Correct measure word for 电脑

[imron]

8 minutes ago, Shelley said:

Okay Pleco lists it as colloquial variant for camera

Depends on the dictionary I guess.  The guifan dictionary has the following definition:

 

1 - 名 - 照相机

2 - 动 - 观察时机

 

But dictionary definitions aside, 相机 is also very common in regular speech.

[Christa]

52 minutes ago, Shelley said:

Okay Pleco lists it as colloquial variant for camera. Not seen it before used like this, everyday is a school day

 

Wow, I'm glad I actually got to help someone with their Chinese for once 

[陳德聰]

Bwuhaha we could play this game for ages. The only caveat is that you will likely end up dispensing with the idea of “correct” and migrate towards “acceptable” or “used by bonafide humans”

 

As for 照相機 I will be “that guy” again and throw in 隻.

[Christa]

3 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

The only caveat is that you will likely end up dispensing with the idea of “correct” and migrate towards “acceptable” or “used by bonafide humans”

 

Actually, this is how I used to be. However, my problem these days is that I can hold a conversation in Chinese on most subjects I want to but I am often "corrected". In those areas where I've been corrected, what I'm hoping to find is some answers regarding: what is considered standard / correct according to official / academic guidelines, if they exist. This can allow me to better judge the (frequently conflicting) advice I get from native speakers. I get the feeling that often (although by no means all the time) that they think what I have said is wrong because it's not what is said locally and I'm not Chinese. If I were Chinese and I said it, they would accept it as a regional difference but because I'm non-Chinese, I must be saying it because I'm in error. It is good to be able to know when this is actually the case.

[陳德聰]

7 hours ago, Christa said:

If I were Chinese and I said it, they would accept it as a regional difference but because I'm non-Chinese, I must be saying it because I'm in error. It is good to be able to know when this is actually the case.

Oh, this. So much yes to this. When it comes to spoken interaction, if someone is correcting your 两台手机 to 两部手机, or your 两部电脑 to 两台电脑, it is absolutely because you are not Chinese. Hopefully they at least wait until your interaction is over instead of doing it in the middle. Native speakers generally don't do this to each other because it's obnoxious.

 

[Christa]

11 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

it's obnoxious.

 

Yes, yes, yes.

 

And it's made it hard to know when a correction is for something wrong rather than simply for something different.

[EnergyReaper]

@Christa About Chinese measure words. I recommend this site.

[abcdefg]

That site (http://xh.5156edu.com/page/z7949m2560j18586.html) gives all kinds of information about a collection of nouns, but I don't see anything about the appropriate measure words. I would not find it useful at all as a handy way to look up correct measure words. 

[ZJC]

All the three words are OK. But “个” seems less frequent when  describing the computer. You should avoid using “个” to describe the computer if you are writing or giving a speech.

 

“台” and “部” can be used to describe different computers. Compare:

一台电脑 (a desktop computer)

一 台/部 笔记本电脑 (a notebook computer)

 

If you have learned “部”, a measure word for books, you may find it's fine to call a notebook computer “一部笔记本电脑”.