18 Concepts You Need to Learn About Chinese Numbers

Chinese numbers are an integral part of the Chinese language and culture. Understanding how to read, write, and use Chinese numbers in Mandarin is essential for anyone learning the language. In this blog post, we’ll cover 18 key concepts that you need to learn about Mandarin numbers.

1. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 1-10 

Here are the Chinese numbers 0-10, along with their pinyin and English translations:

• 零 (líng) – 0
• 一 (yī) – one
• 二 (èr) – two
• 三 (sān) – three
• 四 (sì) – four
• 五 (wǔ) – five
• 六 (liù) – six
• 七 (qī) – seven
• 八 (bā) – eight
• 九 (jiǔ) – nine
• 十 (shí) – ten

The Chinese number system is based on a decimal system, with the numbers 1-10 having unique characters. Beyond 10, numbers are typically formed by combining these characters, such as 十一 (shí yī) for 11, 十二 (shí èr) for 12, and so on.

2. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 11-20 

Here are the numbers 11-20 in Chinese, along with their pinyin and English translations:

• 十一 (shí yī) – eleven
• 十二 (shí èr) – twelve
• 十三 (shí sān) – thirteen
• 十四 (shí sì) – fourteen
• 十五 (shí wǔ) – fifteen
• 十六 (shí liù) – sixteen
• 十七 (shí qī) – seventeen
• 十八 (shí bā) – eighteen
• 十九 (shí jiǔ) – nineteen
• 二十 (èr shí) – twenty 

To form numbers 11-19 in Chinese, the character for “ten” (十) is combined with the characters for the numbers 1-9. For example, “eleven” is 十一 (shí yī), which literally means “ten one.”

3. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 20-100 

To form numbers in the tens beyond 19, the characters for “ten” (十) and the numbers 1-9 are combined with the character for “two” (二), “three” (三), and so on. For example, “twenty” is 二十 (èr shí), which literally means “two ten.”

Here are the numbers 20-100 in intervals of 10 in Chinese, along with their pinyin and English translations:

• 二十 (èr shí) – twenty
• 三十 (sān shí) – thirty
• 四十 (sì shí) – forty
• 五十 (wǔ shí) – fifty
• 六十 (liù shí) – sixty
• 七十 (qī shí) – seventy
• 八十 (bā shí) – eighty
• 九十 (jiǔ shí) – ninety
• 一百 (yī bǎi) – one hundred

4. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 100-999

Here’s how to write and pronounce the numbers 100 to 999 in Chinese:

• 100: 一百 (yī bǎi)
• 200: 二百 (èr bǎi)
• 300: 三百 (sān bǎi)
• 400: 四百 (sì bǎi)
• 500: 五百 (wǔ bǎi)
• 600: 六百 (liù bǎi)
• 700: 七百 (qī bǎi)
• 800: 八百 (bā bǎi)
• 900: 九百 (jiǔ bǎi)

To form numbers between 100 and 999, you can combine the characters for the hundreds place with the characters for the ones and tens place. 

But, here are some additional points to help you understand Chinese numbers 100-999:

• The characters for the numbers 0-9 in Chinese are: 零 (líng) for 0, 一 (yī) for 1, 二 (èr) for 2, 三 (sān) for 3, 四 (sì) for 4, 五 (wǔ) for 5, 六 (liù) for 6, 七 (qī) for 7, 八 (bā) for 8, and 九 (jiǔ) for 9.
• In Chinese, the character for “hundred” (百, bǎi) is used to form numbers in the hundreds place. The character for “ten” (十, shí) is used to form numbers in the tens place, and the individual digits are used for the ones place.
• When forming numbers between 100 and 199, you can use the character for “zero” (零, líng) to indicate the tens and ones place if they are empty. For example, 100 is 一百 (yī bǎi), but 105 is 一百零五 (yī bǎi líng wǔ).
• In Chinese, the character for “ten” (十, shí) is always placed before the ones digit, even when the tens place is empty. For example, the number 9 is 九 (jiǔ), but the number 90 is 九十 (jiǔ shí).
• When forming numbers between 200 and 999, you can use the character for “zero” (零, líng) to indicate the ones place if it is empty. For example, 300 is 三百 (sān bǎi), but 309 is 三百零九 (sān bǎi líng jiǔ).

For example:

• 101: 一百零一 (yī bǎi líng yī)
• 102: 一百零二 (yī bǎi líng èr)
• 199: 一百九十九 (yī bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ)
• 512: 五百十二 (wǔ bǎi shí èr)
• 723: 七百二十三 (qī bǎi èr shí sān)

5. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 1000-9999

In Chinese, numbers 1000 and above are formed by combining the characters for the thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones place. Here’s how to write and pronounce the numbers 1000 to 9999 in Chinese:

• 1000: 一千 (yī qiān)
• 2000: 两千 (liǎng qiān)
• 3000: 三千 (sān qiān)
• 4000: 四千 (sì qiān)
• 5000: 五千 (wǔ qiān)
• 6000: 六千 (liù qiān)
• 7000: 七千 (qī qiān)
• 8000: 八千 (bā qiān)
• 9000: 九千 (jiǔ qiān)

To form numbers between 1000 and 9999, you can combine the characters for the thousands place with the characters for the hundreds, tens, and ones place. For example:

• 1001: 一千零一 (yī qiān líng yī)
• 2345: 两千三百四十五 (liǎng qiān sān bǎi sì shí wǔ)
• 6789: 六千七百八十九 (liù qiān qī bǎi bā shí jiǔ)

It’s important to note that the character for “two” (两, liǎng) is used before “thousand” (千, qiān) instead of the character for “two” (二, èr) when forming numbers between 2000 and 2999.

Here are some additional points to help you understand Chinese numbers 1000 and above:

• In Chinese, the character for “thousand” (千, qiān) is used to form numbers in the thousands place. The character for “hundred” (百, bǎi) is used to form numbers in the hundreds place, the character for “ten” (十, shí) is used to form numbers in the tens place, and the individual digits are used for the ones place.
• When forming numbers between 1000 and 1999, you can use the character for “zero” (零, líng) to indicate the hundreds, tens, and ones place if they are empty. For example, 1000 is 一千 (yī qiān), but 1005 is 一千零五 (yī qiān líng wǔ).
• In Chinese, the character for “ten” (十, shí) is always placed before the ones digit, even when the tens place is empty. For example, the number 9 is 九 (jiǔ), but the number 90 is 九十 (jiǔ shí).
• When forming numbers between 2000 and 9999, you can use the character for “zero” (零, líng) to indicate the hundreds, tens, and ones place if they are empty. For example, 3000 is 三千 (sān qiān), but 3009 is 三千零九 (sān qiān líng jiǔ).

6. Mandarin Chinese Numbers 10,000+

In Chinese, numbers 10,000 and above are formed by combining the characters for the ten thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones place. Here’s how to write and pronounce the numbers 10,000 to 99,999,999 in Chinese:

• 10,000: 一万 (yī wàn)
• 100,000: 十万 (shí wàn)
• 1,000,000: 一百万 (yī bǎi wàn)
• 10,000,000: 一千万 (yī qiān wàn)
• 100,000,000: 一亿 (yī yì)
• 1,000,000,000: 一十亿 (yī shí yì)

To form numbers between 10,000 and 99,999,999, you can combine the characters for the ten thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones place. For example:

15,432: 十五万四千三百三十二 (shí wǔ wàn sì qiān sān bǎi sān shí èr)

50,678: 五十万六千七百七十八 (wǔ shí wàn liù qiān qī bǎi qī shí bā)

999,999: 九百九十九万九千九百九十九 (jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ wàn jiǔ qiān jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ)

It’s important to note that the character for “ten” (十, shí) is always placed before the characters for the ten thousands place, even when the tens place is empty. For example, the number 15,000 is 十五万 (shí wǔ wàn), but the number 50,000 is 五十万 (wǔ shí wàn).

7. Expressing Numbers with Hand Signals 

In China it is common to use hand gestures to represent numbers in certain contexts, such as when counting money or playing games. These hand gestures, known as “digital gestures” or “digital signs,” are made by holding up a certain number of fingers to indicate the value of a number.

Here are the digital gestures for the numbers 1 to 10 in Chinese:

• 1: Hold up one finger.
• 2: Hold up two fingers.
• 3: Hold up three fingers.
• 4: Hold up four fingers.
• 5: Hold up five fingers with the palm facing down.
• 6: Hold up five fingers with the palm facing up and the thumb tucked in.
• 7: Hold up five fingers with the thumb extended.
• 8: Hold up five fingers with the pinky extended.
• 9: Hold up five fingers with the index and middle finger extended.
• 10: Hold up both hands with all fingers extended.

It’s important to note that these digital gestures are not used in formal written or spoken communication, and they may vary slightly depending on the region or context.

8. Ordinal Numbers in Chinese

In Chinese, ordinal numbers are used to indicate the order or rank of something in a series. To form ordinal numbers in Chinese, you can add the characters 第 (dì) and either 序 (xù) or 号 (hào) after the cardinal number.

Here are some examples of ordinal numbers in Chinese:

• 第一 (dì yī): first
• 第二 (dì èr): second
• 第三 (dì sān): third
• 第四 (dì sì): fourth
• 第五 (dì wǔ): fifth
• 第六 (dì liù): sixth
• 第七 (dì qī): seventh
• 第八 (dì bā): eighth
• 第九 (dì jiǔ): ninth
• 第十 (dì shí): tenth

You can use 第 (dì) and 序 (xù) to form ordinal numbers for numbers beyond 10. For example:

• 第十一 (dì shí yī): eleventh
• 第二十三 (dì èr shí sān): twenty-third
• 第三百 (dì sān bǎi): three hundredth

You can also use 第 (dì) and 号 (hào) to form ordinal numbers for numbers beyond 10. For example:

• 第一号 (dì yī hào): first (number)
• 第十一号 (dì shí yī hào): eleventh (number)
• 第二十三号 (dì èr shí sān hào): twenty-third (number)

9. Days of Week

 In Chinese, the days of the week are named using the characters 星期 (xīng qī), which literally means “week,” followed by a number character to indicate the order of the week.

Here is the correct list of the names of the days of the week in Chinese, along with their English translations:

• 星期一 (xīng qī yī): Monday (literal translation: “week day one”)
• 星期二 (xīng qī èr): Tuesday (literal translation: “week day two”)
• 星期三 (xīng qī sān): Wednesday (literal translation: “week day three”)
• 星期四 (xīng qī sì): Thursday (literal translation: “week day four”)
• 星期五 (xīng qī wǔ): Friday (literal translation: “week day five”)
• 星期六 (xīng qī liù): Saturday (literal translation: “week day six”)
• 星期日 (xīng qī rì): Sunday (literal translation: “week day sun”)

10. Months of Year

In Chinese, the names of the months of the year are formed by combining the character for “month” (月, yuè) with the character for the corresponding number. The character for “month” is always placed before the number character.

In Chinese, the year is divided into 12 months, and the names of the months are based on the number of the month in the year. January is the first month of the year and is called 一月 (yī yuè), which literally means “month one.” February is the second month of the year and is called 二月 (èr yuè), which literally means “month two,” and so on.

Here are the names of the months of the year in Chinese, along with their English translations:

• 一月 (yī yuè): January (literal translation: “month one”)
• 二月 (èr yuè): February (literal translation: “month two”)
• 三月 (sān yuè): March (literal translation: “month three”)
• 四月 (sì yuè): April (literal translation: “month four”)
• 五月 (wǔ yuè): May (literal translation: “month five”)
• 六月 (liù yuè): June (literal translation: “month six”)
• 七月 (qī yuè): July (literal translation: “month seven”)
• 八月 (bā yuè): August (literal translation: “month eight”)
• 九月 (jiǔ yuè): September (literal translation: “month nine”)
• 十月 (shí yuè): October (literal translation: “month ten”)
• 十一月 (shí yī yuè): November (literal translation: “month eleven”)
• 十二月 (shí èr yuè): December (literal translation: “month twelve”) 

11. Phone Numbers

In China, phone numbers are typically composed of 11 digits, with the first three digits representing the area code and the remaining eight digits representing the local phone number. When speaking about phone numbers in Chinese, you can use the following structure:

[area code] + [local phone number]

For example, if the area code is 010 and the local phone number is 12345678, you can say the phone number in Chinese as follows:

010 12345678

You can also use the character for “dash” (连字符, lián zì fú) to separate the area code and local phone number when writing the phone number in Chinese. The character for “dash” is typically used to separate the first three digits of the area code from the remaining eight digits of the local phone number.

For example, the phone number 010-12345678 can be written in Chinese as follows:

010-12345678

Here are a few points to keep in mind when speaking about phone numbers in Chinese:

• When speaking about phone numbers in Chinese, it’s important to pronounce each digit clearly and distinctly.
• When speaking about phone numbers in Chinese, it’s also important to pronounce the area code and local phone number as a single continuous string of digits, without any pauses or breaks between the digits.

For example, if the area code is 010 and the local phone number is 12345678, you can say the phone number in Chinese as follows:

yī líng líng yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā

12. Birthdays

 In Chinese, you can use the following structure to talk about someone’s birthday:

[person] 的生日是 [month] 月 [day] 日。

For example, if someone’s name is John and their birthday is on May 5th, you can say:

约翰的生日是五月五日。

In this sentence, 约翰 (yāo hán) is the person’s name, 的 (de) is a possessive particle, 生日 (shēng rì) means “birthday,” 是 (shì) is the verb “is,” 五月 (wǔ yuè) is the month, 五 (wǔ) is the day, and 日 (rì) is the character for “day.”

It’s important to note that the month and day are written using the Chinese characters for the corresponding numbers. For example, May is 五月 (wǔ yuè) and 5 is 五 (wǔ).

13. Age

In Chinese, you can use the following structure to express someone’s age:

[person] 已经 [age] 岁了。

For example, if someone’s name is John and they are 25 years old, you can say:

约翰已经二十五岁了。

In this sentence, 约翰 (yāo hán) is the person’s name, 已经 (yǐ jīng) means “already,” 二十五 (èr shí wǔ) is the age, 岁 (suì) means “years old,” and 了 (le) is a particle that marks the end of the sentence.

It’s important to note that the age is written using the Chinese characters for the corresponding numbers. For example, 25 is 二十五 (èr shí wǔ).

14. Measure Words

In Chinese, measure words (量词, liàng cí) are used to quantify nouns and indicate the quantity or amount of something. Measure words are used in Chinese in much the same way that articles (a, an, the) are used in English.

There are many different measure words in Chinese, and which measure word to use depends on the noun being quantified. Some common measure words in Chinese include 个 (gè) for small, indivisible objects, 只 (zhī) for animals, 张 (zhāng) for flat objects, and 本 (běn) for books.

Here are some examples of how measure words are used in Chinese:

• 一个苹果 (yī gè píng guǒ): one apple
• 两只猫 (liǎng zhī māo): two cats
• 三张桌子 (sān zhāng zhuō zi): three tables
• 四本书 (sì běn shū): four books

It’s important to note that measure words are an integral part of the Chinese language, and it is important to use the correct measure word when speaking or writing in Chinese.

15. Chinese Unlucky Numbers 

In Chinese culture, certain numbers are considered unlucky or inauspicious because they are believed to be associated with negative events or superstitions. These numbers are often avoided in certain contexts, such as in the selection of phone numbers, house numbers, and license plate numbers.

Here are some of the numbers that are considered unlucky in Chinese culture:

• 4 (四, sì): The number 4 is considered unlucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “death” (死, sǐ).
• 14 (十四, shí sì): The number 14 is considered unlucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the phrase “will surely die” (必死, bì sǐ).
• 24 (二十四, èr shí sì): The number 24 is considered unlucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the phrase “easily die” (易死, yì sǐ).
• 8 (八, bā): The number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “prosper” (发, fā). However, the number 88 (八十八, bā shí bā) is considered unlucky because it sounds similar to the phrase “will not prosper” (不发, bù fā).

It’s important to note that these superstitions and beliefs about unlucky numbers are not universally held by all Chinese people, and they may vary depending on the region or context.

16. Chinese Lucky Numbers 

In Chinese culture, certain numbers are considered lucky or auspicious because they are believed to be associated with good fortune or superstitions. These numbers are often used in certain contexts, such as in the selection of phone numbers, house numbers, and license plate numbers.

Here are some of the numbers that are considered lucky in Chinese culture:

• 8 (八, bā): The number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “prosper” (发, fā).
• 9 (九, jiǔ): The number 9 is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “eternity” (久, jiǔ).
• 6 (六, liù): The number 6 is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “flow” (流, liú).
• 5 (五, wǔ): The number 5 is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds similar to the word for “not” (无, wú).

It’s important to note that these superstitions and beliefs about lucky numbers are not universally held by all Chinese people, and they may vary depending on the region or context.

17. Mandarin Numbers and Money 

For example, to talk about the amount of money in Chinese, you can use the Chinese characters for the corresponding numbers followed by the currency, like this:

• 一美元 (yī měi yuán): 1 dollar
• 五十人民币 (wǔ shí rén mín bì): 50 Chinese yuan
• 两欧元 (liǎng ōu yuán): 2 euros
• 九十九日元 (jiǔ shí jiǔ rì yuán): 99 Japanese yen 

It’s important to note that the Chinese characters for the numbers 1 through 10 are written slightly differently when they are used to represent the amounts of money. For example, the character for “one” (一, yī) is written as 壹 (yī) when it is used to represent the amount of money.

18. Expressing “Millionaire” and “Billionaire”  

Here are the correct ways to express the concepts of millionaire and billionaire in Chinese:

百万富翁 (bǎi wàn fù wēng): millionaire (literal translation: “million rich man”)

十亿富翁 (shí yì fù wēng): billionaire (literal translation: “billion rich man”)

Conclusion

In conclusion, understanding Chinese numbers is an essential part of learning the Chinese language and culture. From the decimal system and the character for “zero” to unlucky and lucky numbers, measure words, and expressing age and money amounts, there are many important concepts to consider when learning about Chinese numbers. By familiarizing yourself with these concepts, you’ll be well on your way to becoming proficient in using Chinese numbers in a variety of contexts.

Overall, Chinese numbers are a fascinating and integral aspect of the Chinese language and culture, and learning about them can open up a whole new world of understanding and communication. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced learner, there is always more to learn and discover about Chinese numbers. By staying curious and committed to your studies, you’ll be able to master the complexities of Chinese numbers and take your language skills to the next level.