Chinese Numbers Guide: How to Count from 1-1000 and Beyond

If you recently started learning Chinese, odds are learning to count is one of your first goals.

Chinese numbers, or 数字  (shù zì), are used for slang, days of the week, listing quantities, talking about money, months of the year, telling time and so much more. And luckily, they follow a pattern that’s easy to learn and makes logical sense.

Take a look at this guide to learn Chinese numbers from one to 1,000 (and more), how to count in Chinese and how to use numbers in everyday sentences.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

 

How to Say 0-10 in Chinese

The best part about numbers 0-10 in Chinese is that they’ll help you remember every number after them. Think of these numbers as building blocks for numbers 11 and beyond.

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
0	零	líng
1	一	yī
2	二	èr
2	两	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

Now you’re probably asking: Why are there two ways to say the number two?

When counting, use 二. When listing quantities, use 两.

For example, 两个人 (liǎng ge rén) is the correct way to say “two people.” But, if you were counting “one, two, three…” you’d say 一，二，三.

How to Say 11-20 in Chinese

Remember how I said that numbers one through 10 are building blocks? Well, you’re about to see that in action.

When you count beyond 10, you continue to use numbers one through 10 along with basic addition.

For example, the number 11 is 十一 (shí yī). The literal translation of this number is “10 plus one.”

Let’s take a look.

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
11	十一	shí yī
12	十二	shí èr
13	十三	shí sān
14	十四	shí sì
15	十五	shí wǔ
16	十六	shí liù
17	十七	shí qī
18	十八	shí bā
19	十九	shí jiǔ
20	二十	èr shí

Notice that the number 20 literally means “two and 10.”

Easy, right? The good news is that every other number from 30-99 follows this pattern.

How to Say 21-99 in Chinese

Let’s start with counting by tens.

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
30	三十	sān shí
40	四十	sì shí
50	五十	wǔ shí
60	六十	liù shí
70	七十	qī shí
80	八十	bā shí
90	九十	jiǔ shí

To form the number, just think of it as a multiplication problem.

For example, the number 50 is five and 10 combined, as if to say “five times 10.” The number 80 is the numbers eight and 10 combined, such as “eight times 10.”

But what about forming numbers like 22, 57, 68 or 99?

Take a look at numbers 21 to 29.

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
21	二十一	èr shí yī
22	二十二	èr shí èr
23	二十三	èr shí sān
24	二十四	èr shí sì
25	二十五	èr shí wǔ
26	二十六	èr shí liù
27	二十七	èr shí qī
28	二十八	èr shí bā
29	二十九	èr shí jiǔ

Notice the pattern? The equation is simple:

The number 2-9 + 十 + the number 1-9

How to Say 100-999 in Chinese

Counting from 100 to 999 is about as easy as counting from 21-99. Let’s take a look at the pattern:

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
100	一百	yī bǎi
200	二百	èr bǎi
200	两百	liǎng 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

Pretty simple, right? The formula is as follows: the number one through nine plus 百 (bǎi) — hundred.

Now, let’s take a look at how to form numbers such as 101, 129, 146 and so on.

一百零一 (yī bǎi líng yī) — 101

一百零二 (yī bǎi líng èr) — 102

一百二十九 (yī bǎi èr shí jiǔ) — 129

一百四十六 (yī bǎi sì shí liù) — 146

四百五十八 (sì bǎi wǔ shí bā) — 458

九百九十九 (jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ) — 999

Notice the pattern: a number one through nine plus 百, then a number zero through nine plus 十 and then a final number zero through nine.

However, keep in mind that to count from numbers 101 to 109, you must add a 零. For example:

一百零一 (yī bǎi líng yī) — 101

一百零二 (yī bǎi líng èr) — 102

一百零九 (yī bǎi líng jiǔ) — 109

When counting from 110 to 119, it’s a little different:

一百一十 (yī bǎi yī shí) — 110

一百一十三 (yī bǎi yī shí sān) — 113

一百一十五 (yī bǎi yī shí wǔ) — 115

一百一十八 (yī bǎi yī shí bā) — 118

一百一十九 (yī bǎi yī shí jiǔ) — 119

The pattern is as follows:

The number 1-9 + 百 + 一 + the number 10-19

How to Say 1,000 and Beyond in Chinese

So far, the patterns of Chinese numbers have been pretty easy to understand. The number system has followed a logical order, and odds are you feel comfortable forming your own numbers from zero to 999.

But above 999, Chinese numbers can get a bit tricky.

In English, we continue putting the word “thousand” after numbers one through nine to count to one million. But in Chinese, there’s a new word for ten thousand. After we reach that number, we never use the word “thousand” again.

Let’s take a look.

English	Chinese	Pinyin
thousand	千	qiān
ten thousand	万	wàn
hundred thousand	十万	shí wàn
million	百万	bǎi wàn
hundred million	亿	yì
billion	十亿	shí yì

In Chinese, 1,000 to 9,000 is 一千 (yī qiān) to 九千 (jiǔ qiān).

However, 11,000 is not 十一千 (shí yī qiān). The correct way to say 11,000 is 一万一千 (yī wàn yī qiān), which is literally “10,000 plus 1,000.”

Similarly, the number 17,000 is 一万七千 (yī wàn qī qiān), which is 10,000 plus 7,000.

So, to get from 10,000 to 90,000, the formula is as follows:

The number 1-9 + 万

For example, the number 50,000 is 五万 (wǔ wàn). The number 30,000 is 三万 (sān wàn).

What about 58,000? That would be 五万八千 (wǔ wàn bā qiān).

The same applies to numbers 十万 (shí wàn) — a hundred thousand to 十亿 (shí yì) — billion.

10 Essential Chinese Measure Words

Measure words are an essential part of Chinese grammar.

In Chinese, you can’t simply say “I want two apples.” You have to insert a measure word in between the number two and the word “apples.”

Leaving out measure words is one of the few errors in Chinese that many native speakers won’t be able to look past using context alone.

Although you might think leaving out a measure word isn’t a big deal, it could mean that native speakers simply won’t understand what you’re trying to say.

Let’s dive into the first 10 measure words you should learn.

Chinese	Pinyin	Usage	Example
只	zhī	counting animals	两只小狗 (liǎng zhī xiǎo gǒu) — two puppies
间	jiān	counting rooms	三间房 (sān jiān fáng) — three rooms
棵	kē	counting plants and trees	八棵树 (bā kē shù) — eight trees
张	zhāng	counting anything flat	一张纸 (yì zhāng zhǐ) — one piece of paper
双	shuāng	counting pairs	一双袜子 (yì shuāng wà zi) — one pair of socks
辆	liàng	counting vehicles	三辆车 (sān liàng chē) — three cars
本	běn	counting books	两本书 (liǎng běn shū) — two books
家	jiā	counting buildings, gatherings and establishments	一家公司 (yì jiā gōng sī) — one company
位	wèi	counting people	三位老师 (sān wèi lǎo shī) — three teachers

And lastly, there’s 个 (ge/gè) — generic measure word.

This measure word can be used to count anything. If you find yourself stuck in a situation where you don’t know which measure word to use, just use 个 (ge/gè).

For example:

两个苹果 (liǎng ge píng guǒ) — two apples

How to Use Chinese Numbers in Conversations

Now that you know how to count in Chinese, let’s look at how Chinese numbers are used in real-life conversations—such as giving your phone number, mentioning your age or asking for the price of something.

Phone Numbers in Chinese

First, let’s start with the basics. To ask for someone’s phone number, say:

你的电话号码是多少？
(nǐ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì duō shǎo?)
What is your phone number?

电话号码 (diàn huà hào mǎ) means “phone number.”

So to answer, you’d say:

我的电话号码是……
(wǒ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì…)
My phone number is…

Giving your phone number in Chinese is the same as in English. Simply say the digits one by one until you’ve completed the number sequence. For example:

我的电话号码是8319036452。
(wǒ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì bā sān yāo jiǔ líng sān liù sì wǔ èr.)
My phone number is 8319036452.

When people tell phone numbers, the number 1 (yī) is often pronounced as “yāo”. Do you know why? -The pronunciation of 1 (yī) is too similar to 7 (qī) and it often brings trouble. To make things easier, people pronounced 1 as “yāo”.

Age and Birthdays in Chinese

To express your age in Mandarin Chinese, you can use one of the following two patterns:

我……
(wǒ…)
I am…(years old)

我……岁
(wǒ…suì)
I am…years old

In my personal experience, the second one seems to be the most common.

For example, if you are 25 years old, you would say:

我二十五。
(wǒ èr shí wǔ.)
I am 25 (years old).

我二十五岁。
(wǒ èr shí wǔ suì.)
I am 25 years old.

To say your birthday in Mandarin, you can use the following pattern:

我的生日是……年……月……日
(wǒ de shēngrì shì…nián…yuè…rì)
My birthday is on the…of…in the year…

In Chinese, people mostly use the order “year-month-date”.

For example:

我的生日是一九九零年五月十日。
(wǒ de shēng rì shì yī jiǔ jiǔ líng nián wǔ yuè shí rì。)
My birthday is on May 10th, 1990.

To learn more about how to talk about dates in Chinese, I highly recommend checking out this post:

Talking About Prices in Chinese

First, you need to know that the currency of China is 元 (yuán). But when talking about prices, the word 块 (kuài) is often used instead of 元.

You’d use this simple formula to say how much something costs in Chinese:

。。。块
(…kuài)
…yuan

 For example, if you want to say something costs 50 yuan, you would say:

五十块
(wǔ shí kuài)
50 yuan

If the price includes smaller units such as 角 (jiǎo) or 分 (fēn), you can add them after the yuan part. For example:

三块五角
(sān kuài wǔ jiǎo)
3 yuan and 50 cents

You can check out this blog post to learn more about money in Chinese:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/money-in-chinese/

Ordinal Numbers in Chinese

Chinese ordinal numbers show placement, rank or sequences of nouns.

For example, ordinal numbers in English are words like “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth” and so on.

In Chinese, this is really simple. Instead of tacking on a few extra letters to the end of the number like in English, just add 第 (dì) before the number.

For example:

第一次 (dì yī cì) — 1st time

第二季 (dì èr jì) — 2nd season (of a TV show)

第三个问题 (dì sān gè wèn tí) — 3rd question

Approximate Numbers in Chinese

When we aren’t sure of an exact number, we use words like “a few,” “about,” “around” and “[number]-ish” in English.

In Chinese, you can use these expressions:

几个 (jǐ ge) — a few, several (for numbers between 1-9)

[number ≥10] 多  (duō) — more than [number ≥10]

十几 (shí jǐ) — more than 10, 10 and some odd… (i.e. “10 and some odd hours”)

几十 (jǐ shí) — a number between 20 and 99

三五个 (sān wǔ gè) — a colloquial way of saying “a few” (literally “three five”)

[number] 左右 / 差不多  (zuǒ yòu / chà bù duō) — about/around [number]

How to Count Chinese Numbers with Your Fingers

Did you know that counting with your hands in Chinese is different than in English?

In English, we count to 10 using all 10 fingers—or, both hands. But in Chinese, you only need one hand to count to 10!

Here’s a simple tutorial from the Yoyo Chinese YouTube channel that explains how to count to 10 using Chinese hand gestures:

Chinese Numbers Practice Quiz

Now it’s time to put your new vocabulary to the test! Translate the following numbers and phrases of this quiz, then check your answers below.

1. 20

2. 35

3. 13

4. 143

5. 1,981

6. three apples

7. four people

8. I am 23 years old

9. 63 RMB/yuan

10. 5th question

11. My birthday is November 10

 

Answers:

1. 二十 (èr shí)

2. 三十五 (sān shí wǔ)

3. 十三 (shí sān)

4. 一百四十三 (yī bǎi sì shí sān)

5. 一千九百八十一 (yī qiān jiǔ bǎi bā shí yī)

6. 三个苹果 (sān gè píng guǒ)

7. 四个人(sì gè rén)/四位 (sì wèi)

8. 我二十三岁 (wǒ èr shí sān suì)

9. 六十三块 (liù shí sān kuài)/六十三元(liú shí sān yuán)

10. 我的生日是十一月十日 (wǒ de shēng rì shì shí yī yuè shí rì)

Resources to Learn More About Chinese Numbers

Numbers are used to talk about lots of topics in Chinese!

You can continue expanding your Chinese numbers knowledge with these resources:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/days-of-the-week-in-chinese/

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/chinese-measure-words/
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/chinese-number-slang/
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/math-in-chinese/

The best way to solidify your new Chinese numbers knowledge is by using them in real life, and absorbing how native speakers do.

Luckily, you don’t have to go to China to do so. You can use native material online, like the videos on FluentU.

 

Congratulations—you can now count to one billion in Mandarin Chinese!

Simple, right?

Keep practicing and soon, you’ll find Chinese numbers come to you easily.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)