All measure words

位 wèi

The Chinese measure word for people, politely.

位 is the polite measure word for people. Use it for guests, teachers, customers and anyone you want to show respect to, but not for yourself. When you walk into a restaurant, the staff ask 几位？, “how many of you?”. In everyday speech, 个 is the neutral choice.

  • 一位老师yí wèi lǎoshīa teacher
  • 这位先生zhè wèi xiānshengthis gentleman
  • 几位？jǐ wèi?how many of you?

52 nouns that take 位

Most common first
人rénperson; people先生xiān shengMr.; sir; gentleman; husband朋友péng youfriend妈妈mā mamama; mommy爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad医生yī shēngdoctor女士nǚ shìlady; madam小姐xiǎo jieyoung lady; miss长官zhǎng guānsenior official; senior officer总统zǒng tǒngpresident (of a country)夫人fū renlady; madam太太tài taimarried woman; Mrs.老师lǎo shīteacher哥哥gē geolder brother代表dài biǎorepresentative; delegate弟弟dì diyounger brother教练jiào liàninstructor; sports coach客人kè rénvisitor; guest奶奶nǎi nai(informal) grandma (paternal grandmother); (respectful) mistress of the house教授jiào shòuprofessor; to instruct经理jīng lǐmanager; director同学tóng xuéto study at the same school; fellow student作家zuò jiāauthor顾客gù kècustomer; client领导lǐng dǎolead; leading校长xiào zhǎng(college, university) president; headmaster局长jú zhǎngbureau chief艺术家yì shù jiāartist女郎nǚ lángyoung woman; maiden主席zhǔ xíchairperson; premier部长bù zhǎnghead of a (government etc) department; section chief亲戚qīn qia relative (i.e. family relation)服务员fú wù yuánwaiter; waitress师傅shī fumaster; qualified worker大使dà shǐambassador; envoy工程师gōng chéng shīengineer职员zhí yuánoffice worker; staff member老太太lǎo tài taielderly lady (respectful); esteemed mother王后wáng hòuqueen总理zǒng lǐpremier; prime minister政治家zhèng zhì jiāstatesman; politician宫女gōng nǚpalace maid机械师jī xiè shīmechanic; engineer系主任xì zhǔ rènchairman of department; dean公仆gōng púpublic servant留学生liú xué shēngstudent studying abroad; (foreign) exchange student老大爷lǎo dà yéuncle; grandpa老大妈lǎo dà mā"Madam" (affectionate term for an elderly woman)华侨Huá qiáooverseas Chinese; (in a restricted sense) Chinese emigrant who still retains Chinese nationality老大娘lǎo dà niángold lady; Madam (polite address)应聘者yìng pìn zhěperson taking a job; job applicant翻译fān yìto translate; to interpret

More measure words

The nouns come from the measure-word notes in CC-CEDICT, ordered by how often each word appears in film and TV subtitles. Many nouns take more than one measure word, and 个 often works in casual speech.