Correct measure word for 手机

[Christa]

Hi guys

 

What is the correct measure word for "手机"?

 

I have seen "部" and "支" and also "个" used.

 

Are these all acceptable / correct? In particular, is it correct to use "个"?

 

I'd really appreciate any guidance you can give.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Christina

 

[edelweis]

Use 款 if you are comparing phones or refering to a phone model,
as opposed to a particular phone as an object that you bought, lost, broke...

[Christa]

25 minutes ago, edelweis said:

Use 款 if you are comparing phones or refering to a phone model,
as opposed to a particular phone as an object that you bought, lost, broke...

 

Thanks for that. But what word should you use if you are referring to a particular phone? Is it correct to use "个"?

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, Christa said:

But what word should you use if you are referring to a particular phone? Is it correct to use "个"?

 

Yes, that's fine, if you are speaking casually as an ordinary person to another ordinary person. At a symposium for language experts you might encounter other measure words being used with your shouji as well.  

 

这个 手机是 我的。 

 

--------------------------------- 

 

Quote

Is it correct to use "个"?

 

Perhaps a more useful question to ask would be "Is it common to use 个 in this setting?" 

 

 

 

 

 

[陳德聰]

I’ll add 台 to your list.

[Christa]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Perhaps a more useful question to ask would be "Is it common to use 个 in this setting?"

 

Yes, that probably is a more useful question. Is it common to do so?

 

Also, I should probably ask, what is the most common / widely accepted classifier word to use for 手机? Dictionaries seem to suggest 支 - is that right?

[abcdefg]

17 minutes ago, Christa said:

Also, I should probably ask, what is the most common / widely accepted classifier word to use for 手机? Dictionaries seem to suggest 支 - is that right?

 

In my experience on the Mainland, it's actually 个。Whether it really should be something else according to the language authorities is a different issue, one I'm not qualified to address. 

 

Once, several years ago, I was meeting some friends at a big park. I arrived early, bought my admission ticket, and did an impromptu experiment. When I asked the ticket seller for mine, I used the classifier for flat things: "我要买一张门票 。" No problem and I got my ticket just fine. Then I stayed close to the window to see whether most people buying tickets used 张 or 个。 It was about 50-50 over the span of the next 30 minutes or so.

 

Not really surprising that not every ordinary Chinese Joe or Jane speaks perfect Mandarin when out and about on the street. Many probably knew better and could have picked the right answer on a school test. 

 

 

[Christa]

1 hour ago, abcdefg said:

In my experience on the Mainland, it's actually 个。Whether it really should be something else according to the language authorities is a different issue, one I'm not qualified to address. 

 

Once, several years ago, I was meeting some friends at a big park. I arrived early, bought my admission ticket, and did an impromptu experiment. When I asked the ticket seller for mine, I used the classifier for flat things: "我要买一张门票 。" No problem and I got my ticket just fine. Then I stayed close to the window to see whether most people buying tickets used 张 or 个。 It was about 50-50 over the span of the next 30 minutes or so.

 

Not really surprising that not every ordinary Chinese Joe or Jane speaks perfect Mandarin when out and about on the street. Many probably knew better and could have picked the right answer on a school test. 

 

I've experienced similar things.

 

I suppose then the only thing I still want to know is, in a school test, what would be the right answer to this question? I mean, if the test asked, "what is the correct measure word for '手机'?" what would be the "right" answer?

 

 

[Kathy Lu]

一部手机 is actually what mainland uses...

[889]

I'd expect the salesman to say, 买一个送一个. But I'd expect the sign in the store window to say, 买一部送一部.

[hahahhahha]

一个手机 right

一台手机 wrong 台 is used to refer to sth bigger like 一台电脑 一台电视

一款手机 if you are comparing phones or refering to a phone model 

for example : 这款手机比那款电量大。

 

believe me because i am a Chinese.......

[陳德聰]

@hahahhahha You will quickly find that you are not the only Chinese person in this conversation.

 

@Christa People will say or use any of the ones mentioned here, though I think 支 seems more common in Taiwan than elsewhere. I’ve never heard it but I’ve seen people write it. 部 is listed as the measure word in my dictionary. The salespeople I know here use 台, and usually are talking about the newest Apple or Samsung phones. When I see someone with two phones I will say they have 兩個手機.

[889]

They're called French fries.

 

Believe me, because I'm a native English speaker.

[ChTTay]

一部手机 was the answer I got when I asked my girlfriend, the neighbours dog, his human and the guy that didn’t fix my washing machine. In Beijing.

 

I can’t say I really remember people using anything other than 个 regularly though.

[Christa]

So does 部 get the most votes for this do you think?

[DavyJonesLocker]

you should remember Christina that everyday speaking people will use 个 and you can go years and not hear 部 being used. I recently bought a phone in  Beijing and everyshop and every person used 个 but on the advertising they would use 部

 

This is quite common with measure words. chinese will know instinctively which one to use but in everyday conversation will fall back to 个 very often。

 

For example I just looked at a popular shopping website called 京东 and selected a popular 手机. In the hundreds of comments by users i couldn't find one that used 部, every one had used 个

[abcdefg]

54 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

This is quite common with measure words. chinese will know instinctively which one to use but in everyday conversation will fall back to 个 very often。

 

Christa -- You will go nuts worrying about stuff like this if you ever move to China. 

[imron]

6 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

chinese will know instinctively which one to use but in everyday conversation will fall back to 个 very often

It's more than that - multiple measure words could all be suitable depending on aspects of the noun that the speaker/writer is trying (consciously or subconsciously) to emphasize.

 

Consider:

 

A piece of paper.  A sheet of paper.  A slip of paper.

A piece of cake.  A slice of cake.

 

Neither of those are more correct than the other, but perhaps you'll get a different feeling about the size or characteristics of the paper or cake depending on which one is used.

 

It's the same thing with many measure words.  Several different measure words could all be 'correct', they'll just give you a slightly different perception of the object the speaker is talking about.

[Christa]

8 hours ago, imron said:

It's more than that - multiple measure words could all be suitable depending on aspects of the noun that the speaker/writer is trying (consciously or subconsciously) to emphasize.

 

Consider:

 

A piece of paper.  A sheet of paper.  A slip of paper.

A piece of cake.  A slice of cake.

 

Neither of those are more correct than the other, but perhaps you'll get a different feeling about the size or characteristics of the paper or cake depending on which one is used.

 

It's the same thing with many measure words.  Several different measure words could all be 'correct', they'll just give you a slightly different perception of the object the speaker is talking about.

 

So, would everyone agree that it is not incorrect to say "一个手机"?

[Christa]

8 hours ago, imron said:

It's more than that - multiple measure words could all be suitable depending on aspects of the noun that the speaker/writer is trying (consciously or subconsciously) to emphasize.

 

Consider:

 

A piece of paper.  A sheet of paper.  A slip of paper.

A piece of cake.  A slice of cake.

 

Neither of those are more correct than the other, but perhaps you'll get a different feeling about the size or characteristics of the paper or cake depending on which one is used.

 

It's the same thing with many measure words.  Several different measure words could all be 'correct', they'll just give you a slightly different perception of the object the speaker is talking about.

 

Sorry, my last reply went wrong. I meant to say, thanks for all these replies. What you all say is interesting and helpful. Imron, what you say makes a lot of sense and helps give me a better understanding of what's involved. So, it's not just regionalism at work but also a question of emphasis. The only thing, in that case, that I just want to check is: would everyone agree then that - in addition to everything else that's been discussed - it is not incorrect to say "一个手机"?