<p>I'm not a linguist, just a native speaker. My opinion is that 大 should go before 杯, i.e. 我要一大杯咖啡, since I have never heard anyone said 我要一杯大咖啡.</p>

<p>Words like 杯 are called 量词(sorry I don't know the exact term), and the adjectives about amount are always placed before 量词. For example, 
一大碗饭= a bowl of a lot of rice， 一大把花= a bunch of many flowers.</p>

<p>Maybe this solution is not satisfying; sorry I can't explain it in detail. 量词 is actually quite sophisticated, and is often omitted when translated into English. I hope <a href="https://m.douban.com/group/topic/8930200/" rel="nofollow">this article</a> will help (well it's written in Chinese).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-01T12:19:20.240Z
Wow, I'm back in Taiwan and just asked my host and she said this way sounds childish or sounds like I want a gigantic cup. She gave me the same answer that [Cristophe](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/20774/164) gives.
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-08T17:03:54.090Z
2016-08-09T14:04:25.307Z
2016-08-09T14:04:25.307Z
louisedec
<p>Personally I've used</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我要一杯咖啡，大的。</p>
<p>我要一杯咖啡，大杯。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't know if it's the best way to say it, but I've never had any problem being understood this way...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-09T04:09:17.570Z
2016-08-09T04:09:17.570Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
qoba
<p>The adjective is always placed directly before the noun, so it is correct to phrase the sentence as: 
(我)(要)(一杯)(大)(咖啡 )
(I)(want)(a cup of )(<strong>large</strong>)(<strong>coffee</strong>) </p>

<ul>
<li>(a cup of) is the quantity word and classifier, </li>
<li>大 in 大咖啡 is short for "大杯 / 大碼" (large cup/ large size ), it is still functioning as an adjective, but the phrase 大杯咖啡 / 大碼咖啡 is treated as one item on the menu, so you can call it a noun.</li>
</ul>

<p>Edit:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>so, 一大杯咖啡 or 餃子一小份 is incorrect then?  </p>
</blockquote>

<p>It is not incorrect, the adjective is just modifying different objects in the phrases:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>一<strong>大杯</strong>咖啡 (one <strong>large cup</strong> of coffee); 一<strong>小份</strong>餃子 (one <strong>small order</strong> of dumplings)  </p></li>
<li><p>一杯<strong>大咖啡</strong> (one cup of <strong>large coffee</strong>); 一份<strong>小餃子</strong> (one order of <strong>small dumpling(s)</strong>) </p></li>
<li><p><strong>大咖啡</strong>一杯 (<strong>large coffee</strong>, one cup); <strong>小餃子</strong>一份 (<strong>small dumpling(s)</strong>, one order)</p></li>
<li><p>咖啡一<strong>大杯</strong> (coffee, one <strong>large cup</strong>); 餃子一<strong>小份</strong> (dumplings, one <strong>small order</strong>)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>小 in 小餃子 can be the adjective (small) that modify the noun 餃子(dumpling), meaning "the size of individual dumpling is small; it can also be shorthand for 小份, "小(份)餃子" = "small (order of) dumplings", meaning the number of dumplings is small.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T04:56:02.053Z
After I posted the question here I kept Googling and one site, I think English WIkipedia, said that when the number is 一 there is a special case and the adjective can actually come either before or after the classifier. Is that true? By the way words don't really have a "front" and many people would interpret "in front of" to mean "before", so it's clearer in English to write "before" or "after".
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T05:21:17.303Z
I don't think there's any exception regarding the order of adjective and noun in Chinese grammar. But a classifier can be placed before or after a noun, for example --  一杯大碼咖啡 (a cup of large coffee) = 大碼咖啡一杯(large coffee, one cup)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T05:25:40.630Z
Wouldn't 大碼 be considered "adjective+noun" here or would it be an adjective phrase? Apologies for being such a newbie!
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T05:30:20.403Z
大= large, 碼=size, it is an adjective phrase for " large-sized"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T11:23:59.347Z
So, is 一大杯咖啡 or 餃子一小份 incorrect？！@TangHo I keep hearing these every day!
Ludi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-09T09:54:35.667Z
"One cup of large coffee" may be grammatically correct but it sounds strange in English, and judging by luisedec's answer 我要一杯大咖啡 is strange in Chinese - louisedec, a native speaker, never heard anyone use it.
goPlayerJuggler
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-07T04:44:57.233Z
2016-08-09T15:28:47.703Z
2016-08-09T15:28:47.703Z
Tang Ho
<p>This morning in Taipei I went to buy a coffee.</p>

<p>I knew how to say 我要一杯咖啡 and I knew the word for big is 大.</p>

<p>But I didn't know where in the sentence to put the 大. Does it go before 杯 to mean "big cup"? Or if 杯 is a classifier rather than a noun here, I guess it can't take an adjective. Unless it can actually function as both noun and classifier at once?</p>

<p>Or alternatively would it go before 咖啡? That sounds odd when I back-translate literally into English "I want one cup of big coffee". But you can never trust literal translations to be idiomatic anyway.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-10T02:32:48.113Z
@ChristopheStrobbe: Thanks for fixing my dumb mistake in the title!
hippietrail
<measure-word><adjectives>
Where to put the adjective when asking for something that comes in multiple sizes?
# Where to put the adjective when asking for something that comes in multiple sizes?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-07)

This morning in Taipei I went to buy a coffee.

I knew how to say 我要一杯咖啡 and I knew the word for big is 大.

But I didn't know where in the sentence to put the 大. Does it go before 杯 to mean "big cup"? Or if 杯 is a classifier rather than a noun here, I guess it can't take an adjective. Unless it can actually function as both noun and classifier at once?

Or alternatively would it go before 咖啡? That sounds odd when I back-translate literally into English "I want one cup of big coffee". But you can never trust literal translations to be idiomatic anyway.

**Tags:** measure-word, adjectives

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @ChristopheStrobbe: Thanks for fixing my dumb mistake in the title!  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-08-08. Score: 3

I'm not a linguist, just a native speaker. My opinion is that 大 should go before 杯, i.e. 我要一大杯咖啡, since I have never heard anyone said 我要一杯大咖啡.

Words like 杯 are called 量词(sorry I don't know the exact term), and the adjectives about amount are always placed before 量词. For example,
一大碗饭= a bowl of a lot of rice， 一大把花= a bunch of many flowers.

Maybe this solution is not satisfying; sorry I can't explain it in detail. 量词 is actually quite sophisticated, and is often omitted when translated into English. I hope [this article](https://m.douban.com/group/topic/8930200/) will help (well it's written in Chinese).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Wow, I'm back in Taiwan and just asked my host and she said this way sounds childish or sounds like I want a gigantic cup. She gave me the same answer that [Cristophe](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/20774/164) gives.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-08-09. Score: 2

Personally I've used

> 我要一杯咖啡，大的。
>
> 我要一杯咖啡，大杯。

I don't know if it's the best way to say it, but I've never had any problem being understood this way...


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-08-07. Score: 1

The adjective is always placed directly before the noun, so it is correct to phrase the sentence as:
(我)(要)(一杯)(大)(咖啡 )
(I)(want)(a cup of )(**large**)(**coffee**)

* (a cup of) is the quantity word and classifier,
* 大 in 大咖啡 is short for "大杯 / 大碼" (large cup/ large size ), it is still functioning as an adjective, but the phrase 大杯咖啡 / 大碼咖啡 is treated as one item on the menu, so you can call it a noun.

Edit:

> so, 一大杯咖啡 or 餃子一小份 is incorrect then?

It is not incorrect, the adjective is just modifying different objects in the phrases:

1. 一**大杯**咖啡 (one **large cup** of coffee); 一**小份**餃子 (one **small order** of dumplings)
2. 一杯**大咖啡** (one cup of **large coffee**); 一份**小餃子** (one order of **small dumpling(s)**)
3. **大咖啡**一杯 (**large coffee**, one cup); **小餃子**一份 (**small dumpling(s)**, one order)
4. 咖啡一**大杯** (coffee, one **large cup**); 餃子一**小份** (dumplings, one **small order**)

小 in 小餃子 can be the adjective (small) that modify the noun 餃子(dumpling), meaning "the size of individual dumpling is small; it can also be shorthand for 小份, "小(份)餃子" = "small (order of) dumplings", meaning the number of dumplings is small.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: After I posted the question here I kept Googling and one site, I think English WIkipedia, said that when the number is 一 there is a special case and the adjective can actually come either before or after the classifier. Is that true? By the way words don't really have a "front" and many people would interpret "in front of" to mean "before", so it's clearer in English to write "before" or "after".  
> **username_3**: I don't think there's any exception regarding the order of adjective and noun in Chinese grammar. But a classifier can be placed before or after a noun, for example --  一杯大碼咖啡 (a cup of large coffee) = 大碼咖啡一杯(large coffee, one cup)  
> **username_0**: Wouldn't 大碼 be considered "adjective+noun" here or would it be an adjective phrase? Apologies for being such a newbie!  
> **username_3**: 大= large, 碼=size, it is an adjective phrase for " large-sized"  
> **username_4**: So, is 一大杯咖啡 or 餃子一小份 incorrect？！@username_3 I keep hearing these every day!  
> **username_5**: "One cup of large coffee" may be grammatically correct but it sounds strange in English, and judging by luisedec's answer 我要一杯大咖啡 is strange in Chinese - username_1, a native speaker, never heard anyone use it.  

---

