Your Ultimate Guide To Numbers In Chinese BONUS Chinese Number Charts 

As our daily life is always closely associated with numbers, learning how to count numbers is very important no matter what language you’re learning. And Chinese is no different. This article will cover the grammar rules and writing numbers in Mandarin Chinese, a Chinese dialect spoken mainly in China, and various other places.

How to count from 1 to 10 in Chinese

Let’s start with the simplest single numbers! The basic numbers in Chinese are extremely simple, and the writing rules for numbers in Chinese characters are straightforward. Here’s a fun fact: if you look closely at the writings for numbers 1, 2, and 3, you’ll notice that number of lines is the same as the number itself.

Number	Chinese Character	Pinyin
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

Important notes: 

• The number “zero” in Chinese is commonly expressed by Chinese character 〇 (líng) for “zero (0)”, but you can also use 零 (líng) – “zero (0)”.
• 二 (èr) – “two” is mostly used when counting or sharing a phone number. If you want to refer to a quantity of something, like using measure words and saying “both” or “two of something,” you should say 两 (liǎng) instead. 

For example:

二十块钱 (èrshí kuài qián) – “twenty dollars”

两本书 (liǎng běn shū) – “two books”

• 一 (yī) – “one” sounds very similar to 七 (qī) – “seven,” so it can get easily confused when speaking fast, especially when sharing a phone number. So, in this case, Chinese people use 幺 (Yāo) instead of 一 (yī) – “one.” 

For example, if your phone number is 18436151889, here’s how you pronounce it: “yao, ba, sì, sān, liù, yao, wǔ, yao, ba, ba, jiǔ.”

• You also need to remember that the number 四 (sì) – “four” symbolizes bad luck in Chinese because it sounds similar to 死 (sǐ) – “death.” The number 4 in Chinese culture is like the number 13 in the Western world. Normally, the 4th floor is left out in buildings and hotels, and you should never give Chinese people four of something as a gift, such as flowers or fruits.

See more: 8 Amazing Chinese Business Culture Advices To Know.

How to count from 11 to 100 in Chinese

The Chinese numerals 11-20 are also simple – all you need to know is how to count 1-10 and combine these characters as you go further.

Numbers 11-19 are simply a combination of the number 10 + the following number. So the formula to say these numbers is 10+1 for 11, 10+2 for 12, etc. The numbers 20, 30, and beyond are the same way, but just the other way around: 20 is two tens, 30 is three tens, and so on.

To help you better visualize the formula, we’ve made this handy chart for you: 

Number	Chinese Character	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
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

For numbers in between, such as 25, 33, 96, and others, the pattern of “two tens” continues. You just need to add the last number at the end.

For example: 

• 二十五 (èr shí wǔ) – “twenty-five (25)”
• 三十三 (sān shí sān) – “thirty-three (33)”
• 九十六 (jiǔ shí liù) – “ninety-six (96)”

As long as you remember Mandarin numbers 1-10, you can master all the numbers. 

Big numbers in Chinese

When you get to 100, you’ll need to learn new characters, but they’re still quite straightforward. You’ll notice that these big numbers in Chinese have their own character, such as 万 (wàn) for “ten thousand (10,000)”, and 一百万 (yìbǎi wàn) for “a million (1,000,000).” So all you need to do is remember these particular names and how many zeros they mean.

This table shows the difference between forming the big numbers in English and Chinese.

Number	English	Chinese character	Pinyin
100	One hundred	一百	yì bǎi
1000	One thousand	一千	yì qiān
10,000	Ten thousand	一万	yí wàn
100,000	A hundred thousand	十万	shí wàn
1,000,000	One million	一百万	yì bǎi wàn
10,000,000	Ten million	一千万	yì qiān wàn
100,000,000	One hundred million	一亿	yí yì
1,000,000,000	One billion	十亿	shí yì

Ordinal numbers in Chinese

Chinese ordinal numbers are merely a combination of the word 第 (dì) and a basic number. 

English	Chinese character	Pinyin
First	第一	dì yī
Second	第二	dì èr
Third	第三	dì sān
Fourth	第四	dì sì
Fifth	第五	dì wǔ
Sixth	第六	dì liù
Seventh	第七	dì qī
Eighth	第八	dì bā
Ninth	第九	dì jiǔ
Tenth	第十	dì shí

The same rule goes with the Eleventh 第十一 (dì shíyī), Twelfth 第十二 (dì shí’èr), and so on. 

And if you want to express something that happened once, twice, or three times, just add 次 (cì) – “times” after the number:

For example: 

• 一次 (yī cì) – “once”
• 两次 (liǎng cì) – “twice”
• 三次 (sān cì) – “three times”

How to say your phone number in Chinese

Now you know how to count numbers in Chinese, let’s move to a slightly more challenging part: sharing your phone number in Chinese! 

The rules are simple though, all you need to do is remember numbers 0-9, and you’re good to go! Here are some other things you need to keep in mind when sharing your phone number: 

• You need to pronounce each number in the sequence that makes up your phone number.
• In Mandarin, each number needs to be pronounced clearly, which is opposed to in English, where we can abbreviate our phone numbers by grouping numbers into tens, hundreds, doubles, and trebles. 
• As we have explained above, when sharing phone numbers in Chinese, don’t use 一 (Yī) for “One (1)”, use 幺 (Yāo) instead. 
• There are two ways for pausing while saying your phone number aloud. For example, if your phone number is 18436151889, there are two ways you can say that: 

Format 1: 1-8-4-3-6-1-5-1-8-8-9 (yao – ba – sì – sān – liù – yao – wǔ – yao – ba – ba – jiǔ)

Format 2: 184 – 3615 – 1889 (yao ba sì – sān liù yao – wǔ yao ba ba jiǔ)

The bottom line

Learning numbers in Chinese is very important, but it’s just that easy. Keep our guide in hand, and you can start counting stars in the sky now! 

If you wish to discover more about this enchanting language, Pandanese is a perfect place for you. Pandanese is an SRS web-based Mandarin-learning platform that enables users to master 6,000 Chinese characters per year. You’ll receive a batch of flashcards with the Chinese radicals, characters, and vocabulary in each lesson. Each flashcard contains the Chinese characters, the pinyin, the English meaning, along with a fun fact to help you remember better. 

Along with learning numbers in Chinese, you’ll also learn other interesting Chinese culture facts and etiquette with the Pandanese blog. 
Sign up for Pandanese today and master Chinese in no time!