子 in some words.

[brandonwee]

When do you use 子 for words such as 杯 and 椅?

椅 or 椅子?

杯 or 杯子?

[brandonwee]

Also, is it proper to say 一件裙子? Or is supposed to be 一条裙子?

[brandonwee]

or even 穿着帽子 instead of 戴着帽子?

[brandonwee]

or even 两个帽子 instead of 两顶帽子?

[Demonic_Duck]

I believe it should be:

一把椅子

一个杯子

一条裙子

一顶帽子

As far as I know, 椅 wouldn't be used as a word on its own. 杯 would only be used on its own as a measure word, e.g. 一杯啤酒、一杯水 etc.

[drencrom]

It means "thing". Anything ending in 子 means "thing of that type". Just think of it that way and it will make more sense.

[Demonic_Duck]

I don't see how that helps really, I don't think it carries the meaning of "thing of that type". 椅子 doesn't mean "thing of the same type as a chair", it just means "chair". Similarly for 杯子、桌子、鼻子、箱子 etc.

[Hofmann]

It's only a meaningless syllable that makes the word distinct, instead of something that sounds like 椅 or 桌. It used to be a meaningful diminutive like adding -let or -ling onto English words.

And it means "child," i.e. a smaller version of whatever came before it. However, its meaninglessness in this context can be demonstrated in the word 孩子.

[femetis]

To understand how to use 子

you have to very clear about why Chinese use 子

Firstly

In ancient Chinese language, almost all noun can be expressed in one chinese character

which means 椅子 is 椅

桌子 is 桌

And they are still understandable generally but may be kind of weird in terms of expression

But anyway when you say 椅 I know exactly what you are tring to express

However, just like in English we use kitty and puppy to name cat and dog instead of feline and canine

noun with 'y' (kitty, puppy), 'let' (booklet, starlet) usually give us the impression of delicate, small, cute

that increase the intimity and proximity between the speaker or the hearer

Secondly

In mandarin, naming a thing with one character often bring out regional characteristic/feature

we say child as 孩子

while in rural area (most likely) or some part of china,

they say child as 娃

which is proper and understandable though

it is just not an expression majority chinese normally use

Thirdly

子, if you know, is pronounced in the fifth tone -- slight tone (轻声) [maybe translate wrongly]

Though being a 轻声, it is still occupying a syllable, making the communication fluent and less confusing

Hope this works

For more clarification

Feel free to ask