liǎ / liǎng
number HSK 4 #379

Meanings

  1. 1 two (colloquial equivalent of 两个)
  2. 2 both
  3. 3 a couple of; a few

Examples

HSK 1
Wǒmen liǎ shì hǎo péngyou.
The two of us are good friends.
HSK 2
Tāmen liǎ zhǎng de hěn xiàng.
The two of them look very alike.
HSK 3
Zánmen liǎ shāngliang yíxià zěnme wánchéng zhège rènwu.
Let's the two of us discuss how to finish this task.

Tips

grammar
is a fusion of + , so the measure word is already baked in - never write or follow it with any other measure word. Typical pairings are with people pronouns: 我们, 你们, 他们.
mistakes
Don't confuse (liǎ, 'two of [people]') with (liǎng, the standard number 'two' used before measure words). The same character is also read liǎng, but only as the bound morpheme in 伎俩 ('trick'). Outside that one compound, = liǎ.

Components

radical
rén
person
Left-side person radical, the side-form of . This is the semantic anchor: the liǎ reading counts only people, never objects, and is what tells you so. For pairs of things use + measure word instead.
phonetic
liǎng
two; a pair
Right side supplies both sound (liǎng → liǎ) and meaning. Combined with the person radical, fuses with an implicit measure word - so already means 'two of them (people)' on its own; never write . The other reading liǎng survives only in 伎俩.

Stroke Order

liǎ