Breakdown of wǒmen shì yí gè duì.
Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.
There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.
The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.
Questions & Answers about wǒmen shì yí gè duì.
Because 一 changes tone depending on the word that follows it.
Its basic pronunciation is yī (first tone), but in normal speech:
- before a fourth-tone syllable, it becomes yí (second tone)
- before a first, second, or third-tone syllable, it usually becomes yì (fourth tone)
Here, the next word is 个 gè, which is historically a fourth-tone word, so we say yí gè.
Even though 个 is often pronounced with a light/neutral tone in everyday speech, learners usually still learn this phrase as yí ge or yí gè.
个 is a measure word (also called a classifier).
In Chinese, when a number comes before a noun, you usually need a measure word in between:
- 一 个 人 = one person
- 一 个 问题 = one question
- 一 个 队 = one team
So 一 个 队 is the normal beginner pattern for one team.
English does not usually need this extra word, but Chinese usually does.