We use 舖 pou3 (in Tone 3) to mean ‘shop’ when we don’t specify the type of product or service that a shop sells.

We can put 舖 pou2 (‘shop’, in Tone 2) or 店 dim3 (‘shop’) after a type of product or service to refer to a shop that sells that type of product or service.

For some shops, we can only use either 舖 pou2 (‘shop’) or 店 dim3 (‘shop’), but not both.

We use the word 舖 pou3 (in Tone 3) to mean ‘shop’ when we don’t specify the type of product or service.

We usually use the classifier 個 go3 or 間 gaan1 with a shops or facility. Here are some general rules for choosing which to use:

Of course, there are always exceptions, as you will see in the list below! The rightmost column is the classifiers we use with the nouns.