架

Classifier for Vehicles and Machines

Level 1Sounds Like gaa3

In Cantonese, 架 (gaa3) is the main classifier for virtually all land and air vehicles (cars, buses, bicycles, airplanes) as well as heavy machinery and pianos.

How It Works

In Cantonese, 架 (gaa3) serves as the primary classifier for land and air vehicles, general heavy machinery, as well as pianos and keyboard instruments.

1. What It Classifies
Use 架 for:

  • Vehicles: Cars (車 ce1), buses (巴士 baa1 si2*1), bicycles (單車 daan1 ce1), taxis (的士 dik1 si2*1), trains (火車 fo2 ce1), airplanes (飛機 fei1 gei1). Note: Boats and ships (船 syun4) do not use 架; they use 隻 (zek3) instead.
  • Pianos & Keyboards: Pianos (鋼琴 gong3 kam4). Other musical instruments take different classifiers (e.g., flutes use 支 zi1, guitars use 把 baa2).
  • General & Heavy Machinery: Machines (機器 gei1 hei3), photocopiers (影印機 jing2 jan3 gei1).

2. Common Grammatical Structures

  • Number + Classifier + Noun: 一架車 (jat1 gaa3 ce1 – one car). Remember to use 兩 (loeng5) for 'two': 兩架單車 (loeng5 gaa3 daan1 ce1 – two bicycles).
  • Demonstratives: 呢架車 (nei1 gaa3 ce1 – this car), 嗰架飛機 (go2 gaa3 fei1 gei1 – that airplane).
  • Possessor + Classifier + Noun: Spoken Cantonese often omits the possessive particle 嘅 (ge3) for singular items and attaches the classifier directly to the possessor: 我架車 (ngo5 gaa3 ce1 – my car).
  • Bare Classifier + Noun: At the start of a clause, a bare classifier acts as a definite article ('the'): 架車壞咗 (gaa3 ce1 waai6 zo2 – The car is broken).

3. Cantonese vs. Mandarin & Other Classifiers
Mandarin uses 輛 (loeng6) for land vehicles and reserves 架 primarily for planes. In spoken Cantonese, using 輛 sounds unnaturally formal and bookish. While 架 is standard for vehicles and heavy/general machinery, smaller electronic devices and appliances (like phones or computers) typically use 部 (bou6). Avoid using 台 (toi4) in spoken Cantonese for electronics, as it is a Mandarinism.

Examples (4)

  1. 呢架車係二手嚟㗎。

    This car is second-hand.

    Word by Word: This [classifier] car is second-hand [particle].

    Combines 呢 (nei1) and 架 (gaa3) to specify 'this car'.

  2. 嗰架飛機啱啱起飛。

    That airplane just took off.

    Word by Word: That [classifier] airplane just take off.

    Demonstrates 架 (gaa3) used with aircraft.

  3. 我架單車壞咗，要攞去整。

    My bicycle is broken and needs to be taken for repair.

    Word by Word: My [classifier] bicycle broken [aspect], need take go repair.

    Demonstrates possessive structure (我架單車) omitting the possessive particle 嘅.

  4. 呢間學校有兩架鋼琴。

    This school has two pianos.

    Word by Word: This [classifier] school has two [classifier] piano.

    Shows 架 (gaa3) used for pianos alongside the number 兩 (loeng5).

Common Mistakes

  • Using the general classifier 個 (go3) instead of 架 (gaa3) for vehicles.

    我買咗一個車。
    我買咗一架車。

    Vehicles require the specific classifier 架 (gaa3). Using 個 (go3) sounds unnatural in Cantonese.

  • Using written Chinese 輛 (loeng6) in everyday spoken Cantonese.

    嗰輛巴士嚟緊。
    嗰架巴士嚟緊。

    Although 輛 (loeng6) is standard in written Chinese, 架 (gaa3) is the standard spoken classifier for buses and cars in Cantonese.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

架Level 1Classifier for Vehicles and Machines

Learn This First

To understand '架', you first need to understand the general role of classifiers in Cantonese and the basic syntax for counting nouns using the 'Number + Classifier + Noun' structure.

Words in This Pattern

架