群
qún
Many stuck together and moving as one: 群
The picture Separate things drawing close until they become one body and shift as a single lump. 群 counts a mass moving together as one; 个 counts a single one pulled out of that mass.
Where the picture shows up in 群
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people crowded together
门口站着一群人。
ménkǒu zhàn zhe yì qún rén
There's a crowd standing at the door.
People packed shoulder to shoulder in one clump outside the shop door.
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children moving all at once
一群孩子跑过去了。
yì qún háizi pǎo guòqu le
A bunch of kids ran past.
Children bunched together, running past in one direction all at once.
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animals grazing together
山上有一群羊。
shān shang yǒu yì qún yáng
There's a flock of sheep on the hill.
White sheep pressed close on the hillside, drifting slowly across it.
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things crossing the sky together
天上飞过一群鸟。
tiān shang fēi guo yì qún niǎo
A flock of birds flew past.
Birds crossing the sky as one shifting shape.
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people bunched inside a screen
我把你加到公司群里。
wǒ bǎ nǐ jiā dào gōngsī qún lǐ
I'll add you to the company group chat.
One chat window on a phone filling up with the names of everyone at work.
A group chat on Chinese messaging apps is called a 群.
All of it in one picture
The people crowded at the door are 群, the children running past in a bunch are 群, the sheep on the hillside are 群. The birds crossing the sky are 群, and so is the company chat group on your phone. 群 counts no headcount; it counts the picture of 'scattered things closed up and moving as one'. That is why anything with 群 registers as a single lump before you count it.