Chinese numbers: how to count from one to a hundred million

How do you count to 10 in Chinese?

You count to ten with ten one-syllable words. Each has its own tone, and the tone is part of the word.

Here are zero to ten, with the tone marked on each:

Source: Chinese Grammar Wiki, structure of numbers; readings checked in CC-CEDICT.

Listen for the tones in pairs that sound alike. Four, 四(sì), falls, and ten, 十(shí), rises, and the two differ in their first sound too, as our pronunciation guide explains. Mixing them up is the classic beginner slip at a market stall.

One of the ten changes its tone. When 一(yī) comes before another syllable in a number, its tone shifts: 一百(yìbǎi) for a hundred, 一万(yíwàn) for ten thousand. Said alone, at the end of a number or in "first", 第一(dì-yī), it stays yī. Our tones guide explains the rule, and the tone change checker marks it in any sentence.

So I'd learn the ten as sounds first. The characters are easy; 一(yī), 二(èr) and 三(sān) are just one, two and three strokes.

Eleven to 99 is simple arithmetic

From 11 on, Chinese says the sum. Eleven is "ten one", and twenty is "two tens".

• eleven, 十一(shíyī)
• fifteen, 十五(shíwǔ)
• twenty, 二十(èrshí)
• twenty-one, 二十一(èrshíyī)
• forty-four, 四十四(sìshísì)
• ninety-nine, 九十九(jiǔshíjiǔ)

There are no teens to memorise and no "twelve" to learn by heart. Twelve is 十二(shí’èr), ten-two, and the pattern never breaks.

Children notice. In a classic study, Chinese preschoolers learned to count sooner than American children of the same age, and the researchers traced the gap to the number words: the base-ten pattern is easier to see in Chinese than in English. You get the same head start. If you'd like to drill it on paper, our free numbers 1–100 worksheet has you trace each one.

Hundreds and thousands follow the same pattern

Above 99, you add 百(bǎi) for hundred and 千(qiān) for thousand. Each takes the digit in front of it, as tens do.

• a hundred, 一百(yìbǎi)
• three hundred and sixty-five, 三百六十五(sānbǎi liùshíwǔ)
• a thousand, 一千(yìqiān)
• two thousand and twenty-six, 两千零二十六(liǎngqiān líng èrshíliù)

Two details trip people up. First, say the 一(yī) in "one hundred": 一百(yìbǎi), never 百(bǎi) on its own. Second, a ten inside a bigger number keeps its 一(yī). So 110 is 一百一十(yìbǎi yìshí), a hundred and one ten, Chinese Grammar Wiki notes.

The leading one drops only at the very start of a number. Fifteen is 十五(shíwǔ), but 115 is 一百一十五(yìbǎi yìshíwǔ).

Zero is said once, wherever the gap is

When a number has a gap, you say 零(líng) to mark it. You say it once, however many zeros there are.

• 101, 一百零一(yìbǎi líng yī)
• 1,001, 一千零一(yìqiān líng yī)
• 1,010, 一千零一十(yìqiān líng yìshí)
• 10,001, 一万零一(yíwàn líng yī)

Zeros at the end aren't said at all. A thousand and fifty is 一千零五十(yìqiān líng wǔshí), and 1,500 is 一千五百(yìqiān wǔbǎi).

That's why 一百五(yìbǎi wǔ) means 150, never 105. In everyday speech people drop the last unit, so 一百五十(yìbǎi wǔshí) shrinks to "a hundred five". If you mean 105, you need the 零(líng): 一百零五(yìbǎi líng wǔ).

One caveat: Chinese schools teach a precise rule for zeros in very large numbers, which we cover in the next section. For anything under 10,000, "one 零(líng) per gap" is all you need.

How do you say big numbers in Chinese?

You say big numbers in groups of four digits. English puts a comma every three digits; Chinese has a word every four.

That word is 万(wàn), ten thousand. The next one, 亿(yì), is a hundred million, or 万(wàn) ten-thousands. Every number below a hundred million is some number of 万(wàn), plus a number under 10,000.

Here's the same number grouped both ways:

Source: units from Wikipedia's Chinese numerals; readings from the converter below.

So to read a big number, put the commas back every four digits from the right. Then read each group as you would a number under 10,000, adding 亿(yì) or 万(wàn) after it.

The ladder is where English speakers slip. A million has no word of its own. It's 一百万(yìbǎi wàn), a hundred ten-thousands. A billion is 十亿(shí yì), ten hundred-millions. In mainland China a trillion is 一万亿(yíwàn yì).

Zeros follow the rule Chinese primary schools teach, as quoted in Chinese Wikipedia's article on numerals. Zeros at the end of a group of four aren't read. Any other run of zeros is read as a single 零(líng), even across groups:

• 10,002 is 一万零二(yíwàn líng èr)
• 205,000 is 二十万五千(èrshí wàn wǔqiān)
• 200,005,000 is 两亿零五千(liǎngyì líng wǔqiān)

One caveat: the character 兆(zhào) means a trillion in Taiwan. In mainland China it's the prefix "mega", as in a megabyte, so write 万亿(wànyì) for a trillion there.

My tip: when you see a long figure in a Chinese news story, count four digits from the right and say "万(wàn)" to yourself at the gap. After a week, the commas stop mattering.

Convert any number to Chinese

Rules are one thing; a real figure with three zeros in the middle is another. We built a converter that applies every rule on this page, and we checked it against the published examples we could find:

Source: our converter, checked case by case against Chinese Grammar Wiki, the national pinyin standard GB/T 16159-2012 and the rules above. See Methods.

Try 10,001 and then 10,010. The single 零(líng) sits in a different place, and the converter shows why.

A note on the pinyin: the national standard, GB/T 16159-2012, joins a digit to the 百(bǎi), 千(qiān), 万(wàn) or 亿(yì) after it, as in qīwàn. It writes 万(wàn) and 亿(yì) apart after anything longer, as in shíyī wàn. We follow that, and we write the tone change on 一(yī), which the standard allows in language teaching.

Two is 二 when you count and 两 when you have two

Chinese has two words for two. 二(èr) is the digit, and 两(liǎng) means two of something.

You say 二(èr) when you count, read digits or give a rank:

• twelve and twenty, 十二(shí’èr) and 二十(èrshí)
• the second, 第二(dì-èr)
• February, 二月(èryuè)

You say 两(liǎng) before a measure word, the little word that counts things:

• two people, 两个人(liǎng gè rén)
• two o'clock, 两点(liǎng diǎn)
• two yuan, 两块钱(liǎng kuài qián)

Numbers ending in two keep 二(èr), even with a measure word: twelve yuan is 十二块钱(shí’èr kuài qián). Chinese Grammar Wiki gives the full list of uses.

The grey zone is 2 before 百(bǎi), 千(qiān), 万(wàn) and 亿(yì). Both words are correct there, so we counted which one people say. We looked at every number written out in characters in 33.5 million words of Chinese film and TV subtitles:

Source: our count over SUBTLEX-CH, Cai and Brysbaert's word list from 6,243 subtitle files. We left out 二百五 èrbǎiwǔ, which is an insult as well as 250. Numbers written in digits, and rough pairs such as 一两千 "one or two thousand", aren't counted.

So start a number with 两(liǎng): 两百(liǎngbǎi), 两千(liǎngqiān), 两万(liǎngwàn). Later in a number, either word is fine, and people split. The converter writes 一千二百(yìqiān èrbǎi) for 1,200, as the national pinyin standard does in its examples, and shows 一千两百(yìqiān liǎngbǎi) as the common spoken form.

Two forms are always wrong: 两十 for twenty and 十两 for twelve. In tens and ones, two is always 二(èr).

Two is the number you'll hear most

Some numbers come up all the time. In the same subtitles, two is the most common number word after one.

Here's how often each number word turns up on its own:

Source: SUBTLEX-CH, 33.5 million words. Two counts 两 liǎng and 二 èr together; one is left out, because 一 yī also means "a".

Most of those twos are 两(liǎng), which turns up more than seven times as often as 二(èr). That's two people, two days and two hours, the counting you'll do every day.

We wondered whether the exam agrees, and on the small ones it does. Every number word you need to count to 9,999 is on the HSK 1 list, and 万(wàn) follows at HSK 2. We checked each word against the 2025 HSK syllabus:

Source: our lookup in the 2025 HSK 3.0 word lists. Readings: 第 dì, 块 kuài, 元 yuán, 分 fēn, 点 diǎn, 半 bàn, 号 hào, 年 nián, 月 yuè, 日 rì, 角 jiǎo, 毛 máo, 刻 kè, 俩 liǎ, 倍 bèi.

The surprise is 亿(yì). You need it to say China's population, yet the syllabus holds it back until HSK 5. Learn it in week one anyway; it's one word.

Prices: 块 in speech, 元 in writing

Chinese money has two sets of words. Price tags and receipts say 元(yuán); people say 块(kuài).

The same goes for the tenth of a yuan: 角(jiǎo) in writing and 毛(máo) in speech. A hundredth is 分(fēn) in both.

Here's how prices sound at a shop:

In speech the last unit drops, so ¥3.80 is "three kuai eight". Source: Chinese Grammar Wiki, counting money.

Notice the 两(liǎng) in ¥2: 块(kuài) is a measure word. Chinese Grammar Wiki adds that the dropped-unit style is normally for amounts under ¥100.

To ask the price, say 多少钱？ Duōshao qián?, how much? My tip: learn 块(kuài) first, because it's the word you'll say and hear at every till.

Dates and times run from big to small

Chinese dates start with the year and end with the day. The order runs from big to small, the same way addresses do.

• Years: read digit by digit. 2026 is 二〇二六年, said èr líng èr liù nián.
• Months: number plus 月(yuè). October is 十月(shíyuè).
• Days: number plus 号(hào) in speech, 日(rì) in writing. The 27th is 二十七号(èrshíqī hào).
• The whole date: 二〇二六年十月二十七号, said èr líng èr liù nián shíyuè èrshíqī hào.

In a year, zero is written 〇, a small circle, since a year is a label rather than an amount. Chinese Wikipedia cites the publishing standard GB/T 15835-2011 for that. I'd learn the spoken 号(hào) before the written 日(rì), since you'll say dates far more often than you write them.

Times use 点(diǎn), o'clock, and 分(fēn), minutes, on a 12-hour clock. Here's how four common times sound:

Source: Chinese Grammar Wiki, telling time. Under ten minutes, 零 líng comes before the minutes.

Two is 两(liǎng) here because 点(diǎn) counts hours. Add 上午(shàngwǔ) for the morning and 下午(xiàwǔ) for the afternoon, as Chinese Grammar Wiki shows. If you want a printable sheet, our dates, time and prices worksheet covers all of it.

Phone numbers use 幺 for one

You read phone, room and bus numbers digit by digit. The twist: 1 is usually 幺(yāo), not 一(yī).

The reason is clarity. 一(yī) and 七(qī) sound alike on a bad line, so people switched one to yāo. Chinese Wikipedia notes it's the reading used in the army, aviation and railways, and when reading out numbers in China.

• the police, 110, 幺幺零(yāo yāo líng)
• an ambulance, 120, 幺二零(yāo èr líng)
• room 1018, 幺零幺八(yāo líng yāo bā)

Two stays 二(èr) here, because you're reading digits. So a number like 0571 is 零五七幺(líng wǔ qī yāo).

My tip: say your own phone number aloud this way until it's automatic. It's the number you'll give out most.

First, a third and a few: ordinals, fractions and rough numbers

Ordinals, fractions and decimals each add one small word to the numbers we've covered so far:

• Ordinals put 第(dì) in front. First is 第一(dì-yī), second is 第二(dì-èr), and the tenth is 第十(dì-shí), as Chinese Grammar Wiki shows. Ordinals take 二(èr), never 两(liǎng).
• Fractions run the other way from English. You say the bottom number first, then 分之(fēnzhī), then the top. A third is 三分之一(sān fēnzhī yī), "of three parts, one", and a percentage is the same pattern with a hundred: 百分之五(bǎi fēnzhī wǔ).
• Decimals use 点(diǎn), point. Read each digit after it, so pi to two places is 三点一四(sān diǎn yī sì), and a half is 零点五(líng diǎn wǔ).

Families number children the same way as ordinals: the second-born is 老二(lǎo’èr). Our family terms guide shows how birth order runs through the words for relatives.

Real conversation is full of rough numbers, and Chinese has three neat ways to say them:

• Two neighbours mean "or so". Two or three days is 两三天(liǎng-sān tiān), and seven or eight is 七八个(qī-bā gè).
• 多 after a round number means "and a bit". 一百多个(yìbǎi duō gè) is a hundred-odd.
• 几 means "a few". 十几个人(shíjǐ gè rén) is a dozen or so people, and 几十(jǐshí) is a few dozen.

The national pinyin standard and Chinese Grammar Wiki both give these patterns. Ages are simpler still: number plus 岁(suì), with no verb. I'm twenty is 我二十岁(wǒ èrshí suì).

I'd learn the rough forms early. You'll hear 两三(liǎng-sān) far more often than any exact figure in small talk.

One hand counts to ten

Chinese has a hand sign for every number to ten. One to five look like yours. Six to ten are the ones that catch visitors out.

We drew the signs from Wikipedia's article on Chinese number gestures and a 2013 People's Daily report on regional differences:

Seven and eight are where regions disagree. In most of China, a thumb and index finger spread like an L is 8. In Fujian, the same sign means 7, People's Daily reported, and people from Fujian said they're often misread when they travel. Wikipedia places the Fujian forms along China's southern coast.

So when a market seller flashes an L at you, the price depends on where you are. We drew the mainland forms first because you'll see them most. If you're unsure, ask the number out loud.

Cheques and receipts use capital numbers

China has a second set of number characters for money. These capitals, 大写(dàxiě), are harder to forge.

Ordinary 三十(sānshí), thirty, can become 五千(wǔqiān), five thousand, with a few extra strokes, as Wikipedia notes. Its capital form, 叁拾(sānshí), can't.

We put the capitals beside the everyday characters:

Readings match the everyday words: 壹 yī, 贰 èr, 叁 sān, 肆 sì, 伍 wǔ, 陆 liù, 柒 qī, 捌 bā, 玖 jiǔ, 拾 shí, 佰 bǎi, 仟 qiān. 零 líng, 万 wàn and 亿 yì stay the same. Source: People's Bank of China rules for filling in bills.

China's central bank rules spell out how to use them. Amounts start with 人民币(rénmínbì), never use everyday characters such as 一 or 两, and a whole-yuan amount ends in 整(zhěng), exactly. So ¥1,409 becomes 壹仟肆佰零玖元整.

You'll meet these on invoices, contracts and bank slips. The converter above prints any amount in capitals.

Eight is lucky, and four is not

Some numbers carry meaning because of what they sound like. Eight, 八(bā), rhymes with 发(fā), to prosper. Four, 四(sì), sounds close to 死(sǐ), death.

The belief has a price. Economists Nicole Fortin, Andrew Hill and Jeff Huang studied house sales in Vancouver. Addresses ending in 4 sold at a 2.2% discount, and those ending in 8 at a 2.5% premium. The effect showed up where more Chinese residents lived, and in homes bought to resell.

Beijing went further. The 2008 Olympics opened at 8 pm on 8 August 2008, a date chosen because eight is lucky, Wikipedia's account of the ceremony records.

Online, numbers stand in for words that sound like them. Here are the ones you'll see in chats and comments:

Sources: CC-CEDICT for 一生一世, a whole lifetime, and 二百五, an idiot; Wikipedia, Numbers in Chinese culture, for 1314 as a love message; a 2015 study of online Chinese in the Chinese University of Hong Kong's language newsletter for 88 and 520; The World of Chinese for 666.

So couples pick 20 May, written 5/20, to register their marriage: in Shenzhen it's one of the busiest days of the year. And be careful with 250: calling a price "two hundred and fifty" is fine, but calling a person 二百五(èrbǎiwǔ) isn't.

Where SayMei fits, and where it doesn't

Numbers are easy to understand and hard to say fast. Most of the work is saying them aloud until you stop translating.

That's where SayMei fits. In a live lesson, Mei Lin can ask you prices, dates and phone numbers and correct your tones as you answer. Our free worksheet generator gives you printable practice. The numbers, prices, dates and time PDF is free with a SayMei account.

Here's where we don't help much:

• Fast listening drills. We don't have a game that reads numbers at speed for you to type.
• Hand signs. You'll learn those from this page and from people, not from an app.
• Writing capitals by hand. For cheques, copy the converter's output and check it against the bank's form.

If you only need to count to 100, a printed chart and ten minutes a day will do. Come to SayMei when you want to use numbers in conversation.

What to do next

• Learn zero to ten as sounds. Say them with the right tones before you worry about characters.
• Practise in groups of four. Read a few big figures from a news story, saying 万 at each gap.
• Use 两 for things, 二 for digits. Then start big numbers with 两 and stop worrying about the rest.
• Say your phone number with 幺. It's the number you'll give out most.
• Test yourself with the converter. Type a number, say it, then check.

The quickest way to make numbers automatic is to use them in conversation.