一把

yībǎ

measure word

Meanings

1 a handful of
2 a bunch of
3 one (for things with handles: knives, chairs, umbrellas)

Characters

to grasp; handle

Examples

他抓了一把花生。

Tā zhuā le yī bǎ huāshēng.

He grabbed a handful of peanuts.

墙角放着一把伞。

Qiángjiǎo fàng zhe yī bǎ sǎn.

There is an umbrella in the corner.

他年纪一大把了。

Tā niánjì yī dà bǎ le.

He is quite up there in years.

Tips

usage

一把 has two uses: (1) a handful — what one hand grasps (rice, sand, hair); (2) a classifier for graspable objects with a handle — 一把刀 a knife, 一把椅子 a chair, 一把伞 an umbrella. The phrase 年纪一大把 idiomatically means 'getting on in years'.

Stroke Order

一 yī

把 bǎ