Chinese numbers are one of the easiest and most logical systems in any language. Learn 1–10 — 一二三四五六七八九十 (yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí) — and you can build every number up to 99 by combining them: 11 is 十一 (ten-one), 25 is 二十五 (two-ten-five). Add 百 (hundred), 千 (thousand) and 万 (ten thousand) and you can count to the millions.
Most languages make numbers weirdly irregular (English “eleven, twelve, thirteen…”). Chinese refuses to. Once you know ten digits and a handful of place-value words, you can say any number — no exceptions to memorise. This is one of the fastest wins in the whole language, and it pays off every single day: prices, dates, phone numbers, ages. Let’s lock it in.
0 to 10: the foundation
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 | líng |
| 1 | 一 | yī |
| 2 | 二 | èr |
| 3 | 三 | sān |
| 4 | 四 | sì |
| 5 | 五 | wǔ |
| 6 | 六 | liù |
| 7 | 七 | qī |
| 8 | 八 | bā |
| 9 | 九 | jiǔ |
| 10 | 十 | shí |
11 to 99: just combine
Here’s the magic. Teens = 十 + digit. Tens = digit + 十. Two-digit = digit + 十 + digit.
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin | Literally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | shíyī | ten-one |
| 12 | 十二 | shí'èr | ten-two |
| 20 | 二十 | èrshí | two-ten |
| 21 | 二十一 | èrshíyī | two-ten-one |
| 35 | 三十五 | sānshíwǔ | three-ten-five |
| 50 | 五十 | wǔshí | five-ten |
| 99 | 九十九 | jiǔshíjiǔ | nine-ten-nine |
Big numbers: 百, 千, 万, 亿
One twist worth knowing: Chinese groups large numbers in ten-thousands (万), not thousands. So “one million” is “a hundred ten-thousands.”
| Value | Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 一百 | yìbǎi | one hundred |
| 1,000 | 一千 | yìqiān | one thousand |
| 10,000 | 一万 | yíwàn | ten thousand |
| 100,000 | 十万 | shíwàn | ten ten-thousands |
| 1,000,000 | 一百万 | yìbǎiwàn | one hundred ten-thousands |
| 100,000,000 | 一亿 | yíyì | one hundred million |
The big gotcha: 二 (èr) vs 两 (liǎng)
Both mean “two,” but they’re not interchangeable:
When to use which “two”
- 二 (èr) — for counting and inside numbers: 二十 (20), 十二 (12), phone numbers, room numbers.
- 两 (liǎng) — before a measure word to mean “two of something”: 两个人 (liǎng gè rén, two people), 两杯咖啡 (liǎng bēi kāfēi, two coffees).
- Quick test: counting or place-value → 二. A quantity of objects → 两.
Numbers in real life
Money
Prices use 块 (kuài, spoken) / 元 (yuán, written) for the main unit, 毛 (máo) / 角 (jiǎo) for 10 cents, and 分 (fēn) for cents.
| Price | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| ¥5 | 五块 | wǔ kuài |
| ¥25 | 二十五块 | èrshíwǔ kuài |
| ¥9.50 | 九块五 | jiǔ kuài wǔ |
Phone numbers
In phone numbers, “1” is usually said 幺 (yāo) instead of 一 (yī), to avoid confusion with 七 (qī, seven). Digits are read one by one.
Finger counting
Chinese has single-hand gestures for 1–10, so you can show any number up to ten with one hand — handy in noisy markets. Numbers 6–10 use distinctive shapes worth learning before a trip.
Drill numbers until they’re instant
Numbers only help if they come out fast. Hanzijo gives every number and price native audio, teaches the 二/两 distinction with exclusive mnemonics, and schedules everything with SRS so recall is automatic at the cash register. Point the OCR scanner at a real price tag to turn it into a flashcard — part of a full HSK 1–9 path.
Learn Chinese Numbers — FreeFrequently asked questions
Are Chinese numbers hard to learn?
No — they’re among the easiest parts of Chinese. The system is fully regular: learn 1–10 plus a few place-value words and you can build any number.
How do you write the year in Chinese?
Read the digits individually, then add 年 (nián, year). For example 2026 is 二零二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián).
Why is 4 considered unlucky?
四 (sì, four) sounds similar to 死 (sǐ, death), so 4 is often avoided. 八 (bā, eight) sounds like 发 (fā, to prosper) and is considered lucky.
What is 250 slang for?
二百五 (èrbǎiwǔ, 250) is informal slang for someone foolish — so it’s avoided as a quantity in some contexts. A fun reminder that numbers carry culture.