jian (件) — item, piece, measure word in Chinese

simplified

traditional · same

jiàn

an item; a piece; the measure word for matters, garments, documents, and parts

HSK 2 笔画 6 部首亻 (person) 声调第四声 (falling) all jian readings →

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笔顺 bǐshùn · Stroke order

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字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

件 jiàn joins 亻 (the standing-person radical, a compressed form of 人 rén) with 牛 niú (ox). The traditional reading sees a person dividing an ox: cutting the whole animal into separate portions. From that act of portioning comes the core idea that runs through every modern use of the character: a single, separable unit broken off from a larger whole.

That image explains why 件 became the natural measure word for discrete, countable things. An ox can be parcelled into joints; a matter can be parcelled into individual affairs; a wardrobe can be parcelled into separate garments. Each portion is 一件: one piece, set apart and counted on its own. The character never strayed far from that founding sense of a thing made individual.

From the concrete portion, the meaning fanned out in three directions. A piece of writing became a 文件 (document); a piece of machinery became a 零件 (part); a discrete affair brought before officials became an 案件 (case). In each, 件 still marks one separable unit, whether of cloth, of paper, of metal, or of legal business.

用法 yòngfǎ The Measure Word

构词规律 gòucí guīlǜ · Pattern Number + 件 + Noun = a counted item
件 is the classifier for matters, garments, gifts, luggage, and other discrete objects. It sits between a number (or 这/那/几) and the noun.
一件事 (one matter) · 两件衣服 (two garments) · 这件礼物 (this gift) · 几件行李 (a few pieces of luggage)

一件事/一件衣服 yī jiàn shì / yī jiàn yīfu Items & Matters

一件事 yī jiàn shì a matter: one affair; one thing to deal with

N 名词 míngcí

一 yī (one) + 件 jiàn (measure word) + 事 shì (matter; affair). 件 is the standard classifier for an affair, an errand, or a piece of business, anything that can be treated as a single, separable concern. You do not say 一个事 in careful speech; the matter takes 件.

我有一件事想跟你说。

Wǒ yǒu yī jiàn shì xiǎng gēn nǐ shuō.

There is a matter I would like to tell you about.

这件事很重要。

Zhè jiàn shì hěn zhòngyào.

This matter is very important.

他每天要处理很多件事。

Tā měitiān yào chǔlǐ hěn duō jiàn shì.

He has to handle many matters every day.

辨析 biànxī · 件 vs. 个 For an affair, choose 件: 一件事 is standard, 一个事 sounds careless. For a person or a generic object with no dedicated classifier, use 个: 一个人, 一个问题. As a rule, 件 counts discrete matters, garments, and parcelled objects; 个 is the catch-all when no specific measure word applies.

一件衣服 yī jiàn yīfu an item of clothing: one garment

N 名词 míngcí

一 yī (one) + 件 jiàn (measure word) + 衣服 yīfu (clothing). 件 counts upper-body and one-piece garments: shirts, coats, dresses, sweaters. Lower-body garments take 条 tiáo instead (一条裤子 a pair of trousers, 一条裙子 a skirt), so the measure word itself signals which part of the body is meant.

我想买一件衣服。

Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yī jiàn yīfu.

I want to buy a piece of clothing.

这件外套很暖和。

Zhè jiàn wàitào hěn nuǎnhuo.

This coat is very warm.

她买了三件毛衣。

Tā mǎi le sān jiàn máoyī.

She bought three sweaters.

语法 yǔfǎ · Grammar 件 for tops and coats; 条 tiáo for trousers and skirts; 双 shuāng for paired items such as shoes and socks (一双鞋). Choosing the wrong classifier is one of the most common learner slips, so the garment type and its measure word are best memorized together.

一件礼物 yī jiàn lǐwù a gift: one present

N 名词 míngcí

一 yī (one) + 件 jiàn (measure word) + 礼物 lǐwù (gift; present). A present counts as a discrete object, so it takes 件. The same classifier extends to other countable belongings and pieces of luggage: 一件行李 (one piece of luggage), 一件作品 (one work of art).

这是给你的一件礼物。

Zhè shì gěi nǐ de yī jiàn lǐwù.

This is a gift for you.

他收到了很多件生日礼物。

Tā shōudào le hěn duō jiàn shēngrì lǐwù.

He received many birthday gifts.

请帮我看一下这几件行李。

Qǐng bāng wǒ kàn yīxià zhè jǐ jiàn xíngli.

Please keep an eye on these few pieces of luggage for me.

文件/邮件/信件 wénjiàn / yóujiàn / xìnjiàn Documents & Mail

学者洞见 xuézhě dòngjiàn · Scholar Note

When 件 attaches as a suffix to a noun, it turns that noun into a class of discrete documents or pieces. A 文 (writing) becomes a 文件 (a document, a file); a 信 (letter) becomes 信件 (letters as a category, mail). In the digital age the same suffix produced 邮件 (email), where the old word for postal delivery, 邮, was simply joined to 件. The character carries its founding sense of one separable unit straight into the inbox.

文件 wénjiàn document; file; paperwork

N 名词 míngcí

文 wén (writing; text) + 件 jiàn (a piece). A written document, an official paper, or a computer file. The word covers both physical paperwork and digital files: on a screen, 文件 is exactly the word for a file, and 文件夹 wénjiànjiā is a folder.

请把这份文件打印出来。

Qǐng bǎ zhè fèn wénjiàn dǎyìn chūlái.

Please print out this document.

我把文件保存在电脑里了。

Wǒ bǎ wénjiàn bǎocún zài diànnǎo lǐ le.

I saved the file on the computer.

这是一份重要的法律文件。

Zhè shì yī fèn zhòngyào de fǎlǜ wénjiàn.

This is an important legal document.

语法 yǔfǎ · Usage A document is itself counted with 份 fèn (一份文件, a copy of a document) rather than with 件. Here 件 has become part of the word, no longer the classifier. 文件夹 wénjiànjiā = folder (literally a document-holder), the standard term both for a physical folder and an on-screen one.

邮件 yóujiàn mail; email; a postal item

N 名词 míngcí

邮 yóu (post; mail) + 件 jiàn (a piece). Originally any item sent through the post. In everyday modern use it most often means email: 电子邮件 diànzǐ yóujiàn (electronic mail) is regularly shortened to 邮件. To send one is 发邮件 fā yóujiàn.

我给你发了一封邮件。

Wǒ gěi nǐ fā le yī fēng yóujiàn.

I sent you an email.

请查收邮件。

Qǐng cháshōu yóujiàn.

Please check and receive the mail.

这件邮件还没寄到。

Zhè jiàn yóujiàn hái méi jì dào.

This piece of mail has not arrived yet.

词语 cíyǔ · Key Compounds 电子邮件 diànzǐ yóujiàn = email (the full form). 邮件 alone now usually means email in offices. 邮箱 yóuxiāng = mailbox or email inbox. 信件 xìnjiàn keeps the narrower sense of physical letters.

信件 xìnjiàn letters; correspondence (as a category)

N 名词 míngcí

信 xìn (letter; trust) + 件 jiàn (a piece). A collective, somewhat formal term for letters and written correspondence. A single letter is 一封信 (using 封 fēng); 信件 names the whole category of correspondence, the kind of word a post office or office form would use.

公司每天都收到大量信件。

Gōngsī měitiān dōu shōudào dàliàng xìnjiàn.

The company receives a large volume of correspondence every day.

请把信件放进信箱。

Qǐng bǎ xìnjiàn fàngjìn xìnxiāng.

Please put the letters into the mailbox.

辨析 biànxī · 信件 vs. 信信 xìn is a single letter and is counted with 封 (一封信). 信件 is the collective category of correspondence and reads more formal or administrative. Use 信 in conversation, 信件 on a form or in a notice.

零件/软件/案件 língjiàn / ruǎnjiàn / ànjiàn Parts & Cases

学者洞见 xuézhě dòngjiàn · Scholar Note

The portion sense of 件 reaches into machines and into law. A machine is the sum of its 零件 (parts) and 部件 (components); the things you can touch are the 硬件 (hardware) and the things you cannot are the 软件 (software). A discrete affair brought to a court or an investigator is an 案件 (a case), and an event that breaks out as a single incident is a 事件. In every one, 件 marks a unit cut from a larger whole.

零件 língjiàn spare part; component part

N 名词 míngcí

零 líng (fragmentary; odd; loose) + 件 jiàn (a piece). The small individual parts that make up a machine, especially replaceable ones. 零 carries the sense of scattered, loose pieces, so 零件 is the loose hardware: screws, gears, the bits kept in a parts drawer.

这台机器的零件坏了。

Zhè tái jīqì de língjiàn huài le.

A part of this machine is broken.

我需要买一个备用零件。

Wǒ xūyào mǎi yīgè bèiyòng língjiàn.

I need to buy a spare part.

汽车有成千上万个零件。

Qìchē yǒu chéng qiān shàng wàn gè língjiàn.

A car has tens of thousands of parts.

词语 cíyǔ · Related 部件 bùjiàn = a larger component or assembly (a sub-unit of a system). 配件 pèijiàn = accessory or fitting. 零件 are the smallest loose parts; 部件 are the bigger modules built up from them.

软件 ruǎnjiàn software

N 名词 míngcí

软 ruǎn (soft) + 件 jiàn (a piece). The intangible programs that run on a computer, paired against 硬件 yìngjiàn (hardware), 硬 yìng meaning hard. The soft and hard contrast is a direct calque of the English pair, with 件 supplying the shared unit-of-a-system sense.

这个软件很好用。

Zhège ruǎnjiàn hěn hǎoyòng.

This software is very easy to use.

请先安装这个软件。

Qǐng xiān ānzhuāng zhège ruǎnjiàn.

Please install this software first.

硬件和软件都很重要。

Yìngjiàn hé ruǎnjiàn dōu hěn zhòngyào.

Both hardware and software are important.

辨析 biànxī · 软件 vs. 硬件软件 ruǎnjiàn = software (the soft, intangible programs). 硬件 yìngjiàn = hardware (the hard, physical machinery). The pair turns the abstract soft and hard distinction into two nouns that share 件 as their unit.

案件 ànjiàn a legal case; an incident under investigation

N 名词 míngcí

案 àn (case; record; desk on which records were kept) + 件 jiàn (a piece). A discrete legal or police matter, treated as a single file of business. 案 alone meant the official desk and then the file of papers on it; with 件 it becomes one such case, counted and pursued on its own.

警察正在调查这个案件。

Jǐngchá zhèngzài diàochá zhège ànjiàn.

The police are investigating this case.

这是一起复杂的刑事案件。

Zhè shì yī qǐ fùzá de xíngshì ànjiàn.

This is a complicated criminal case.

辨析 biànxī · 案件 vs. 事件案件 ànjiàn = a legal or police case, something investigated and tried. 事件 shìjiàn = an incident or event, a happening of public note (政治事件 a political incident). A crime is an 案件; a newsworthy occurrence is an 事件. Both use 件 to mark a single, bounded matter.

成语 chéngyǔ Idioms & Set Phrases

一件不漏 yī jiàn bù lòu not letting a single item slip: accounting for every piece, leaving nothing out 漏 lòu = to leak; to omit. A colloquial set phrase built on 件, used when an inventory, a checklist, or a list of tasks is completed in full with no item missed. 他把行李一件不漏地清点了一遍。(He counted every piece of luggage without missing one.)

一件件 yī jiàn jiàn one item at a time: piece by piece, one matter after another A reduplicated measure-word phrase rather than a classical chengyu, but extremely common in speech. Doubling 件 turns it into an adverbial sense of taking things one at a time. 我们一件件地处理这些问题。(Let us handle these problems one by one.)

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Hold the founding picture: a person standing beside an ox, knife in hand, dividing the whole animal into separate portions. That single act of portioning is the whole character. Every modern use is just another thing cut into countable pieces.

So when you count, you are portioning. 一件事 is one affair sliced off from the day's business. 一件衣服 is one garment lifted out of the wardrobe. 一件礼物 is one present set apart from the rest. The number plus 件 plus the noun is you, holding the knife, deciding where one piece ends and the next begins.

And when 件 trails a noun as a suffix, the portion has hardened into a thing: a 文件 is a piece of writing, a 零件 a piece of machine, an 案件 a piece of legal business. Person and ox, again and again, parcelling the world into units small enough to count, file, repair, and try.