番, 声, 趟: verbal measure words
【六05】量词 / measure words
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
番, 声 and 趟 count an action and follow the verb, in place of the neutral 次 (hsk2-g41) when the nature of the act matters: V + 一番 for an action carried through thoroughly (打扮一番, 讨论一番), V + 一声 for a call, a word, a sound (喊了几声, 说一声), V + 一趟 for a round trip to a place (回一趟老家, 白跑三趟).
番 goes with verbs that take time, care or effort: talking, thinking, preparing, tidying up. It is almost always 一番, and the verb takes 了 once the action is done: 她打扮了一番. It also appears before a noun: 一番话 (words that leave a mark), 一番心意. It does not suit a plain act: a meal is counted with 顿 (hsk3-g41).
声 counts utterances and noises: 喊了几声, 咳嗽了两声. Two uses to remember: 说一声 ("let someone know") in 走之前跟我说一声, and 打声招呼 ("say a word, give notice in advance"), where 一声 shortens to 声 (打声招呼 = 打一声招呼).
趟 counts round trips: 去一趟, 回来一趟, 跑了三趟 (hsk3-g41 lists it with 次, 遍, 顿, 场). The idea of going *and* coming back matters; for a bare occurrence, 次 will do. A verb-object word like 出差 takes the measure word inside: 出一趟差. Register: 声 and 趟 are everyday words; 番 is a little more formal.
Examples
你到了跟我说一声。
Nǐ dào le gēn wǒ shuō yì shēng.Let me know when you get there.
我下个月要回一趟老家。
Wǒ xià ge yuè yào huí yí tàng lǎojiā.Next month I have to make a trip back to my hometown.
他一进门就先跟大家打了声招呼。
Tā yí jìn mén jiù xiān gēn dàjiā dǎ le shēng zhāohu.As soon as he came in, he first said hello to everyone.
出门前,她对着镜子打扮了一番。
Chūmén qián, tā duìzhe jìngzi dǎban le yì fān.Before going out, she spent a while getting dressed up in front of the mirror.
这个方案大家讨论了一番,最后还是按原计划办。
Zhège fāngàn dàjiā tǎolùn le yì fān, zuìhòu háishi àn yuán jìhuà bàn.Everyone talked this proposal over at length, and in the end they stuck to the original plan.
为了这份合同,他白跑了三趟,对方连面都不见。
Wèile zhè fèn hétong, tā bái pǎo le sān tàng, duìfāng lián miàn dōu bú jiàn.For this contract he made three trips for nothing: the other side wouldn't even see him.
Common mistakes
✗ 我们吃了一番饭 → ✓ 我们吃了一顿饭 (番 needs sustained effort, as in 讨论 or 打扮; a meal is counted with 顿).
✗ 走之前告诉我一次 → ✓ 走之前跟我说一声 ("let me know" is 说一声, not 一次).
✗ 下个月我要出差一趟 → ✓ 下个月我要出一趟差 (the measure word goes inside the verb-object word 出差).