liang (量) — quantity, capacity; to measure in Chinese

simplified

traditional

liàng

quantity · capacity · amount; also liáng, to measure

HSK 2 笔画 12 部首里 (village; inside) 声调第四声 (falling); also 第二声 liáng all liang readings →

~10 min read

笔顺 bǐshùn · Stroke order

部首 radical (里) 部件 component (rest of character) 书写 your drawing

Click the character to replay. Press Try drawing to write it yourself.

字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure · a vessel for measuring grain

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

量 is among the oldest words in the script for the human act of quantifying. The earliest forms picture a vessel or a tied bag with a marker over the opening, the kind of standardized container used to scoop and level off a measure of grain. The character is best read as a pictograph of a measuring instrument rather than as a tidy sum of independent parts: it shows the tool, and from the tool comes both the act of measuring and the amount that results.

This double payload is built into the word from the start, and it survives in the modern character as a tone split. Read liáng (second tone), 量 is the verb: to measure, to gauge, to weigh out. Read liàng (fourth tone), 量 is the noun: the quantity, the amount, the capacity that the measuring produces. The relationship is the same one English keeps between "to measure" and "a measure," compressed into a single glyph that changes only its tone.

In the modern Kangxi system 量 is filed under the radical 里 (lǐ, village; a unit of distance; inside), which sits at the foot of the character. The radical assignment is a convenience of the stroke arrangement rather than a statement about meaning. What carries the sense is the whole figure of the calibrated container, the thing you fill to find out how much. The simplified and traditional forms are identical; 量 was never simplified, so a reader of either script meets exactly the same twelve strokes.

两读 liǎng dú Two Readings · liàng the amount, liáng the act

The split is reliable enough to use as a rule of thumb: when 量 names a thing (an amount, a capacity, a count), it is liàng; when 量 names an action (the measuring itself), it is liáng.

liàng (noun, fourth tone) appears in the everyday vocabulary of "how much": 数量 (shùliàng, quantity), 大量 (dàliàng, a large amount), 质量 (zhìliàng, quality), 容量 (róngliàng, capacity), 酒量 (jiǔliàng, drinking capacity), and the grammatical term 量词 (liàngcí, measure word). If you can put a number or a "how much" question to it, you are in liàng territory.

liáng (verb, second tone) appears wherever someone is actively gauging: 测量 (cèliáng, to survey, to measure), 量体温 (liáng tǐwēn, to take a temperature), 量身 (liángshēn, to take body measurements). One high-frequency word sits between the two, neutralized: 商量 (shāngliang, to discuss) takes the verb reading but with the second syllable toneless, fossilizing the old image of two people measuring a matter out together before they decide.

数量 shùliàng Quantity & Amount · the liàng reading

数量 shùliàng quantity: the amount or number of something

N 名词 míngcí

数 shù (number) + 量 liàng (amount). The neutral, countable "how many / how much" of a thing. 数量 answers questions of scale and stock: how many units, how large a supply. It pairs naturally with verbs of increase and decrease (增加数量, 减少数量) and is the standard word in commerce, logistics, and statistics. Hold it apart from 质量 below: 数量 is how much, 质量 is how good.

这批货的数量不够，还要再订一些。

Zhè pī huò de shùliàng bú gòu, hái yào zài dìng yìxiē.

The quantity of this shipment is not enough; we need to order some more.

大量 dàliàng a large amount: a great quantity of

Adj/Adv 形容词 xíngróngcí

大 dà (big) + 量 liàng (amount). Functions as a quantifier before mass and plural nouns: 大量资金 (a large amount of capital), 大量时间 (a great deal of time), 大量生产 (to mass-produce). It modifies the noun rather than counting discrete items, so it sits comfortably with both countables in bulk and uncountables. The mirror term is 少量 (shǎoliàng, a small amount).

这项研究需要大量的数据支持。

Zhè xiàng yánjiū xūyào dàliàng de shùjù zhīchí.

This research needs a large amount of data to support it.

质量 zhìliàng quality: how good something is (also physical mass)

N 名词 míngcí

质 zhì (substance, nature) + 量 liàng (measure). In everyday speech 质量 is quality, the standard or grade of a product or piece of work: 质量好 (good quality), 提高质量 (to raise quality). In physics the same word is the technical term for mass. Context separates the two cleanly. Note the contrast that anchors this page: 数量 (quantity, how much) versus 质量 (quality, how good); Chinese business writing constantly pairs them, 重数量更要重质量 (value quantity, but value quality even more).

这家工厂的产品质量很可靠。

Zhè jiā gōngchǎng de chǎnpǐn zhìliàng hěn kěkào.

This factory's product quality is very reliable.

力量 lìliàng strength: force, power, capability

N 名词 míngcí

力 lì (force, strength) + 量 liàng (measure, amount). The measurable quantity of force, whether physical, social, or moral: 体力的力量 (bodily strength), 团结的力量 (the power of unity), 知识就是力量 (knowledge is power). Where 力 alone is the raw faculty, 力量 frames strength as something you can gauge, gather, and bring to bear, the amount of power available.

他用尽全身的力量推开了那扇门。

Tā yòngjìn quánshēn de lìliàng tuīkāi le nà shàn mén.

He used all his body's strength to push that door open.

容量 róngliàng Capacity & Measure Words · how much will fit

容量 róngliàng capacity: how much a container or system can hold

N 名词 míngcí

容 róng (to contain, to hold) + 量 liàng (amount). The maximum a vessel, device, or system can take in: a bottle's volume, a battery's charge, a hard drive's storage, a hall's seating. 电池容量 (battery capacity), 硬盘容量 (disk capacity), 存储容量 (storage capacity). It is the original measuring-vessel image made abstract: how much fits before the container is full.

这个手机的电池容量比上一代大很多。

Zhège shǒujī de diànchí róngliàng bǐ shàng yí dài dà hěn duō.

This phone's battery capacity is much larger than the previous generation's.

酒量 jiǔliàng drinking capacity: how much alcohol one can hold

N 名词 míngcí

酒 jiǔ (alcohol) + 量 liàng (capacity). A person's tolerance for drink, the amount they can take before they are affected. A culturally loaded word at the banquet table, where 酒量好 (a good capacity) is treated as a social asset: 他酒量很大 (he can really hold his drink). The 量 here applies the container metaphor to the body itself, framing the drinker as a vessel with a known limit.

我酒量不好，喝一杯就脸红。

Wǒ jiǔliàng bù hǎo, hē yì bēi jiù liǎnhóng.

I cannot hold my drink; my face turns red after just one glass.

量词 liàngcí measure word: the classifier between a number and a noun

N 名词 míngcí

量 liàng (measure) + 词 cí (word). The grammatical class that Chinese inserts between a number (or 这/那) and a noun: 一本书 (one volume of book), 三个人 (three people), 一杯茶 (one cup of tea). Every countable noun pairs with a conventional 量词, and choosing the right one is a core task of learning Chinese. The name is literal: these are the "measuring words," the verbal descendants of the measuring vessel, naming the unit by which a noun is counted.

汉语里每个名词都要配一个合适的量词。

Hànyǔ lǐ měi ge míngcí dōu yào pèi yí ge héshì de liàngcí.

In Chinese every noun has to be paired with a suitable measure word.

测量 cèliáng To Measure · the liáng verb reading

测量 cèliáng to measure: to survey, to gauge with an instrument

V 动词 dòngcí

测 cè (to gauge, to fathom) + 量 liáng (to measure). The formal verb for taking precise measurements: surveying land, gauging distance, recording temperature or pressure with an instrument. 测量土地 (to survey land), 测量距离 (to measure distance). Note the reading: as the act of measuring, 量 is second tone liáng, not liàng. This is the clearest place to feel the tone split in action.

工程师正在测量这座桥的长度。

Gōngchéngshī zhèngzài cèliáng zhè zuò qiáo de chángdù.

The engineer is measuring the length of this bridge.

量体温 liáng tǐwēn to take a temperature: to measure body heat

V-O 动宾 dòngbīn

量 liáng (to measure) + 体温 tǐwēn (body temperature). A high-frequency everyday verb-object phrase: to take someone's temperature with a thermometer. The same 量 measures other body data in parallel phrases, 量血压 (liáng xuèyā, to take blood pressure), 量身高 (liáng shēngāo, to measure height). All take the second-tone liáng, since each names the action of gauging.

护士每天早上给病人量体温。

Hùshi měitiān zǎoshang gěi bìngrén liáng tǐwēn.

The nurse takes the patients' temperature every morning.

商量 shāngliang to discuss: to talk something over, to consult

V 动词 dòngcí

商 shāng (to consult, to confer) + 量 liang (measure, toneless here). To talk a matter over with someone before deciding: to weigh it between two minds. The literal image is measuring something out together, and the modern word keeps that cooperative flavor: 商量 is collaborative, not a one-sided announcement. The second syllable is neutralized to the toneless liang in speech, a fossil of the verb reading.

这件事我们再商量商量再决定。

Zhè jiàn shì wǒmen zài shāngliang shāngliang zài juédìng.

Let's talk this matter over a bit more before we decide.

商量 is the one place where 量 is fully toneless in standard speech. The reduplicated form 商量商量 softens the request further, turning "discuss" into "let's just kick it around a little."

成语 chéngyǔ Idioms & Set Phrases

量力而行 liàng lì ér xíng measure your strength, then act: do only what you can manage 量 liàng (to assess, here in the assessing sense) + 力 lì (strength) + 而 ér (and then) + 行 xíng (to act). Gauge how much you are capable of, and act within that limit. A counsel of prudence: take on what your resources, ability, and circumstances can actually support, rather than overreaching. Often paired in advice with 量入为出 below, the two together urging realism about both effort and spending.

量入为出 liàng rù wéi chū measure income to set spending: live within your means 量 liàng (to gauge) + 入 rù (income, what comes in) + 为 wéi (to make, to determine) + 出 chū (expenditure, what goes out). Let the size of your income decide the size of your spending. A classical maxim of household and state finance, urging that outlay be calibrated to revenue rather than the reverse. The 量 here is the act of weighing one quantity against another to find the right limit.

不可估量 bù kě gū liàng cannot be estimated: immeasurable, beyond reckoning 不可 bù kě (cannot) + 估 gū (to estimate) + 量 liàng (to measure, to gauge). So vast or so consequential that no estimate can capture it. Used for losses, impact, or value too large to quantify: 损失不可估量 (the losses are immeasurable), 意义不可估量 (the significance is beyond reckoning). The phrase leans on 量 in its core sense, the limit of what measuring can reach.

海量 hǎiliàng sea-sized capacity: a vast tolerance or a huge amount 海 hǎi (sea) + 量 liàng (capacity). A capacity as large as the sea. Traditionally a generous compliment for someone of great tolerance, whether a magnanimous temperament (大人有海量, your honor is broad-minded) or a formidable drinking capacity at the table. In modern usage it has also taken on a data-age sense, 海量信息 (a vast sea of information), 海量数据 (massive amounts of data), where 海量 simply means an enormous quantity.

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Hold the picture of the standardized grain measure: a vessel you fill, then level off at the rim. Everything 量 means radiates from that single tool. Fill the vessel and you have the act, 量 liáng (to measure): 测量 the land, 量体温 the patient, 商量 a matter out together between two minds. Read off the level and you have the result, 量 liàng (the amount): the 数量 you counted, the 容量 the vessel holds, the 力量 you can bring to bear, the 酒量 you can take before the night gets away from you.

Let the tone carry the difference and you will rarely guess wrong. Action is second tone liáng, the rising effort of the act; amount is fourth tone liàng, the settled fall of the result. The grammarians named their classifiers 量词, "the measuring words," because every Chinese count still passes through that ancient vessel: 一本书, 三个人, 一杯茶, each noun met at the rim by the unit that measures it. And the moral idioms keep the same discipline, 量力而行 and 量入为出, both asking you to gauge the size of one quantity before you commit to another. To measure first, then act: the whole character in four strokes of advice.