 Most nouns have one or more particular classifiers associated with them , often depending on the nature of the things they denote . For example , many nouns denoting flat objects such as tables , papers , beds , and benches use the classifier 张 ( 張 ) zhāng , whereas many long and thin objects use 条 ( 條 ) tiáo . The total number of classifiers in Chinese may be put at anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred , depending on how they are counted . The classifier 个 ( 個 ) , pronounced gè or ge in Mandarin , apart from being the standard classifier for many nouns , also serves as a general classifier , which may often ( but not always ) be used in place of other classifiers ; in informal and spoken language , native speakers tend to use this classifier far more than any other , even though they know which classifier is " correct " when asked . Mass @-@ classifiers might be used with all sorts of nouns with which they make sense : for example , 盒 hé ( " box " ) may be used to denote boxes of objects , such as lightbulbs or books , even though those nouns would be used with their own appropriate count @-@ classifiers if being counted as individual objects . Researchers have differing views as to how classifier – noun pairings arise : some regard them as being based on innate semantic features of the noun ( for example , all nouns denoting " long " objects take a certain classifier because of their inherent longness ) , while others see them as motivated more by analogy to prototypical pairings ( for example , " dictionary " comes to take the same classifier as the more common word " book " ) . There is some variation in the pairings used , with speakers of different dialects often using different classifiers for the same item . Some linguists have proposed that the use of classifier phrases may be guided less by grammar and more by stylistic or pragmatic concerns on the part of a speaker who may be trying to foreground new or important information . 
