Chinese word

匹

Pronunciation

Pinyinpǐ

Meaning

  • measure wordclassifier for horses

Example

他骑着一匹马去了。tā qí zhe yì pǐ mǎ qù le

He rode a horse there.

Illustration for 匹 (classifier for horses)

More examples

公园里有两匹狗在追球。gōng yuán lǐ yǒu liáng pǐ gǒu zài zhuī qiú

There are two dogs chasing a ball in the park.

Core concept

A single, clearly bounded animal treated as one complete unit, especially a horse, with the same unit idea extending to a length of cloth.

Common phrases

  • 三匹羊sān pǐ yáng

    three sheep

  • 一匹马yì pǐ mǎ

    one horse

  • 两匹狗liáng pǐ gǒu

    two dogs

Similar words

只zhǐ: A classifier used to count individual small animals, including dogs, cats, and birds.
头tóu: A classifier used to count individual large domestic animals, including cattle and pigs.
条tiáo: A classifier used to count individual long, thin objects and animals such as fish and snakes.
张zhāng: A classifier used to count individual flat things such as paper sheets and photographs.

Definition in Chinese

用作量词，表示单独一件的动物或布等，常用于马、驴等牲畜和布匹。yòng zuò liàng cí biǎo shì dān dú yí jiàn de dòng wù huò bù děng cháng yòng yú mǎ lǘ děng shēng chù hé bù pǐ

Word origin

The older sense of 匹 (pǐ, "matching or corresponding") supplies a useful link to its classifier use, which treats an animal or a length of cloth as one distinct unit.

Usage tips

  • A horse takes a different classifier from a dog, cat, or cow in ordinary Chinese, making the animal noun an important part of remembering the complete counting phrase.

Related words

Word lists with this word