Difference between revisions of "Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/Numbers"
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Revision as of 12:11, 16 October 2018
Welcome to this Mandarin Chinese lesson for beginners and intermediate levels.
Today you will learn how to count and pronounce numbers in Chinese.
Count with your hands from 1 to 10 in Mandarin Chinese
To start this lesson, let's learn how to count using our hands.
Look at the picture below:
Pronounce numbers from 0 to 10 in Mandarin Chinese
Watch this video to learn how to pronounce numbers from 0 to 10.
Pay attention to the pronunciation of tones. Its very important.
Write numbers from 0 to 10 in Mandarin Chinese
It is quite easy to count from 0 to 10 in Chinese, apart from the writing of zero: 零 líng.
Zero can also be written 〇 which is simpler but less traditional.
In Chinese, we often use Arabic numerals. However, you also have to know the Chinese figures that are commonly used.
| Numbers | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 / 〇 | líng |
| 1 | 一 | yī / yí / yì / yāo |
| 2 | 二 / 两 | èr / liǎng |
| 3 | 三 | sān |
| 4 | 四 | sì |
| 5 | 五 | wǔ |
| 6 | 六 | liù |
| 7 | 七 | qī |
| 8 | 八 | bā |
| 9 | 九 | jiǔ |
| 10 | 十 | shí |
Write numbers after 10 in Mandarin Chinese
After 10, the result is quite logical:
- 11 十一
- 12 十二
- 13 十三
...
- 19 十九
Then:
- 20 二十
- 21 二十一
- 22 二十二
etc.
It is very easy and there is nothing special except that we should not add a "one" from 10 to 19: Do not write: "一 十, 一 十一", etc.
Write big numbers in Mandarin Chinese
Here's how to write big numbers:
| Numbers | Chinese | pinyin |
| 100 | 一百 | yī bǎi |
| 200 | 二百 | èr bǎi |
| 1.000 | 一千 | yī qiān |
| 3.000 | 三千 | sān qiān |
| 9.999 | 九千九百九十九 | jiǔ qiān jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ |
| 10.000 | 一万 | yī wàn |
| 40.000 | 四万 | sì wàn |
| 100.000 (10 x 10.000) | 十万 | shí wàn |
| 500.000 | 五十万 | wǔ shí wàn |
| 1.000.000 (100 x 10.000) | 一百万 | yī bǎi wàn |
| 6.000.000 | 六百万 | liù bǎi wàn |
| 10.000.000 (1.000 x 10.000) | 一千万 | yī qiān wàn |
| 70.000.000 | 七千万 | qī qiān wàn |
| 100.000.000 | 一亿 | yī yì |
| 800.000.000 | 八亿 | bā yì |
| 1.000.000.000 (10 x 100.000.000) | 十亿 | shí yì |
Write the date in Mandarin Chinese
The date is built from the most general to the most precise:
Year + month + day of the month + day of the week
The year is constructed by listing the numbers in front of the word "year" 年 nián:
Thus, 2012 is written 二零一二年 è èr líng yí èr nián.
So we say "year two, zero, one, two." We must not say two thousand, etc.
The months are constructed by putting the number or the number (10, 11, 12) before the word "month" 月 yuè:
- January: 一月 yí yuè (note the change of tone of yī, see phonetics)
- February: 二月 èr yuè
- March: 三月 sān yuè
...
- October: 十月 shí yuè
- November: 十一月 shí yí yuè
- December: 十二月 shí èr yuè
Only the year is built by listing the numbers.
April 1998 is therefore: 一 九九 八年 四月.
The day of the month is constructed by putting the number or number in front of the word "day" 日 rì.
Attention the word 天 tiān, "day" indicates the duration (in an expression like "three days of holidays" for example).
- The first day of the month will be said: 一日 yí rì,
- The second 二 日 èr rì,
- The thirtieth 三十 日 sān shí rì,
- The thirty-first 三十 一日 sān shí yí rì, etc.
December 21, 2012 is written: 二零 一 二年 十二月 二十 一日.
In Chinese, the word week is called 星期 xīngqī (literally "period of stars"). The day of the week is built by adding the number AFTER the word week 星期:
- Monday 星期一 xīngqī yī
- Tuesday 星期二 xīngqī èr
- Wednesday 星期三 xīngqī sān
- Thursday 星期四 xīngqī sì
- Friday 星期五 xīngqī wǔ
- Saturday 星期六 xīngqī liù
The word "Sunday" is special and is either 星期天 xīngqī tiān (day of the sky) or 星期日 xīngqī rì (day of the sun).
And yes, the week is not Chinese tradition but Judeo-Christian.
Ask for a date in Mandarin Chinese
To ask for the date, two questions are possible:
- 今天 的 日期 是 什么? Jīntiān de rìqī shì shénme?
or
- 今天 几 月 几 日? Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ rì? (for the short form)
- 今天 几年 几 月 几 日 星期 星期 几? Jīntiān jǐ nián jǐ yuè jǐ rì xīngqī jǐ? (for the long form)
To ask for the anniversary date we will say:
- 你的生日是几月几日？ Nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ rì ?
And the answer:
- 我的生日是三月二十一日。 Wǒ de shēngrì shì sān yuè èrshíyí rì.
My birthday is on March 21st.
Which calendar is used in China?
The Chinese calendar is a lunar calendar.
It is still very much used for traditional celebrations and birthdays.
For work and administration, the so-called "solar calendar" is used.
"How old are you?" in Mandarin Chinese
- 你 多大?
How old are you?
The answer to the question is built without verb:
Subject + number + 岁 (suì).
Example:
- 我 十七 岁. Wǒ shíqī suì.
I am 17 years old
When we talk to a child, we can also say :
- 你 几岁? Nǐ jǐ suì?
How old are you?
In reality, the interrogative word "how much?" 几 jǐ is used when the response is estimated to be less than 10 (approximately).
For an answer greater than ten, there is another interrogative word that is constructed with 多 duō.
How to pronounce years and phone numbers in Mandarin Chinese
When pronuncing a phone number or a year, it must be done digit by digit.
When pronuncing phone numbers for instance, the Chinese often replace "一" by "幺 <yāo>".
The year "2014" is 二〇一四(年) ‹ èr líng yī sì (nián) › and not "二千〇一十四".
Sources
http://www.chine-culture.com/chinois/cours-de-chinois-5-grammaire.php