Chinese Numbers
Chinese Pinyin English Pronunciation
1-10
1 一 yī "ee" (like "e" in "be")
2 二 èr "are" (rhymes with "air")
3 三 sān "sahn" (like "sun" with open "a")
4 四 sì "suh" (flat "s" + short "uh")
5 五 wǔ "woo" (like "wu" in "wudu")
6 六 liù "lyo" (like "leo" with "y" sound)
7 七 qī "chee" (like "cheat" without "t")
8 八 bā "bah" (like "ba" in "baba")
9 九 jiǔ "jyo" (like "jew" with "y" sound)
10 十 shí "shur" (like "sure" without "e")
11-19 Pattern: 十 + [digit]
11 十一 shí yī "shur ee"
12 十二 shí èr "shur are"
13 十三 shí sān "shur sahn"
14 十四 shí sì "shur suh"
15 十五 shí wǔ "shur woo"
16 十六 shí liù "shur lyo"
17 十七 shí qī "shur chee"
18 十八 shí bā "shur bah"
19 十九 shí jiǔ "shur jyo"
20-90 (Tens) Pattern: [digit] + 十
20 二十 èr shí "are shur"
30 三十 sān shí "sahn shur"
40 四十 sì shí "suh shur"
50 五十 wǔ shí "woo shur"
60 六十 liù shí "lyo shur"
70 七十 qī shí "chee shur"
80 八十 bā shí "bah shur"
90 九十 jiǔ shí "jyo shur"
# Chinese Pinyin English Pronunciation
21-99 (Examples) Pattern: [tens] + [digit]
21 二十一 èr shí yī "are shur ee"
35 三十五 sān shí wǔ "sahn shur woo"
42 四十二 sì shí èr "suh shur are"
58 五十八 wǔ shí bā "woo shur bah"
67 六十七 liù shí qī "lyo shur chee"
73 七十三 qī shí sān "chee shur sahn"
89 八十九 bā shí jiǔ "bah shur jyo"
94 九十四 jiǔ shí sì "jyo shur suh"
100
100 一百 yī bǎi "ee bye" (like "buy" with falling tone)
Key Patterns for 1-100
11-19: 十 (shí) + digit (e.g., 十四 = 10 + 4).
20-99: [Digit] + 十 + [digit]. Omit "一" before 十 (e.g., 二十, not 一十).
Zeros: No trailing zero (e.g., 30 = 三十, not 三十零).
2 vs 两: Use 两 (liǎng) for "200" (两百), but 二 (èr) for "22" (二十二).
Techniques for Counting Beyond 100 (to Infinity)
Core Units & Structure
Chinese uses powers of 10,000 (万/wàn) instead of 1,000. Build numbers like LEGO blocks:
Unit Character Pinyin Value Pronunciation
Ten 十 shí 10¹ "shur"
Hundred 百 bǎi 10² "bye"
Thousand 千 qiān 10³ "chee-en"
Ten Thousand 万 wàn 10⁴ "wahn"
Hundred Million 亿 yì 10⁸ "ee"
Trillion 兆 zhào 10¹² "jow" (like "chow")
Formula: [Digit] + [Unit] + [Digit] + [Unit]
Read left to right, largest unit first.
Insert 零 (líng, "leeng") for missing places (e.g., 101 = 一百零一).
Use 两 (liǎng) for "2" before 百/千/万 (e.g., 2,000 = 两千).
Examples of Large Numbers
Number Chinese Pinyin Breakdown
101 一百零一 yī bǎi líng yī 100 + 0 + 1
1,000 一千 yī qiān 1 × 1,000
10,000 一万 yī wàn 1 × 10,000
12,345 一万两千三百四十五 yī wàn liǎng qiān sān bǎi sì shí wǔ 1万 + 2千 + 3百 + 4十 + 5
1,000,000 一百万 yī bǎi wàn 100 × 10,000
100,000,000 一亿 yī yì 1 × 100,000,000
1,000,000,000,000 一兆 yī zhào 1 trillion
Infinity Technique
Beyond 兆: Use scientific notation (e.g., 10¹⁶ = 一京/yī jīng).
Combine units:
[兆] (10¹²) → [京] (10¹⁶) → [垓] (gāi, 10²⁰) → [秭] (zǐ, 10²⁴) → ...
Practical tip: For everyday use, stick to 万 (wàn) and 亿 (yì).
✅ Summary Cheat Sheet
1-10: Memorize as building blocks.
11-99: Use 十 (shí) + digits. Skip "一" before 十.
100+: 百 (bǎi), 千 (qiān), 万 (wàn), 亿 (yì).
Large numbers:
Group by 10,000s (万).
Use 零 (líng) for gaps.
Use 两 (liǎng) for "2" in hundreds/thousands.
Infinity: Stack units (万 → 亿 → 兆) or use scientific notation.
Practice by converting phone numbers or prices into Chinese! Ex: 8,888 = 八千八百八十八 (bā qiān bā bǎi bā shí bā).
Memory Techniques:
Trick Description
Use “shí” as 10 and build upward. E.g., "èr shí" = 20.
Combine digits: yì bǎi èr shí wǔ = 125.
"零 (líng)" is used to fill in zero places, e.g., 103 = 一百零三.
Practice like multiplication tables:
1-10 → 10s → 100s → 1000s → repeat pattern.
Imagine numbers grouped in 万 (10,000) instead of thousands as in English. Chinese
counts by four digits, not three.