this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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To be fair, zero is a complicated number

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[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

No, but whenever you have something that's countable (even if it's just 1), you have to do , so instead of "I have a ticket" or "we want 2 waters", you have to do "I have 1 ticket" or "I(plural) want 2 water".

There's a generic measure word, but I think it's seen as improper to use it.

[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yea, Chinese people understand when you do that, but they first look at you with this confused look thinking 'he wants two chopstic pieces?' and then realize you have a vocabulary of a two-year-old.

Source:lived in China long enough to learn yo ask for things, but not long enough to learn the countable nouns.

[–] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 months ago

A bit like confusing much and many or some and any, which I did a lot when I first learnt English.