9/11/24, 1:40 AM Numbers | myLPU
Numbers
1. Numbers
The Chinese numbers are renowned for being simple and logical. The numbers up to 9 are all one syllable
long, and the counting system follows a logical and easy to remember sentence. That being said, learning
Chinese numbers can still be confusing for learners. This is especially true when it comes to the higher
numbers, because the Chinese have a different point of reference than Western languages.
Chinese Numbers 1 to 10： 一到十
The lower numbers are very straightforward to learn. Not only are they simple words, the characters are
also some of the easiest to write and recognize in the language due to having only one main component
each. The basic numbers in Chinese are made up of these 10 words and characters.
[Link] 1/5
9/11/24, 1:40 AM Numbers | myLPU
Chinese Numbers 11 to 99 ： 十一到九十九
The Chinese numbers from 11 to 99 are also very easy to learn and remember. There are no new
characters to introduce here, as they use only the ten characters from 1 to 10 with a maximum of three
characters per number. The pattern is the following:
From 11 to 19 it’s ten (十) plus the number. So, literally ten-one is eleven, ten-two is twelve, and so on.
And then from 20 onwards, it’s the multiple of 10, plus ten, then the multiple of one. So twenty-one is
literally two-ten-one. If the number ends in 0, it’s just two characters, the multiple and then the ten.
[Link] 2/5
9/11/24, 1:40 AM Numbers | myLPU
Some more examples for 11 - 99
25 二十五 Èr shí wǔ
26 二十六 Èr shí liù
37 三十七 Sān shí qī
38 三十八 Sān shí bā
41 四十一 Sì shí yī
42 四十二 Sì shí èr
53 五十三 Wǔ shí sān
54 五十四 Wǔ shí sì
65 六十五 Liù shí wǔ
66 六十六 Liù shí liù
77 七十七 Qī shí qī
78 七十八 Qī shí bā
79 七十九 Qī shí jiǔ
82 八十二 Bā shí èr
[Link] 3/5
9/11/24, 1:40 AM Numbers | myLPU
89 八十九 Bā shí jiǔ
92 九十二 Jiǔ shí èr
97 九十七 Jiǔ shí qī
Chinese Numbers 100’s and 1000’s：百和千
The hundreds and thousands are slightly less straightforward than the Chinese numbers up to 100, but
they are still easy enough to learn. The character for “hundred” is 百 and the character for “thousand” is
千.
Things to keep in mind for the 100’s and 1000’s in Chinese:
零：The Chinese character for 0 is 零 (pronounced as líng in Chinese). This is used when there are one or
more 0’s in the middle of the number as placeholders. It is only needed if there are other digits that are not
0 which follow the 0 or 0’s. So, 零 is only pronounced when it is in between two digits other than 0.
二/两： These cheeky two characters for 2 show up in the 100’s and 1000’s of Chinese numbers. In the case
of 200, it makes no difference whether you say 二百 or 两百. But for 2000, you should always use 两千.
[Link] 4/5
9/11/24, 1:40 AM Numbers | myLPU
[Link] 5/5