Chinese word

张

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhāng

Meaning

  • measure wordsheet

Example

我有三张照片。wǒ yǒu sān zhāng zhào piān

I have three photos.

Illustration for 张 (sheet)

More examples

墙上贴着一张海报。qiáng shàng tiē zhe yì zhāng hǎi bào

A poster is pasted on the wall.

Core concept

One distinct sheet-like surface that can be opened out and handled as a piece.

Common phrases

  • 一张照片yì zhāng zhào piān

    one photo

  • 一张纸yì zhāng zhǐ

    one sheet of paper

  • 两张票liǎng zhāng piào

    two tickets

  • 一张名片yì zhāng míng piàn

    one business card

Similar words

个gè: A general measure word for counting people or things when no specific type is meant.
本běn: A measure word for bound items such as books, magazines, and notebooks.
片piàn: A measure word for a thin, small piece or a flat section of something.
份fèn: A measure word for part of a document, one serving of food, or one item given out.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示扁平、可摊开的单片物品的量词，常用于票、照片、纸张、餐巾等。yòng lái biǎo shì biǎn píng kě tān kāi de dān piàn wù pǐn de liàng cí cháng yòng yú piào zhào piān zhǐ zhāng cān jīn děng

Word origin

The older sense of 张 (zhāng, "to stretch") describes drawing a bow open, which provides the central idea of a flat object spread out as one countable piece.

Usage tips

  • In Chinese, the number and classifier form a unit before the noun, making classifier choice a visible part of basic counting that English usually leaves unstated.

Related words

Word lists with this word