Chinese Numbers: A Simple Guide to Counting in Mandarin (2023)

Counting in Chinese might seem like a daunting task, but it really is one of the easiest and most rewarding parts of the language.

One of the first things you will learn in yourMandarin Chinese coursesIt's like counting to ten. Unsurprisingly, this requires a bit of memorization since each number has a different name. But as you might have guessed, things get interesting after ten. DespiteMandarin is considered the most difficult for English speakers to learn, you might be pleasantly surprised that counting over tens and up to billions is actually very easy.

In fact, thanks to the Chinese counting system, you can go from absolute beginner level to almost countable levels in a matter of hours. In fact, counting in Mandarin is so easy for Chinese childrenexceed regularlytheir Western English-speaking counterparts. There are two main reasons why learning to count in Mandarin is easier than you might think:

The first ten numbers are all monosyllabic.As you will see, each of the first ten numbers has a very short and easy to remember name.
Numbers above 10 do not have unique names.Starting with 11, the numbers are just a multiplication and/or addition of the first ten numbers. Even if you're not good at math, it's actually a lot easier than it sounds. Read on and you will see!

Let's start then!

Why it makes sense to learn the numbers in Mandarin

Spending a few hours learning to count in Chinese can have tremendous benefits. For example, knowing how to count will help you:

Ask for a certain number of things.When you go to the supermarket, you can ask for the exact number of fruits and vegetables you want to buy.
Stay away from unlucky numbers.Luck is a big part of Chinese culture, so there are certain numbers you're dying to avoid!
Make plans!Knowing the numbers in Chinese will help you tell the time in Chinese and make plans for specific dates. You can celebrate birthdays, schedule drinks, and even reserve dinner!
Learn some jargon.Yes! you read well Number lingo is very common in China, so learning to count will also help you learn useful Chinese lingo.

So at this point you should be ready to start learning Chinese. So, without further ado, let's dive into how to read and write numbers in Chinese.

How to read and write numbers in Mandarin

The first thing you should know about reading and writing numbers in Chinese is that there are two ways of representing numbers: with Arabic numerals and with Chinese characters. Just like in English, you can use real numbers or "spell" the numbers by writing their names in letters.

(Video) Learn Chinese Numbers: Count 1 to 10, 1 to 20, 1 to100 in Mandarin Chinese - Day 15

Usually only one or two-digit numbers are written with characters. Years, addresses, telephone numbers and all other large numbers are written with Arabic numerals, as in German. What a relief! You don't have to memorize hundreds of different characters just to learn how to write numbers.

But that is not the case. Even if the years and phone numberswarwritten with characters, you still wouldn't need to memorize more than 11 characters to write any number. The way the writing system is constructed means you don't actually have to remember much. As long as you can do some basic arithmetic (and we mean reallyBasic!), you will get by with just a dozen characters.

Ready to get into it? Let's start counting!

How to count from 0 to 10 in Chinese

Counting to ten is absolutely the hardest part of counting in Chinese. Yes, we mean business! Once you've mastered the first ten, it's all about stacking them in different orders. But we'll get to that in a moment! First, let's start with the first ten Mandarin numbers.

number	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
0	Null	Schellfisch	Long
1	one	again	mi
2	Von	Hm	ahr
3	Three	San	stage
4	four	And	and
5	fiver	wǔ	Focused
6	six	Liu	under
7	seven	qi	bye
8	Ocho	Bah	Bah
9	Neun	jiǔ	Mine
10	diez	That is	sch

How to count from 11 to 99 in Chinese

We promised you that learning the first ten numbers is the hardest part, and we're not one to break our promises! Here's the good news: If you can already count to 10, then you already have what it takes to count to 100! Beyond 10, you just need to stack your numbers in a certain way to get to 100. Here's a quick formula:

A × ten (10) + B

A is multiplied by 10 and then B is added to the result. Let's plug some numbers into our formula:

(2)×diez (10)+3=2×10+3=23 (two-ten-three)
(5)×diez (10)+5=5×10+5=55 (five-ten-five)
8×diez (10)+9=8×10+9=89 (eight-ten-nine)

And this is! That's all you'll ever need to know about math, and performing these calculations will become second nature once you start practicing. In fact, you don't even have to do the operations in your head: as long as you remember that the first digit comes first, followed by 十 (That is) and then the second digit, everything will be fine.

There are two things to note, and one reason the math formula above is important is that for 11-19 you don't have to say one to ten. Since it's redundant to multiply one by ten, you can omit the one altogether and just say "ten and five" for 15.

The other thing to consider is if the second digit is a zero. With our formula above, you would add a zero, which is redundant. So instead of saying "three-ten-zero" for 30, you can just say "thirteen".

(Video) Numbers in Chinese 1-10, 1-20 and 1-100 | Chinese Numbers 1 to 10, 1 to 20 and 1 to 100 | HSK1

Here is a detailed table of the numbers from 11 to 99. Have a look and you will surely find the counting rhythm in Chinese in no time.

number	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
11	once	he has	see and
12	candy	That is	Shih Ahr
13	Happen	sch san	Shih Sahn
14	catastrophe	and here	Shih
fifteen	Quits	shí wǔ	Shih woo
sixteen	sixteen	shí liù	Shih Bajo
17	seventeen	That is	Shih-chi
18	Eighteen	shí ba	Shih bah
19	Night	That is	Shih jeou
20	twenty	That is	ah schi
21	twenty-one	That is	ah schi
22	twenty-two	where is she?	ahr schih ahr
23	23	That is	ahr shih sahn
24	twenty four	and here it is	Oh shit
25	twenty five	èr shí wǔ	ah shih woo
26	twenty six	èr shí liù	ahr shih bajo
27	Twenty-seven	that's all	ah shih chee
28	Twenty eight	That is	ahr shih bah
29	Twenty-nine	is sì jiǔ	ahr shih jeou
30	thirty	san shi	sahn shih
31	thirty-one	he has	sahn shih
32	thirty two	gripe shí er	sahn shih ahr
33	Thirty three	sān shí sān	shah shih sahn
34	Thirty-four	and now	Sahn Shih anyway
35	thirty-five	sān shí wǔ	sahn shih-woo
36	Thirty-six	sān shí liù	sahn shih liow
37	thirtyseven	number shī qī	Sahn Shih Chee
38	thirtyeight	sān shí bā	Sahn Shih Bah
39	thirty nine	sān shī jiǔ	sahn shih jeou
40	Fourty	and open	Shih
41	Forty one	And that's it	Shih
42	forty two	and open it	Shih ahr
43	Fourty three	and open it	anyway shih sawn
44	forty four	and then again	Shih Shih
45	Fourty five	and open it	sih shih woo
46	forty six	And and	anyway shih low
47	Fourty seven	and open it	verdammt shi chee
48	Forty-eight	and this is	Shih bah
49	forty nine	si si jiǔ	Shih jeou
50	Fifty	wǔ shí	woo shih
51	Fifty-one	wǔ shí yī	woo shih
52	fifty-two	wǔ shí èr	woo shih ahr
53	Fiftythree	wǔ shí sān	woo shih sahn
54	Fifty-four	and this is	woo shih sih
55	Fifty-five	wǔ shí wǔ	woo shih woo
56	fifty six	wǔ shí liù	woo shih liow
57	fifty seven	wǔ shí qī	woo shih chee
58	fifty eight	wǔ shí bā	Impressive
59	fifty nine	wǔ shí jiǔ	woo shih jeou
60	sixty	liù shí	Bajo Shih
61	sixty one	liù shí yī	Bajo Shih
62	Sixty-two	liù shí èr	bajo shih ahr
63	Sixty-three	liù shí sān	bajo shih sahn
64	sixty-four	liù shí ja	under shih anyway
Sixty-five	Sixty-five	liù shí wǔ	bajo shih woo
66	sixty six	liù shí liù	deep shih deep
67	sixty-seven	liù shí qi	Bajo Shih Chee
68	Sixty-eight	that's it	Bajo Shih
69	sixty-nine	liù shí jiǔ	bajo shih jeou
70	seventy	What is that?	bye
71	seventy-one	That is	bye
72	seventy two	That is	bye ah
73	Seventy-three	qī shī san	Bye shih sawn
74	seventyfour	and this is	Bye anyway
75	Seventyfive	qī shí wǔ	Bye, woo
76	Seventy six	qī shí liù	Bye Shih Liow
77	seventyseven	What is?	bye Bye
78	seventy eight	qī shī bā	bye bye
79	seventy nine	qī shí jiǔ	bye bye
80	eighty	ba shi	bah ski
81	eighty one	That is	bah ski
82	Eighty-two	That is	bah shih ahr
83	Eightythree	bā shí sān	bah shih sahn
84	eighty four	and so	bah ski
85	Eighty-five	bā shí wǔ	bah shih woo
86	eighty-six	bā shí liù	bah shih bajo
87	eighty seven	bā shī qī	bah shih chi
88	eightyeight	it is not	bah shih bah
89	eighty nine	That is	bah shih jeou
90	ninety	jiǔ si	OMG
91	ninety one	jiǔ shí yī	OMG
92	ninety two	jiǔ shí èr	jeou shih ahr
93	ninety three	jiǔ shí sán	jeou shih sahn
94	ninety four	jiǔ si si si	We're sorry
95	Ninety-five	jiǔ shí wǔ	jeou shih woo
96	ninety six	jiǔ shí liù	jeou shih liow
97	Ninety-seven	jiǔ shí qī	jeou shih chee
98	ninety eight	jiǔ shí bā	jeou shih bah
99	ninety nine	jiǔ shí jiǔ	jeou shih jeou

How to count from 100 to 1000 in Chinese

After you learn to count to 99, you move on to the next natural progression. Counting to 100 works the same, except you use 百 (bǎi) by 100 instead of 十 (That is) to go past a hundred.

See how easy it is to count from 100 to 1000 in Chinese.

number	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
100	one hundred	yi bǎi	to compare
200	two hundred	at	oh buy
300	three hundred	counting	buy cream
400	four hundred	si bǎi	buy it
500	fivehundred	wǔ bǎi	wow buy
600	sechshundert	liù bǎi	buy little
700	sevenhundred	that's all	Compare bye
800	Eighthundred	Frau Bi	buy bah
900	nine hundred	jiǔ bǎi	Game kaufen
1000	Mil	yì qian	yes chir

Counting over 1000 in Chinese

Surely counting millions in Chinese must be extremely difficult. To the right? Not! Counting past 1000 is as easy as counting to 1000. In fact, it can be even easier if you already know the basics!

The only thing to note is that the big numbers are separated by four digits instead of three. For example, in English we count in thousands, millions, billions, trillions, etc. In Chinese, we count in tens of thousands, hundreds of millions, trillions, etc. Just remember that when you write numbers in Arabic numerals, commas still go every three digits , just like in English!

Here is a table on how to count to a trillion in Chinese!

number	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation	English name	Literal translation
0	Null	Schellfisch	Long	Null	Null
10	diez	That is	sch	Diez	Diez
100	one hundred	yi bǎi	bye	One hundred	One hundred
1000	Mil	yì qian	yes chir	Mil	Mil
10.000	ten thousand	that's all	the one	ten thousand	ten thousand
100.000	hundred thousand	shí wan	Shih-Wan	hundred thousand	ten ten thousand
1.000.000	a million	yi bǎi wàn	and goodbye Wan	a million	one hundred ten thousand
10.000.000	Ten million	yi qian wan	e chian wan	Ten million	thousand ten thousand
100.000.000	100 million	there went	and and	A hundred million	A hundred million
1.000.000.000	billion	leaving	ch yeah	billion	ten hundred million
10.000.000.000	ten billion	yì bǎi yì	bye yes	ten billion	one hundred million
100.000.000.000	hundred billion	and y and	and they cried yes	hundred billion	billion one hundred million
1.000.000.000.000	a trillion	yí zhao	we will	a trillion	a trillion

How to put it all together

Now that you know the general structure of counting in Chinese, it's time to put it all together. Here are some "hard" numbers that you'll see aren't that hard to put together after all!

(Video) Learn Chinese Numbers 1-10, 1-100 & 1-1,000,000 | Say Big Numbers in Mandarin Chinese

number	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
387	three hundred and eighty seven	san bǎi bā shí qī	sahn comprar bah shih chee
756	seven hundred and fifty-six	qī bǎi wǔ shí liù	chee comprar woo shih liow
120	One hundred and twenty)	yì bǎi èr (shí)	Kompro ahr shih
566	five hundred sixty six	wǔ bǎi liù shí liù	woo compare liow shih liow
803	800 3	bā bǎi líng sān	bah buy leeng cream
222	Two hundred and twenty two	èr bǎi èr shí èr	ahr compare ahr shih ahr
678	six hundred and seventy eight	liù bǎi qī shí bā	now i buy chee shih bah

Chinese number songs

Number Song by JunyTony

If learning music is your thing, this catchy and exhausting song will teach you how to count to a hundred. Just listen to this catchy tune a few times and you'll learn to count in Chinese before you know it.

Multiplication Ninety Nine - Chinese Multiplication Song

If you want to take things to a whole different level, try the Chinese multiplication song 九九乘法 (Jiǔ jiǔ chéng fǎ). Even if you've already learned your multiplication table, this fun song can show you how easy it is to count and do math in Mandarin Chinese!

Ordinal numbers in Chinese

Now that you've learned the cardinal numbers in Chinese, it won't take you long to figure out how to say the ordinal numbers. All you have to learn is the ordinal word 第 (to say) and add itBeforethe number. For example, to make "one" "first", just say 第一 (Many). The same goes for the second, third, fourth, tenth, fiftieth, hundredth, etc.!

Here are some example sentences using ordinal numbers in Chinese:

Chino	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
this is my first time flying	This is my first time taking a flight.	zhè shì wǒ dì yī cì zuò fēi jī	Click Download to save Zhuh Shih Woh Dee E Tzi Tzuo Fay-Gee mp3 youtube com
lesson three	the third lesson	Many	dee sahn kuh
sixteenth person	the sixteenth person	sag shi liù g ren	dee shih liow guh rehn
fiftieth sentence	The fiftieth sentence	dì wǔ shí jù huaà	dee woo shih joo hua

Chinese number jargon

Yes you areLearn mandarin onlineWith us, you know that we like to include real-world applications of the language whenever possible. After all, it's not about reading textbooks and learning to communicate with people!

Therefore, it would be remiss to teach you how to count in Chinese without also mentioning some useful Chinese slang numbers. These are very common in texting, so be sure to check them out if you're following oursTips for learning Chinese charactersand get a Chinese language partner!

number	Sinn	Reason	characters
886	bye	Sounds like farewell (let's say goodbye), which is a common form ofsay goodbye in Chinese.	eight eight six
520	Loving You	sounds like i love you (wǒ ai nǐ), which means "I love you".	It's five past twenty
555	in tears	It sounds like crying.	five five five
666	Great!	Six is one of the happiest numbers in Chinese, and its repeated use means "great" or "amazing"!	six six six
484	Yes or no?	It sounds like it's not (schu schu schu) meaning yes or no.	four eight four
1314	Forever	Sounds like a whole life (yì shēng yī shì), meaning "in life".	1314
233	Risa	Represents hahaha (four four) which means to laugh.	Two hundred and thirty three
996	The working time 996	Typical working hours at Chinese technology companies, which include work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. m. to 9 p.m. m. 6 days a week.	nine nine six

Frequently asked questions about numbers in Chinese

What number brings bad luck in China?

If you are in the United States, you know not to go under a ladder, beware of broken mirrors and avoid the number 666 at all costs. But do you know what to avoid when visiting China?

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The most unlucky number in China is the number 4. That's because four 四 (And) sounds like 死 (sǐ), meaning death. Therefore, the number four in Chinese should be avoided at all costs. This leads to most people avoiding the number four in their phone number or home address!

What are Chinese Lucky Numbers?

The lucky number in Chinese is the number 8 八 (Bah), since it is associated with wealth and success. It sounds similar to 发 (bye) how to get rich (do that), meaning "get rich". So if you are looking for riches and fortune, try to incorporate more eights into your life!

Other lucky numbers are 2, 6 and 9. The number two is lucky because all good things are believed to come in pairs. The number 6 is considered lucky because of the Chinese language 六六大顺, which means everything is going well. ! And finally, 9 is considered lucky in Chinese because 九 (jiǔ) sounds like 久 (jiǔ), meaning "for a long time" or "forever".

How do you count with one hand in Chinese?

You probably already know how to count to 5 with one hand, but what about 6-10? So could you include your other hand? Well, in Chinese there is a way to count to 10 with one hand! You should definitely learn this before visiting China as it is a very popular way of counting to ten in daily interactions.

Watch this short video for a quick demonstration of how to count to ten with one hand in Chinese.

What is the difference between 二 and 两?

You may have noticed that there are two ways to say two in Chinese: 二 (Hm) and two (Life). The main difference is that 二 (Hm) is generally used in counting or arithmetic, while 两 (Life) is used to express "two of" something. say 两 (Life) in Chinese is similar to saying "a few of" in English, except that using 两 (Life) is not optional. You should 两 (Life) whenever two of anything are discussed, including:

two months (liǎng gè yuè) - two months
I want two (wǒ yao liǎng gè) - I want two
two days (ling tian) - two days

How do you read the year in Chinese?

You already know there are special rules for reading years in English (happy three-four!), so what about Chinese? Is it necessary to read the entire issue if a specific year is mentioned? Not! Luckily, reading years in Chinese is extremely easy: you just need to read each digit! There is no need to add up or read together.

All you have to do is add the word "year" to the end of the number: 年 (Nian). Here are some examples:

Year	Mandarin	Pinyin	pronunciation
2023	2023	ér líng ér san nian	ahr leeng ahr sahn niehn
1997	1997	yī jiǔ jiǔ qī nián	e jiow jiow chee niehn
1830	1830	yī bā sān líng nián	e bah sahn leeng niehn follows nobody. autodesk_new
2000	2000	èr líng líng líng nián	ahr leeng leeng leeng niahn

It's time to say 88!

And now you know how to count to 100 and beyond in Mandarin Chinese! Learning to count is undoubtedly an important milestone in every language learner's journey, and you should pat yourself on the back when you've achieved it!

(Video) Numbers 0-10 in Chinese - Learn Chinese Mandarin ⚫️

Why not complement this lesson with some of our helpful oneschinese items, like ourComplete Guide to Chinese Radicalsand our quick introduction toGreeting in Mandarin? Keep the momentum going!