You only need to know 16 characters to write all the numbers in Chinese! Moreover, it is relatively easy to learn Chinese numbers – they are simple, logical and regular. Once you remember these 10 rules, I can assure you there is no problem for you to count any Chinese number.
Instead of using the common 3 digits splitting system (every thousand), break down the large numbers into 4 digits (every ten thousand).
four zeros (ten thousand) = 万 (wàn)
eight zeros (one hundred million) = 亿 (yì)
twelve zeros (one trillion) = 兆 (zhào)
If there is an extra:
one zero, add ten, 十 (shí);
two zeros, add hundred, 百 (bǎi);
three zeros, add thounsand, 千 (qiān);
before the 万 (wàn), 亿 (yì), or 兆 (zhào).
| Arabic Way (3 Digits Splitting) | Chinese Way (4 Digits Splitting) | Traditional Chinese | Simplified Chinese | Pinyin |
| 0 | 0 | 零 | 零 | líng |
| 1 | 1 | 一 （么） | 一 （幺） | yī （yāo） |
| 2 | 2 | 二 （兩） | 二 （两） | èr （liǎng） |
| 3 | 3 | 三 | 三 | sān |
| 4 | 4 | 四 | 四 | sì |
| 5 | 5 | 五 | 五 | wǔ |
| 6 | 6 | 六 | 六 | liù |
| 7 | 7 | 七 | 七 | qī |
| 8 | 8 | 八 | 八 | bā |
| 9 | 9 | 九 | 九 | jiǔ |
| 10 | 10 | 十 | 十 | shí |
| 100 | 100 | 百 | 百 | bǎi |
| 1000 | 1000 | 千 | 千 | qiān |
| 10 000 | 1 0000 | 萬 | 万 | wàn |
| 100 000 | 10 0000 | 十萬 | 十万 | shí wàn |
| 1 000 000 | 100 0000 | 百 萬 | 百 万 | bǎi wàn |
| 10 000 000 | 1000 0000 | 千萬 | 千万 | qiān wàn |
| 100 000 000 | 1 0000 0000 | 億 | 亿 | yì |
| 1 000 000 000 | 10 0000 0000 | 十億 | 十亿 | shí yì |
| 10 000 000 000 | 100 0000 0000 | 百億 | 百亿 | bǎi yì |
| 100 000 000 000 | 1000 0000 0000 | 千億 | 千亿 | qiān yì |
| 1 000 000 000 000 | 1 0000 0000 0000 | 兆 | 兆 | zhào |
Have you noticed the patterns?
Different placement of 十 (shí) is used for counting from 11 to 99.
( )-teen = 十 ( )
| 11 | 10+1 | 十一 | shí yī |
| 12 | 10+2 | 十二 | shí èr |
| 13 | 10+3 | 十三 | shí sān |
( )-ty = ( ) 十
| 20 | 2×10 | 二十 | èr shí |
| 30 | 3×10 | 三十 | sān shí |
| 40 | 4×10 | 四十 | sì shí |
21 to 99 = ( ) 十 ( )
| 21 | 2×10+1 | 二十一 | èr shí yī |
| 22 | 2×10+2 | 二十二 | èr shí èr |
| 33 | 3×10+3 | 三十三 | sān shí sān |
| 44 | 4×10+4 | 四十四 | sì shí sì |
| 55 | 5×10+5 | 五十五 | wǔ shí wǔ |
| 66 | 6×10+6 | 六十六 | liù shí liù |
| 77 | 7×10+7 | 七十七 | qī shí qī |
| 88 | 8×10+8 | 八十八 | bā shí bā |
| 99 | 9×10+9 | 九十九 | jiǔ shí jiǔ |
Read the Chinese large numbers (100 and above) by dividing them one unit per unit (ten thousand – thousands – hundreds – tens – units).
| 123 | 100+20+3 | 一百二十三 | 一百二十三 | yībǎi èr shí sān |
| 666 | 600+60+6 | 六百六十六 | 六百六十六 | liùbǎi liù shí liù |
| 3636 | 3000+600+30+6 | 三千六百三十六 | 三千六百三十六 | sān qiān liù bǎi sān shí liù |
| 54321 | 50000+4000+300+20+1 | 五萬四千三百二十一 | 五万四千三百二十一 | wǔ wàn sìqiān sānbǎi èrshíyī |
If there is a zero (0) in the middle, read the 零 (líng) out. This is important because it is easily confused with the 5th rule. Even there is more than one zero in the middle (e.g 8008), 零 (líng) is only expressed once.
| 102 | 100+0+2 | 一百零二 | yībǎi líng èr |
| 309 | 300+0+9 | 三百零九 | sān bǎi líng jiǔ |
| 8008 | 8000+0+8 | 八千零八 | bā qiān líng bā |
| 9805 | 9000+800+0+5 | 九千八百零五 | jiǔ qiān bābǎi líng wǔ |
In a spoken way, we can leave out the 十 (shí), 百 (bǎi), 千 (qiān) when there is only zero behind. However, we have to express the complete version in a formal situation.
| 120 | 100+2(0) | 一百二(十) | 一百二(十) | yībǎi èr (shí) |
| 390 | 300+9(0) | 三百九(十) | 三百九(十) | sānbǎi jiǔ (shí) |
| 4800 | 4000+8(00) | 四千八(百) | 四千八(百) | sìqiān bā (bǎi) |
| 6 7000 | 6 0000+7(000) | 六萬七(千) | 六万七(千) | liù wàn qī (qiān) |
幺 (yāo) is literally translated as ‘the smallest’. We use 幺 (yāo) instead of 一 （yī） when we pronounce a string of numbers, e.g. phone numbers and ID numbers.
兩 (liǎng) is another version of two. If two is the first digit in the numbers, use 兩 (liǎng). However, keep in mind that we use 二十 (èrshí) for counting 20, not 两十。
| 200 | 兩百 | 两百 | liǎng bǎi |
| 2000 | 兩千 | 两千 | liǎng qiān |
| 2 0000 | 兩萬 | 两万 | liǎng wàn |
| 20 0000 | 二十萬 | 二十万 | èrshí wàn |
| 200 0000 | 兩百萬 | 两百万 | liǎng bǎi wàn |
We also use 兩 (liǎng) when counting people and things. Examples:
兩個人。
两个人。
Liǎng gèrén.
Two people.
兩個手機。
两个手机。
Liǎng gè shǒujī.
Two mobile phones.
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 before the numbers.
第 + Number = Ordinal Number
第一
dì yī
first
第二
dì èr
second
第三
dì sān
third
點 (diǎn) is used to denote the decimal point ‘.’ in decimal numbers. Note that after the decimal points, we have to read each digit of the number one by one, including the zero.
零點五。
零点五。
Líng diǎn wǔ.
0.5
零點零五。
零点零五。
Líng diǎn líng wǔ.
0.05
In Chinese, half is expressed by 半 (bàn).
半個小時。
半个小时。
Bàn gè xiǎoshí.
Half an hour.
We use 分之 (fēn zhī) to express for both fractions and percentages in Chinese.
Structure: Denominator + 分之 (fēn zhī) + Numerator
四分之三
Sì fēn zhī sān
¾
百分之十
Bǎi fēn zhī shí
10%
百分之一
Bǎi fēn zhī yī
1%
For the pronunciations, check it out on LingoCards!