件

Classifier for Clothing and Matters

Level 1Sounds Like gin6

件 (gin6) is the standard classifier for upper-body garments (like shirts and jackets), abstract matters (affairs, events), luggage pieces, and slices of cake or dim sum.

How It Works

1. What is 件 (gin6)?
件 (gin6) is one of the most common classifiers in Cantonese. It follows the standard counting structure: [Number] + 件 (gin6) + [Noun].

2. Primary Uses of 件 (gin6)

  • Upper-body clothing: Shirts, coats, jackets, and sweaters (e.g., 件衫 gin6 saam1 'the shirt'). Lower-body garments like pants use 條 (tiu4) instead!
  • Matters, affairs, and events: Abstract situations or tasks (e.g., 呢件事 ni1 gin6 si6 'this matter').
  • Slices of food & dim sum: Slices of cake, western pastries, or dim sum portions (e.g., 一件蛋糕 jat1 gin6 daan6 gou1 'a slice of cake'). Note that using 個 (go3) for cake specifies a whole cake rather than a slice!
  • Cargo & luggage: Individual items of baggage or parcels (e.g., 行李 hang4 lei5).

3. Possessive & Definite Shortcut
You can place 件 (gin6) directly between a possessor pronoun and a noun to mean 'his/her shirt' (佢件衫 keoi5 gin6 saam1) or directly before a noun to mean 'the shirt' (件衫 gin6 saam1).

Examples (4)

  1. 我今日買咗兩件衫。

    I bought two shirts today.

    Word by Word: I today buy-PERF two [件] shirt.

    件 (gin6) is used here to count upper-body garments like shirts.

  2. 呢件事好複雜，我哋再傾吓。

    This matter is very complicated; let's talk about it more later.

    Word by Word: This [件] matter very complicated, we again talk a bit.

    呢件 (ni1 gin6) specifies 'this' specific matter or abstract affair (事 si6).

  3. 佢仲想食多件蛋糕。

    He still wants to eat one more slice of cake.

    Word by Word: He still want eat more [件] cake.

    件 (gin6) indicates a cut slice or piece of cake rather than a whole cake.

  4. 你有幾件行李呀？

    How many pieces of luggage do you have?

    Word by Word: You have how-many [件] luggage [particle]?

    件 (gin6) is used with 行李 (hang4 lei5) to count discrete luggage items.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 件 (gin6) for lower-body clothing like pants or skirts.

    我買咗件褲。
    我買咗條褲。

    Cantonese categorizes clothing by body section. Upper-body items take 件 (gin6), whereas lower-body items like pants (褲 fu3) or skirts (裙 kwan4) require 條 (tiu4).

  • Accidentally ordering a whole cake by using 個 (go3) instead of 件 (gin6).

    Different Meaning我要一個蛋糕。
    我要一件蛋糕。

    一個蛋糕 (jat1 go3 daan6 gou1) is a good sentence and means a whole cake. To order a single slice, use 一件蛋糕 (jat1 gin6 daan6 gou1).

How It Connects

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件Level 1Classifier for Clothing and Matters

Learn This First

To use the classifier '件' (gin6), you first need to understand the basic role of classifiers in Cantonese noun phrases and the standard word order for counting (Number + Classifier + Noun). Familiarity with the general classifier '個' is also helpful as a baseline.

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