 On the other hand , when a noun is not counted or introduced with a demonstrative , a classifier is not necessary : for example , there is a classifier in 三辆车 ( sān liàng chē , three @-@ CL car , " three cars " ) but not in 我的车 ( wǒ @-@ de chē , me @-@ possessive car , " my car " ) . Furthermore , numbers and demonstratives are often not required in Chinese , so speakers may choose not to use one — and thus not to use a classifier . For example , to say " Zhangsan turned into a tree " , both 张三变成了一棵树 ( Zhāngsān biànchéng -le yì kē shù , Zhangsan become PAST one CL tree ) and 张三变成了树 ( Zhāngsān biànchéng -le shù , Zhangsan become PAST tree ) are acceptable . The use of classifiers after demonstratives is in fact optional . Likewise , in colloquial speech and in certain idioms , classifiers are sometimes not used even in numeral phrases . 
