Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/Numbers

Learn how to count in Chinese

Hey there, Chinese learners!

Are you ready to add Chinese numbers to your language toolbox? In this lesson, we'll be covering everything you need to know about counting in Chinese. Whether you're a beginner or intermediate level learner, we've got you covered with step-by-step instructions on how to count with your hands, pronounce numbers, write numbers, and even write the date in Chinese. You'll also learn how to ask someone's age and how to pronounce years and phone numbers in Chinese. By the end of this lesson, you'll be well on your way to becoming a fluent Chinese speaker!

So let's get started!

Upon mastering this content, you might be interested in pursuing these relevant subjects: 爱 ài, Introducing Each Other (Business ..., 够(夠) gòu enough & Polyphonic characters.

Count with your hands from 1 to 10 in Chinese

To start this lesson, let's learn how to count using hands.

Look at the picture below:

Pronounce numbers from 0 to 10 in 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 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 characters that are commonly used.

Numbers	Chinese	Pinyin
0	零 / 〇	líng
1	一 / 幺	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 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 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 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 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 (2012 Nián 12 yuè 21 rì).

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).

Ask for a date in 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 Chinese

• 你 多大? Nǐ duō dà?

How old are you?

The adjectival verb 大 dà can be translated as "to be big" in the sense of size and age.

• 中国 很大 Zhōngguó Hěn dà

China is very big.

In Chinese, the word 多 duō can also be translated as "how many?" when he is in front of a verb.

This use of the verb 多 makes it possible to make questions that are difficult to translate into another language, but which do exist in Chinese:

• 她 多 美?

How much is she pretty?

• 他 多 好?

How much is he nice?

The answer to the question is built without verb using the word 岁 (suì):

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 use the interrogative word "how much?" 几岁 jǐ suì:

• 你 几岁? Nǐ jǐ suì?

How old are you?

Actually, 几岁 is used when the response is estimated to be less than 10 years old (approximately).

For an answer greater than 10 years old, use 多大.

How to pronounce years and phone numbers in 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>". Because in these cases, the sound changes of 一 are not applied, its pronunciation is similar to 七's.

The year "2014" is "二〇一四(年) ‹ èr líng yī sì (nián) ›" and not "二千〇一十四".

Practice Phrases:

1. 你多大？(Nǐ duō dà?) - How old are you?
2. 今天是几月几日？(Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ rì?) - What is today's date?
3. 我的电话号码是一三五七九。(Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yī sān wǔ qī jiǔ.) - My phone number is 13579.
4. 我有两个姐姐。(Wǒ yǒu liǎng gè jiějiě.) - I have two older sisters.
5. 你的生日是几月几日？(Nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ rì?) - When is your birthday?
6. 今天是星期天。(Jīntiān shì xīngqītiān.) - Today is Sunday.
7. 请问，现在是几点？(Qǐngwèn, xiànzài shì jǐ diǎn?) - Excuse me, what time is it now?
8. 五加六等于十一。(Wǔ jiā liù děngyú shíyī.) - Five plus six equals eleven.
9. 我需要买三张票。(Wǒ xūyào mǎi sān zhāng piào.) - I need to buy three tickets.
10. 他今年三十五岁。(Tā jīnnián sānshíwǔ suì.) - He is thirty-five years old this year.
11. 二十乘以四等于八十。(Èrshí chéngyì sì děngyú bāshí.) - Twenty multiplied by four equals eighty.
12. 你家有几口人？(Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) - How many people are there in your family?
13. 九减四等于五。(Jiǔ jiǎn sì děngyú wǔ.) - Nine minus four equals five.

Quiz:

1. How do you pronounce the number "3" in Chinese? a) sān b) èr c) sì
2. How do you write the number "7" in Chinese? a) 五 b) 六 c) 七
3. How do you say "April 1998" in Chinese? a) 一九九八年四月 b) 一九九八年三月 c) 一九九八年五月
4. How do you ask someone's age in Chinese when speaking to a child? a) 你多大？ b) 你几岁？ c) 你多少岁？
5. How do you pronounce the year 2023 in Chinese? a) 二〇二二年 b) 二〇二三年 c) 二〇二四年
6. How do you write the number "6" in Chinese? a) 八 b) 九 c) 六
7. How do you say "Today is Wednesday" in Chinese? a) 今天是星期二。 b) 今天是星期三。 c) 今天是星期四。
8. Which of these means "eight" in Chinese? a) bā b) wǔ c) qī
9. How do you say "nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine" in Chinese? a) 九千九百九十九 b) 九千八百八十八 c) 八千九百九十九
10. How do you ask "How many people are there in your family?" in Chinese? a) 你家有几口人？ b) 你家有多少人？ c) 你家有多少口人？
11. How do you say "two thousand" in Chinese? a) 一千 b) 两千 c) 三千
12. What is the Chinese character for "zero"? a) 五 b) 零 c) 一
13. How do you say "forty thousand" in Chinese? a) 四万 b) 五万 c) 六万
14. How do you say "Friday" in Chinese? a) 星期五 b) 星期六 c) 星期日
15. How do you say "I am 25 years old" in Chinese? a) 我二十五岁。 b) 我二十岁。 c) 我二十六岁。

Answers:

1. a) sān
2. c) 七
3. a) 一九九八年四月
4. b) 你几岁？
5. b) 二〇二三年
6. c) 六
7. b) 今天是星期三。
8. a) bā
9. a) 九千九百九十九
10. a) 你家有几口人？
11. b) 两千
12. b) 零
13. a) 四万
14. a) 星期五
15. a) 我二十五岁。

Sources

• http://www.chine-culture.com/chinois/cours-de-chinois-5-grammaire.php
• https://chine.in/mandarin/methode/index.php?lecon=6

Other Lessons

• 而 ér also, and, yet, but
• 教 jiào teach; teaching; religion jiāo teach
• 社 shè society; organized body
• 划(劃) huà plan
• 查 chá examine, check, Zhā Zha (a surname)
• 视(視) shì look at, regard, inspect
• At Home
• Difference between 漢語 and 中文
• 占(佔) zhàn occupy
• How to build a sentence in Chinese

Table of Contents - Mandarin Chinese Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Pinyin and Tones

• Pinyin Introduction
• Tones Introduction
• Tone Pairs

  ---

Greetings and Basic Expressions

• Greeting People
• Basic Expressions
• Numbers and Counters

  ---

Sentence Structure and Word Order

• Subject-Verb-Object Structure
• Question Words and Question Structure
• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Negation and Conjunctions
• Particles and Structure Particles

  ---

Daily Life and Survival Expressions

• Asking for Directions
• Ordering Food and Drinks
• Shopping and Bargaining
• Transport and Travel
• Emergencies and Medical Care

  ---

Chinese Festivals and Traditions

• Spring Festival and Chunyun
• Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes
• Dragon Boat Festival and Zongzi
• Double Ninth Festival and Chongyang Cake

  ---

Verbs and Verb Usage

• Action Verbs and Stative Verbs
• Modal Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs
• Complex Verb Phrases

  ---

Hobbies, Sports and Activities

• Leisure Activities and Hobbies
• Sports and Exercise
• Outdoor Activities and Nature
• Music and Film

  ---

China's Geography and Landmarks

• China's Four Great Ancient Capitals
• Famous Chinese Mountains and Rivers
• China's Great Wall

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Common and Proper Nouns
• Personal Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns
• Demonstrative Pronouns and Interrogative Pronouns

  ---

Professions and Personality Traits

• Professions and Jobs
• Personality Traits and Characteristics
• Emotions and Feelings

  ---

Chinese Traditional Arts and Crafts

• Chinese Calligraphy and Painting
• Chinese Opera and Drama
• Chinese Knots and Paper-cutting

  ---

Comparative and Superlative

• Comparative Form and Usage
• Superlative Form and Usage

  ---

Cities, Countries and Tourist Destinations

• Chinese and International Cities
• Country Names and Nationalities
• Tourist Attractions and Transportation

  ---

Modern China and Current Events

• China's Economy and Business Landscape
• Chinese Art and Entertainment Scene
• Current Events and Issues in China and Beyond