Structure of numbers

Chinese handles numbers in a very consistent and logical way. Once you've mastered just a few tricky parts, you will know how to read out any number in Chinese.

Contents

One to one hundred

Structure for the first ten

You just have to memorize these ten; nothing tricky there.

Phone Numbers

Like in American English, Chinese phone numbers are given as a string of individual numbers, using the digits 0-9. The only trick is that the number 1 is often pronounced "yāo" instead of "yī" to avoid confusion with number 7, which is pronounced "qī."

Structure for teens

Eleven, twelve and the teens are handled very logically. They're formed with 十 (shí) followed by a digit 一 (yī) to 九 (jiǔ). So eleven is 十一 (shí-yī), twelve is 十二 (shí-èr), thirteen is 十三 (shí-sān), and so on up to nineteen, which is 十九 (shí-jiǔ).

Structure for tens

All the tens are also formed very logically. Twenty is 二十 (èrshí), thirty is 三十 (sānshí), and so on. Units in the tens are simply added on the end. So twenty one is 二十一 (èrshí-yī), thirty four is 三十四 (sānshí-sì), and ninety-nine is 九十九 (jiǔshí-jiǔ). All very logical and consistent.

Examples

And one hundred is simply 一百 (yībǎi), as in English. So you now know how to count to one hundred in Chinese.

After one hundred

Dealing with Zeroes

Note: when there's a "0" in the middle of a number, you read it as (líng), and don't put a number after it.

Examples

For numbers 110 and greater

For numbers greater than 100, if the number ends in zero (110, 230, 370, 450, etc.), a number like 150 can be read as 一百五十 (yībǎi wǔshí), but is often read as 一百五 (yībǎi wǔ). In fact, reading it as 一百五 (yībǎi wǔ) always means 150, never 105. As described above, 105 would be read as 一百零五 (yībǎi líng wǔ).

For numbers greater than 100 that end in a number in the teens, it's normal to pronounce the ten as "yīshí" rather than just "shí" (see the examples below).

Also, sometimes the number 200, or "二百", is pronounced "èrbǎi," and sometimes it is pronounced "liǎngbǎi." Both are OK.

Examples

After one thousand

千 (qiān) means "thousand" in Chinese. Its rules of usage are similar to the rules for "hundred." Just note that no matter how many zeroes are in the middle of the number, you just say 零 (líng) once.

Examples

10,000 and beyond

Things get a little trickier once you get to 10,000. If you're ready for it, you can move on to big numbers.

See also

• Big numbers
• Structure of dates
• Structure of days of the week
• Measure words
• "Èr" and "liǎng"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 70-1)　
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 273-4)
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 15-6)
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (p. 104)
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (p. 122)
• >New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (p. 18)
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (p. 81)