Maßwörtern

Maßwörter are a category of words in German that accompany numerals to indicate the unit of measurement or the counting unit for a noun. In linguistic terms, they function as units of quantification and are often used with nouns that are not easily counted as individual items or that are quantified by a container, volume, weight, or other measure.

Common measure words include Stück (piece), Flasche (bottle), Glas (glass/cup), Tasse (cup), Becher (cup), Dose (can), Packung (pack), Kasten (crateload), Meter (meter), Liter (liter), Kilogramm (kilogram), and Dutzend (dozen). Examples illustrate typical patterns: drei Flaschen Bier, fünf Meter Stoff, zwei Kilogramm Zucker, ein Glas Wasser, eine Packung Nudeln, drei Stück Kuchen. For uncountable nouns or when the unit is meaningful, Maßwörter are often necessary: Wasser → drei Gläser Wasser; Kaffee → eine Tasse Kaffee.

Notably, German also allows discrete counting without a Maßwort for many countable items, as in zwei Äpfel. In such cases the noun itself bears the plural form without an accompanying unit. Maßwörter are particularly common with foods, beverages, textiles, and packaged goods, but they can also express length, area, or weight.

The use of Maßwörter varies regionally and stylistically. They are sometimes contrasted with languages that use rigid classifiers, such as Chinese, where classifiers are required in many constructions. In German, the choice of Maßwort is guided by whether a unit, container, or measurable quantity is being emphasized.

Overall, Maßwörter help convey precise quantity and packaging context, enriching the semantics of quantified phrases.