 In addition to the numerous " specific " count @-@ classifiers described above , Chinese has a " general " classifier 个 ( 個 ) , pronounced gè in Mandarin . This classifier is used for people , some abstract concepts , and other words that do not have special classifiers ( such as 汉堡包 hànbǎobāo " hamburger " ) , and may also be used as a replacement for a specific classifier such as 张 ( 張 ) zhāng or 条 ( 條 ) tiáo , especially in informal speech . In Mandarin Chinese , it has been noted as early as the 1940s that the use of 个 is increasing and that there is a general tendency towards replacing specific classifiers with it . Numerous studies have reported that both adults and children tend to use 个 when they do not know the appropriate count @-@ classifier , and even when they do but are speaking quickly or informally . The replacement of a specific classifier with the general 个 is known as classifier neutralization ( " 量词个化 " in Chinese , literally " classifier 个 @-@ ization " ) . This occurs especially often among children and aphasics ( individuals with damage to language @-@ relevant areas of the brain ) , although normal speakers also neutralize frequently . It has been reported that most speakers know the appropriate classifiers for the words they are using and believe , when asked , that those classifiers are obligatory , but nevertheless use 个 without even realizing it in actual speech . As a result , in everyday spoken Mandarin the general classifier is " hundreds of times more frequent " than the specialized ones . 
