Numbers in Chinese

Counting numbers (10,11)

If you have learned the numbers one to ten ( 一 yī 二 èr 三 sān 四 sì 五 wŭ 六 liù 七 qī 八 bā 九 jiŭ 十 shí ) and the words for a hundred 百 băi , a thousand 千 qiān and ten-thousand 万 wàn , you will be able to count in Chinese.

It is very easy to work out the Chinese number system. For instance, eleven is 十一 shí yī lit. ten and one, so twelve is 十二 shí èr ten and two, twenty is 二十 èr shí two tens and twenty two is 二十二 èr shí èr two tens and two. A hundred and twenty two is 一百二十二 yī băi èr shí èr one hundred, two tens and two.

The word for zero 零 líng is also used for missing units in counting. For instance, 105 will be 一百零五 yì băi ling wŭ one hundred zero and five. The word 零 líng zero here indicates the missing unit of tens. If there are two or more missing units in a number, only one zero is used. For instance, 10,202 in Chinese is 一万二百零二 yí wàn èr băi líng èr one ten thousand, two hundred, zero and two.

If you are going to be a Chinese banker, you may have to learn more complicated figures. For instance, one million is 一百万 yì băi wàn (lit. one hundred of ten thousands); a hundred million is 亿 Yì.

The following is a table of Chinese number units to help you to work out any figures you want in Chinese.

Only the Chinese words on the first line are said aloud here. For instance, if you insert the figure of 453,679,102 into the boxes below you should say:

四亿五千三百六十七万九千一百零二 sì yì wŭ qiān sān băi liù shí qī wàn jiŭ qiān yì băi ling èr.

However, a word in orange from the second line is said when there are no more figures after it. For instance, the figure 150,000,000 is a hundred and fifty million in English and is 一亿五千万 yí yì wŭ qiān wàn in Chinese:

The figure only uses the first two columns on the left, including one word in orange.

Reading out aloud a number

Telephone numbers and year numbers are spoken individually in Chinese. The year 1965 is 一九六五年 yī jiŭ liù wŭ nián (lit. 1965 year).

Two irregular features about numbers are worth mentioning here.

1. The tone for 一 yī one changes according the tone of the succeeding word. It should be pronounced in the fourth tone unless the word after 一 yī is in the fourth tone, in which case 一 yī should be pronounced in the second tone. 一 yī one is only pronounced in the first tone when there is no word after it. The yī pronunciation for one can become indistinct if used with other numbers or (especially) if repeated, so one is also pronounced yāo when used for numbering:

1 1 3 路电 车

yāoyāosān lù diànchē

Route 113 trolleybus.

2. When expressing quantity, 两 liăng two is used instead of 二 èr two. For instance, 两个老师 liăng ge lăoshī two teachers. However, in a larger number that involves two, then 二 èr is used, but not 两 liăng. Some examples are: 十二个老师 shí èr ge lăoshī twelve teachers.

Written from for numbers

Complicated Chinese characters are used for bank notes, cheques and receipts to avoid forgery, as shown on the second line below.

If you have any questions about this explanation, please click here.

Assignments.

Translate the following numbers into Chinese (10,11 numbers)

46, 58, 87, 93, 11, 22, 65, 74

152, 478, 101, 1243, 1048, 1834695, 50002

Write receipts for:

78 RMB, 58 RMB, 69 RMB, 12 RMB.