"给我两个面包。"
Translation:Give me two loaves of bread.
22 Comments
569
Actually, it's the classifier that counts the number of pieces, which is suitable here.
- 1508
Preferred quantifiers:
- slices or lumps: 片 (piàn) for the thinner pieces, and 块 (kuài) for the thicker pieces.
- (but 一片面包 is still not very thin, so 一片面包 = 一块面包 in that case ;-)
- loaves: 根 (gēn) or 条 (tiáo)
- And still, 个 is the generic quantifier for any shape.
When we are ordering some bread in Chinese… Unless a single product consists of just one piece of bread, we are unlikely to order some arbitrary pieces of bread using the generic quantifier 个. In another word, when you say 给我两个面包 in a shop, you mean the full product of the amount 2.
- 564
Actually do we call all kinds of unsliced bread of a bigger lump a loaf?
It is actually a challenge to say in Chinese. 2 loaves can be 两个面包, 2 baguettes can be 两个面包 (if not 两条面包）, 2 cinnamon rolls can also be 两个面包. It is perhaps not even too bad if I refer to 2 hotdogs (with the bun) to 两个面包.
- 564
If by piece you mean sliced sandwich bread or toast bread, 个 is rarely used; You should say 片or 块:
两片面包
"Two pieces of bread" was also my answer. I'm assuming the traditional Chinese type of bread, like the soft white bun or mantou, which is not a loaf by any stretch. When I think of bread in Chinese, sliced bread does not come to mind :) The word 包 is onomatopoeic - it brings to mind a bun-like shape which "wraps" (包) around a filling, but not a loaf that you have to slice to make a sandwich. I wonder: Will "Give me two buns" be accepted? :D
- 1508
Not sure which kinds of bread “bun” or “包” should be. In a broad sense, 面包 and 包(子) can be the same thing. As a native Chinese speaker, I usually, in narrow sense, refer to the baked ones as 面包 and the steamed ones as 包子 (baozi, stuffed) and 馒头 (mantou, unstuffed). We can also categorize them into 中式面包 and 西式面包 for the Chinese and Western breads respectively.
"You used the wrong word. Give me two breads."
Whoever changed this is wrong.
- 1508
Yes, because 个 is a generic quantifier to use, as long as the objects can be counted one by one.
It's not even that piece should also be acceptable to loaf, it's far more correct to say piece. 个 can mean every shape made of bread,without context loaf is just as correct an answer as slice is here
I wrote 'give me two buns'. The system marked it as incorrect and suggested the correct answer is 'give me two breads'. Hmm.
the measure word for thin slices, so slices of bread is "pian" is it not?
Just don't mark "two loaves of bread" as wrong, since no English speaker would ever say "breads".
条 tiáo - Classifier for loaf of bread; 片piàn for slice of bread; 块 kuài; piece, chunk, lump of bread (I guess if you rip a chunk off a baguette or pinch off a loaf)
