<p>I kind of understand why the negative votes on zyy's deleted post, because no native Chinese speaker will tell you it's correct to use "個" as a "cure-all" silver bullet if you don't know what the measure word is. It is not CORRECT, but is it definitely not OK all of the time? I have a slightly different take on this.</p>

<p>I believe language learning is a process, a very long process for that matter. Making mistakes, and the willingness to take risks is part of that process. As a language teacher, I will NEVER tell a student using "個" for everything is correct, but neither will I discourage him/her from taking risks. If you are in a situation where you either use a word you're uncertain of, or keep silent, then I'd say assess the situation and make your choice. If this is a very formal discussion, and making a grammatical mistake will make you very uncomfortable, perhaps say nothing until you find out the correct way to say it. But if you take this as an everyday learning experience, and you're among friends, why not take the risk and learn something? Again, it's your willingness to take risks.</p>

<p>As said above, using "個" for everything is grammatically wrong, but most of the time, you can be understood, eventually. It's even a little better than skipping the measure word all together.</p>

<p>A comparable question that comes to mind would be: if you're learning English and don't know the past tense form of a verb, can you just tag "-ed" onto the present form and get away with it? Again, maybe, but whether you want to do that depends on your willingness to risk making a mistake.</p>

<p>Having said that, measure words are not all that difficult because there are some semantic clues that can help you make an intelligent guess as to which measure word to use. </p>

<p>Happy learning!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-15T02:56:23.047Z
My objection on zyy's post was he wrote: "it is not wrong". I can accept a new learner use 個 inappropriately, I would correct him if the situation allows; however, if it wasn't the right time to give someone a Chinese lesson, I would let it slide
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-15T03:43:53.563Z
I do understand both of your positions.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T18:21:22.437Z
2018-08-15T03:46:05.203Z
2018-08-15T03:46:05.203Z
monalisa
<p>Using 个 for everything is not right. But how bad does it sound? I would say in colloquial setting, and when the fact is clear that the speaker is a language learner, it doesn't sound too bad, or not bad at all. Thanks @monalisa for the wonderful analogy, it's a lot like using "-ed" on every verb. If I say "teached" instead of "taught" as the only ungrammatical part in a long sentence, I can probably get away with it more often than not (i.e. it wouldn't bother the listener as much as I need to interrupt the speech and make up for it). </p>

<p>The reason why this analogy works so well is probably because like "-ed" is called the <strong>regular</strong> form, 个 is the "regular" measure word. It's the most widely used one, and the default one when a new noun emerges. Not all the wrong usages sound equally bad; 一只人 sounds much more awkward than 一个鸟。</p>

<p>Another angle to consider is, just like irregular forms in English is gradually going away [1], no one says brethren or holp anymore, 个 is gaining popularity over the less common measure words especially in spoken language. It's actually very common to hear 一个电影, 一个啤酒, 一个飞机, etc. Those must be wrong to start with, but are they still wrong when they become the idioms that everyone is (mis)using? Or is that just how languages evolve?</p>

<p>[1] <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/09/29/the-evolution-of-the-past-tense-how-verbs-change-over-time/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/09/29/the-evolution-of-the-past-tense-how-verbs-change-over-time/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-15T06:36:15.837Z
2018-08-15T06:36:15.837Z
NS.X.
<p>If you use 个 instead of a correct 量词 too often, you sound like a child.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-16T01:35:15.317Z
2018-08-16T01:35:15.317Z
Vitaly Osipov
<p>You <strong>should</strong> learn those measure word one by one because most of native speakers don't use "個" for every nouns. But sometimes if you forget or don't know the word you should use, most people still know what you're referring to with the word "個" in most case.</p>

<p>Why I said in most case? Here's an example: (Actually, it's a joke.)</p>

<p>The foreigners usually have a big trouble if they should use "個" and "子". "個" is a measure word(量詞) when you have no idea which word you should use while "子" is something we add after a thing for better reading, like "桌子", "椅子".</p>

<p>So, one day. Tom walked into a watch store and ask for a new watch: "老闆，我想要買一個錶子。"(Lao ban, wo xiang yao mai yi ge biao zi).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T06:51:09.217Z
I have to admin I dont get your joke, but thanks anyway :)
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T07:45:01.393Z
婊子(biao zi) means slut in Chinese :D
NoobTW
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T13:20:23.343Z
That´s a good one, and new vocabulary added :)
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T01:33:32.757Z
2018-08-14T01:33:32.757Z
NoobTW
<p>How bad does it sound if I use <code>個</code> for everything if most measure words are just still unknown to me, or I don't want to end up using a wrong one?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-13T18:33:38.257Z
Very bad, you are more likely to be wrong than right. Just like in English, you have to learn all the classifiers one by one
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-13T19:07:44.707Z
What if I don´t know the correct one, what do I use then?
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-13T21:18:38.723Z
find websites for measure words ： http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Grammar%20exercises/Measure%20words.htm,    小马词典 supplies CL for most nouns which have them
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-13T21:32:54.757Z
@dan Learn it.  It will be useful for you for the rest of your life. You would't say "unit of butter" after you learned the classifier for butter is "stick'
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-14T06:50:12.680Z
Just to clarify: I have no intention of just skip learning measure words for laziness, I just have to talk to native speakers sometimes and I know I will not know all measure words, so I just wanted to know if I can use 個 instead.
dan
<measure-word>
Use 個 if the correct measure word is unknown
# Use 個 if the correct measure word is unknown

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-13)

How bad does it sound if I use `個` for everything if most measure words are just still unknown to me, or I don't want to end up using a wrong one?

**Tags:** measure-word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Very bad, you are more likely to be wrong than right. Just like in English, you have to learn all the classifiers one by one  
> **username_0**: What if I don´t know the correct one, what do I use then?  
> **username_2**: find websites for measure words ： http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Grammar%20exercises/Measure%20words.htm,    小马词典 supplies CL for most nouns which have them  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Learn it.  It will be useful for you for the rest of your life. You would't say "unit of butter" after you learned the classifier for butter is "stick'  
> **username_0**: Just to clarify: I have no intention of just skip learning measure words for laziness, I just have to talk to native speakers sometimes and I know I will not know all measure words, so I just wanted to know if I can use 個 instead.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2018-08-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

You **should** learn those measure word one by one because most of native speakers don't use "個" for every nouns. But sometimes if you forget or don't know the word you should use, most people still know what you're referring to with the word "個" in most case.

Why I said in most case? Here's an example: (Actually, it's a joke.)

The foreigners usually have a big trouble if they should use "個" and "子". "個" is a measure word(量詞) when you have no idea which word you should use while "子" is something we add after a thing for better reading, like "桌子", "椅子".

So, one day. Tom walked into a watch store and ask for a new watch: "老闆，我想要買一個錶子。"(Lao ban, wo xiang yao mai yi ge biao zi).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I have to admin I dont get your joke, but thanks anyway :)  
> **username_6**: 婊子(biao zi) means slut in Chinese :D  
> **username_0**: That´s a good one, and new vocabulary added :)  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-08-14. Score: 2

I kind of understand why the negative votes on zyy's deleted post, because no native Chinese speaker will tell you it's correct to use "個" as a "cure-all" silver bullet if you don't know what the measure word is. It is not CORRECT, but is it definitely not OK all of the time? I have a slightly different take on this.

I believe language learning is a process, a very long process for that matter. Making mistakes, and the willingness to take risks is part of that process. As a language teacher, I will NEVER tell a student using "個" for everything is correct, but neither will I discourage him/her from taking risks. If you are in a situation where you either use a word you're uncertain of, or keep silent, then I'd say assess the situation and make your choice. If this is a very formal discussion, and making a grammatical mistake will make you very uncomfortable, perhaps say nothing until you find out the correct way to say it. But if you take this as an everyday learning experience, and you're among friends, why not take the risk and learn something? Again, it's your willingness to take risks.

As said above, using "個" for everything is grammatically wrong, but most of the time, you can be understood, eventually. It's even a little better than skipping the measure word all together.

A comparable question that comes to mind would be: if you're learning English and don't know the past tense form of a verb, can you just tag "-ed" onto the present form and get away with it? Again, maybe, but whether you want to do that depends on your willingness to risk making a mistake.

Having said that, measure words are not all that difficult because there are some semantic clues that can help you make an intelligent guess as to which measure word to use.

Happy learning!

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: My objection on zyy's post was he wrote: "it is not wrong". I can accept a new learner use 個 inappropriately, I would correct him if the situation allows; however, if it wasn't the right time to give someone a Chinese lesson, I would let it slide  
> **username_3**: I do understand both of your positions.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-08-15. Score: 1

Using 个 for everything is not right. But how bad does it sound? I would say in colloquial setting, and when the fact is clear that the speaker is a language learner, it doesn't sound too bad, or not bad at all. Thanks @username_3 for the wonderful analogy, it's a lot like using "-ed" on every verb. If I say "teached" instead of "taught" as the only ungrammatical part in a long sentence, I can probably get away with it more often than not (i.e. it wouldn't bother the listener as much as I need to interrupt the speech and make up for it).

The reason why this analogy works so well is probably because like "-ed" is called the **regular** form, 个 is the "regular" measure word. It's the most widely used one, and the default one when a new noun emerges. Not all the wrong usages sound equally bad; 一只人 sounds much more awkward than 一个鸟。

Another angle to consider is, just like irregular forms in English is gradually going away [1], no one says brethren or holp anymore, 个 is gaining popularity over the less common measure words especially in spoken language. It's actually very common to hear 一个电影, 一个啤酒, 一个飞机, etc. Those must be wrong to start with, but are they still wrong when they become the idioms that everyone is (mis)using? Or is that just how languages evolve?

[1] <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/09/29/the-evolution-of-the-past-tense-how-verbs-change-over-time/>


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-08-16. Score: 0

If you use 个 instead of a correct 量词 too often, you sound like a child.


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