Chinese Numbers
Chinese numbers are some the easiest parts of this language to learn. Once you learn the numbers from one to ten, the rest follow an established pattern. Once you learn the basics, you will be able to use Chinese numbers easily. We will begin with one through ten, including the Pinyin word for that number, the Chinese characters that represent it, and an easy pronunciation for each one.
0 ling (“leeng”)
1 yi (“ee”)
2 èr (“urh”)
3 san (“sahn”)
4 sì (“suh”)
5 wu (“wuu”)
6 liù (“leo”)
7 qi (“tchee”)
8 ba (“bah”)
9 jiu (“jeo”)
10 shí (“shr”)
The teen numbers are much like the English versions of these numbers. Whereas we add the word “teen” to the end of each of these numbers, the Chinese add the number “ten” or “shi” to the beginning of theirs. Here are the numbers eleven to nineteen:
11 shí yi (“shr ee”)
12 shí èr (“shr urh”)
13 shí san (“shr sahn”)
14 shí sì (“shr suh”)
15 shí wu (“shr wuu”)
16 shí liù (“shr leo”)
17 shí qi (“shr tchee”)
18 shí ba (“shr bah”)
19 shí jiu (“shr jeo”)
The rest of the Chinese numbers are all a combination of the ones that you have just seen. Here is a sample of how these numbers progress:
20 èr shí (“urh shr”= “two ten”)
21 èr shí yi (“urh shr ee”= “two ten one”)
22 èr shí èr (“urh shr urh”=“two ten two”)
The numbers continue that way throughout the Chinese numbers system. The following are the numbers by tens to ninety:
30 san shí (“sahn shr”-“three ten”)
40 sì shí (“suh shr”-“four ten”)
50 wu shí (“wuu shr”-“five ten”)
60 liù shí (“leo shr”-“six ten”)
70 qi shí (“tchee shr”-“seven ten”)
80 ba shí (“bah shr”-“eight ten”)
90 jiu shí (“jeo shr”-“nine ten”)
To write any number that you might need to, you can just combine the words for the number that you need. For example, the number “fifty-one” would be “wu shí yi.” Numbers over one hundred work in much the same way:
100 yì bai (“ee buy”)
101 yì bai líng yi (“ee buy leeng ee”)
102 yì bai líng èr (“ee buy leeng uhr”)
The rest of the numbers in the hundreds are combined in the same way that the previously mentioned ones. For example, “two hundred and twenty one” would be “èr bai èr shí yi.” For the larger numbers, the same principle applies:
1000 yì qian (“ee tchee-in”)
1001 yì qian líng yi (“ee tchee-in leeng ee”)
For the really large numbers, the Chinese numbers system uses the word “wan” to define the increasing number of zeros in these numbers. For example:
10,000 yì wàn (“ee wahn”)
100,000 shí wàn (“shr wahn”)
1,000,000 bai wàn (“buy wahn”)
You should begin by memorizing the numbers one through ten. Once you know these, the rest should come easily. You can practice by keeping your personal financial records using this Pinyin system. Using these Chinese numbers daily can help you to commit them to memory. Again, the Chinese numbers system is one of the easiest areas of this language to learn. Once you have memorized these, you can begin concentrating on simple words and phrases.