is dropped. There is no article, so nothing has been dropped.

This is very confusing to English speakers. My solution is to give up. Don't ask why, just accept it, and don't use 一個 as a substitute for 'a'. Using your example:

5. I want an ice-cream. (vague)
6. I want one ice-cream (precise)

I don't think vague/precise captures all of the differences here, but let's be pragmatic:

5. is what you say to a friend to suggest that you go into the ice-shop and buy something.
6. is what you say to the guy at the counter.

How does this work in Chinese?

5' 我想吃冰淇淋.  
6' 我要一個冰淇淋.

If you were to say 5' to the clerk, it would be a bit odd, I think. The clerk mumbles under his breath 廢話! 6' produces the desired result.

If you were to say 6' to your friend, not odd, perhaps, but on a bad day it is possible your friend would think you were trying to buy an ice cream from her (跟我要沒有用), or telling her to go get you one (自己去買吧!)

Pragmatics is thus very important in interpreting the lack or provision of a numeral in front of a noun. That's all there's room to write here.


---

