 Mass @-@ classifiers ( true measure words ) do not pick out inherent properties of an individual noun like count @-@ classifiers do ; rather , they lump nouns into countable units . Thus , mass @-@ classifiers can generally be used with multiple types of nouns ; for example , while the mass @-@ classifier 盒 ( hé , box ) can be used to count boxes of lightbulbs ( 一盒灯泡 yì hé dēngpào , " one box of lightbulbs " ) or of books ( 一盒教材 yì hé jiàocái , " one box of textbooks " ) , each of these nouns must use a different count @-@ classifier when being counted by itself ( 一盏灯泡 yì zhǎn dēngpào " one lightbulb " ; vs. 一本教材 yì běn jiàocái " one textbook " ) . While count @-@ classifiers have no direct English translation , mass @-@ classifiers often do : phrases with count @-@ classifiers such as 一个人 ( yí ge rén , one @-@ CL person ) can only be translated as " one person " or " a person " , whereas those with mass @-@ classifiers such as 一群人 ( yì qún rén , one @-@ crowd @-@ person ) can be translated as " a crowd of people " . All languages , including English , have mass @-@ classifiers , but count @-@ classifiers are unique to certain " classifier languages " , and are not a part of English grammar apart from a few exceptional cases such as head of livestock . 
