Posted by Mollan Mo 17317
Learn how to count numbers in Chinese is very necessary for living in China. Although the whole world is using the Arabic numerals, you still need to learn how to read them in Chinese, and how to write them in Chinese characters.
Number | Chinese character | Pinyin | English |
0 | 零 | línɡ | zero |
1 | 一 | yī | one |
2 | 二 | èr | two |
3 | 三 | sān | three |
4 | 四 | sì | four |
5 | 五 | wǔ | five |
6 | 六 | liù | six |
7 | 七 | qī | seven |
8 | 八 | bā | eight |
9 | 九 | jiǔ | nine |
10 | 十 | shí | ten |
Pay attention to number 1 and number 2, the pronunciation of these two numbers are a bit special in Chinese, when 1 exits in tel-phone numbers or address numbers, we prefer to say "yāo" instead of "yī", number 2 is a bit complicated, when we do the count, the number 2 is always read as "èr", when it occurs with a measure word following such as "bēi杯", "ge个", the number 2 should be read as "liǎng 两", for example," two cups of coffee" in English is "liǎng bēi kā fēi 两杯咖啡" in Chinese.
Also, numbers from 11-99 are extremely easier than those in English, you don't need to memorize new word, just combine these 10 numbers. For example, eleven is ten plus one, so in Chinese, we use "十一shí yī" to express eleven,twenty is two 10,so "èr shí" is twenty. I'm sure now you know all other numbers in Chinese from 0-99,they are: 零(línɡ),一(yī),二(èr),三(sān),四(sì),五(wǔ),六(liù),七(qī),八(bā),九(jiǔ),十(shí),十(shí)一(yī),十(shí)二(èr),十(shí)三(sān),十(shí)四(sì),十(shí)五(wǔ),十(shí)六(liù),十(shí)七(qī),十(shí)八(bā),十(shí)九(jiǔ),二(èr)十(shí),二(èr)十(shí)一(yī),二(èr)十(shí)二(èr),……九(jiǔ)十(shí)八(bā),九(jiǔ)十(shí)九(jiǔ)。
Chinese character | Pinyin | English |
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 |
Number | Chinese character | Pinyin | English |
100 | 一百 | yì bǎi | One hundred |
1000 | 一千 | yì qiān | One thousand |
10,000 | 一万 | yí wàn | Ten thousand |
100,000 | 十万 | shí wàn | A hundred thousand |
1,000,000 | 一百万 | yì bǎi wàn | One million |
10,000,000 | 一千万 | yì qiān wàn | Ten million |
100,000,000 | 一亿 | yí yì | One hundred million |
1,000,000,000 | 十亿 | shí yì | One billion |
Above are the basic Chinese character about numbers. If you want to learn more, book a free trial class here!