 The terms " classifier " and " measure word " are frequently used interchangeably ( as equivalent to the Chinese term 量词 ( 量詞 ) liàngcí , which literally means " measure word " ) . Sometimes , however , the two are distinguished , with classifier denoting a particle without any particular meaning of its own , as in the example above , and measure word denoting a word for a particular quantity or measurement of something , such as " drop " , " cupful " , or " liter " . The latter type also includes certain words denoting lengths of time , units of currency , etc . These two types are alternatively called count @-@ classifier and mass @-@ classifier , since the first type can only meaningfully be used with count nouns , while the second is used particularly with mass nouns . However , the grammatical behavior of words of the two types is largely identical . 
