套
tào
Pieces that only feel complete together: 套
The picture Separate pieces fitted over one another in turn until nothing is missing and they form one full set. 套 counts one full set of pieces that fit together; 对 counts one pair made by two facing each other.
Where the picture shows up in 套
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clothes that travel together
他买了一套西装。
tā mǎi le yí tào xīzhuāng
He bought a suit.
A jacket and trousers hanging together on one hanger.
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rooms that come as one unit
这套房子有两个卧室。
zhè tào fángzi yǒu liǎng ge wòshì
This flat has two bedrooms.
A floor plan showing entrance, living room and bedrooms bound into one dwelling.
One apartment is 一套房子; the whole building is 一座楼.
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household things matched to each other
厨房里有一套新餐具。
chúfáng lǐ yǒu yí tào xīn cānjù
There's a new set of tableware in the kitchen.
Plates and bowls in the same pattern, stacked by size in the cupboard.
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a system swapped in whole
公司换了一套新软件。
gōngsī huàn le yí tào xīn ruǎnjiàn
The company put in a new set of software.
The old programs stripped out and one whole new set laid in over them.
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a set of habits worn in
他有他的一套做法。
tā yǒu tā de yí tào zuòfǎ
He has his own way of doing it.
The same hands working the same job in the same order every time.
Applied to a person's method or patter, 一套 carries the sense of 'that same routine again'.
All of it in one picture
The suit whose jacket and trousers travel together is 套, the flat whose rooms come as one unit is 套, the dishes matched to each other are 套. The software a company swaps in wholesale is 套, and so is somebody's own way of doing a job. 套 counts not how many pieces but 'one set with nothing missing'. Pull a single piece out of a 套 and the rest starts to look wrong.