How to use the indefinite article in Chinese

You want to learn how to use the indefinite article in Chinese? You've come to the right place! Scroll down and see the short Chinese lessons complete with useful examples. An apple, a house, a book... we explain it all to you in short, easy to follow lessons.

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The Chinese indefinite article

The indefinite article is what we call the words 'a' and 'an' in English. The English indefinite article 'a' is 'yí' in Chinese. Nouns in Chinese are usually accompanied by a socalled classifier or measure word. A classifier (or measure word) is a word which accompanies the noun. It is similar to the use in English in phrases like 'a flock of birds' or 'a head of cattle'.

Examples

yí gè nánhái

a boy

yī zuò fángzi

a house

yí gè píngguŏ

an apple

yí gè xīngqī

a week

yī bĕn shū

a book

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Step 3 : The indefinite article in Chinese

The indefinite article is what we call the word a in English. The indefinite article is used with nouns. To learn to use the indefinite article in Chinese, pick just 3 important nouns. We suggest you learn the nouns shū, yĭzì and mén (book, chair, door). Then learn how to use each noun with the indefinite article. The nouns together with the indefinite article are yī bĕn shū, yí bă yĭzì and yī shàn mén (a book, a chair, a door). You can scroll to the top of this page to see a short lesson about the indefinite article in Chinese including useful examples. Once you have learned to use the indefinite article with the Chinese nouns shū, yĭzì and mén, you're ready to move on to Step 4 (the definite article in Chinese).

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The definite article in Chinese

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