Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

個 (radical 9 人+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 人田十口 (OWJR), four-corner 2620₀, composition ⿰亻固)

Derived characters

• 嗰 (𠮶)

References

• KangXi: page 107, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 758
• Dae Jaweon: page 228, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 178, character 3
• Unihan data for U+500B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kaːls) : semantic 亻 + phonetic 固 ‎(OC *kaːs).

Etymology

The semantics may have developed along the grammaticalisation process "bamboo stalk" (箇) > "piece, item" > "classifier for every category of noun" > "possessive particle, generic particle". If so, it would then possibly be cognate with 竿 (OC *kaːn, “bamboo, rod”). Compare Tibetan མཁར་བ ‎(mkhar ba), འཁར་བ ‎('khar ba, “walking stick, staff”) and Thai ก้าน ‎(gâan, “stem, stalk”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

個

1. piece; item; individual

   個人 / 个人  ―  gèrén  ―  an individual; personal

   個體 / 个体  ―  gètǐ  ―  individuality

2. size; height

   個子 / 个子  ―  gèzi  ―  height; stature

   個兒 / 个儿  ―  gèr  ―  size

3. separate; respective; separately; individually

   個別 / 个别  ―  gèbié  ―  individual; separate; some; a couple of

4. single; alone
5. (dialectal) one
6. The generic classifier. Used with nouns lacking specific classifiers.

   我有一個問題。 / 我有一个问题。  ―  Wǒ yǒu yī ge wèntí.  ―  I have a question.

7. Alternative classifier, for nouns having specific classifiers. Often colloquial and regional. Usage varies greatly between different topolects.

   一個人 / 一个人  ―  yī ge rén  ―  one person; alone

   每個人 / 每个人  ―  měi ge rén  ―  every person, everyone

   一個井 / 一个井 [Guangzhou Cantonese]  ―  jat¹go³ zeng² [Jyutping]  ―  a well

   一個房 / 一个房 [Guangzhou Cantonese]  ―  jat¹go³ fong^4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  a room

   一個學校 / 一个学校  ―  yī ge xuéxiào  ―  one school

8. (Mandarin, colloquial) Particle, placed between a verb and numbers, showing that the following numbers are approximate, not accurate.
   • 他一下跑個兩三公里都不在話下。 [MSC, trad.]
     他一下跑个两三公里都不在话下。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā yīxià pǎo ge liǎng sān gōnglǐ dōu bùzàihuàxià. [Pinyin]

     Running two or three kilometers in one go is a piece of cake for him.

   • 他們倆就差個一兩歲。 [MSC, trad.]
     他们俩就差个一两岁。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tāmen liǎ jiù chà ge yī liǎng suì. [Pinyin]

     The age difference between them is only about one or two years.

9. (Mandarin, colloquial) Particle, placed between a verb and its object or complement, adding a sense of ease, swiftness and one-offness to the action.
   • 吃個飯，洗個澡，休息休息 [MSC, trad.]
     吃个饭，洗个澡，休息休息 [MSC, simp.]

     chī ge fàn, xǐ ge zǎo, xiūxi xiūxi [Pinyin]

     have some food, have a shower and have some rest

   • 我們昨天見了個面，聊了聊近況。 [MSC, trad.]
     我们昨天见了个面，聊了聊近况。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒmen zuótiān jiàn le ge miàn, liáo le liáo jìnkuàng. [Pinyin]

     We met yesterday, and chatted about how we've been recently.

10. (Mandarin, colloquial) Particle used after 些 (xiē).
    • 那些個年的事現在回憶起來還是記憶猶新。 [MSC, trad.]
      那些个年的事现在回忆起来还是记忆犹新。 [MSC, simp.]

      Nàxiē ge nián de shì xiànzài huíyì qǐlái háishì jìyìyóuxīn. [Pinyin]

      It feels like yesterday when I reminisce about those stories in the past.

11. (dialectal Mandarin) Particle used in some time-related words.
    • 今兒個 / 今儿个  ―  jīn'érge  ―  (dialectal) today
12. (obsolete, Wu, Xiang, Gan, dialectal Cantonese, dialectal Min) (= 搿) this; that
    • 個個人 / 个个人 [Shanghainese]  ―  this person
    • 個隻鴨子勿太酥 [Shanghainese, trad.]
      个只鸭子勿太酥 [Shanghainese, simp.]

      This duck hasn't been cooked long enough for it to become tender.

13. (Cantonese, Wu) Word-initial particle, serving as the definite article.
    • 個人今朝為啥勿來 [Shanghainese, trad.]
      个人今朝为啥勿来 [Shanghainese, simp.]

      Why hasn't that guy come today?

14. (Cantonese, Wu, Teochew) Possessive particle. Equivalent to Mandarin 的 (de).

    → 嘅 (ge3) (Cantonese), 格 (kaq) (Wu)

    • 我個小囡 / 我个小囡 [Shanghainese]  ―  my child
    • 住響你屋企個陳先生係乜嘢人嚟呀？ [Guangzhou Cantonese, trad.]
      住响你屋企个陈先生系乜嘢人嚟呀？ [Guangzhou Cantonese, simp.]

      Zyu⁶ hoeng² nei⁵ uk¹ kei⁵go³ can⁴ sin¹ saang¹ hai⁶ mat¹ je⁵ jan⁴ lai⁴ aa³? [Jyutping]

      Who is that Mr. Chan that lives at your house?

15. (dialectal) Sentence-final declarative, affirmative, or prohibitive particle. Equivalent to Mandarin 的 (de), 了 (le).
    • 標語勿是我寫個。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
      标语勿是我写个。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

      I didn't write that slogan.

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• Vietnamese: cái

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: か (ka)
• Kan’on: か (ka)
• Tōon: こ (ko)

Counter

個 ‎(hiragana こ, romaji -ko)

1. item, article, thing

   あの枝 (えだ)に桜 (さくら)ん坊 (ぼ)が十二 (じゅうに)個 (こ)だけあります。

   Ano eda ni sakuranbo ga jūni-ko dake arimasu.

   There are only twelve cherries on that branch.

Usage notes

This is the most generic counter in Japanese. It can be used to count just about anything.

Korean

Hanja

個 • ‎(gae) (hangeul 개, McCune-Reischauer kae)

1. a piece
2. a unit
3. an item.

Vietnamese

Han character

個 (cá, cái)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

• Nom Foundation