Chinese numbers: how to count from one to a hundred million (video)
Chinese numbers from 1 to 100 million: how to count, when to say 两 or 零, prices, dates, phone numbers and hand signs, with a converter for any number.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:22The short answer
- 0:39One to ten
- 1:15Eleven to 9,999
- 2:22Big numbers in fours
- 3:01Two: 二 or 两
- 3:48Prices, dates and times
- 4:27Phones, fractions and hands
- 5:20Capitals and lucky numbers
- 6:22What to do next
Transcript
Start
In Chinese, a million has no word of its own. It's 一百万: a hundred ten-thousands. Counting to 99 takes ten words and one pattern. Then you meet ten thousand, and the commas stop working. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: Chinese numbers. How to count from one to a hundred million.
The short answer
The short answer: ten digits, plus four units. Ten, hundred, thousand and ten thousand. Eleven is ten-one, 十一. Big numbers group by four digits, two has two words, and zero fills the gaps.
One to ten
You count to ten with ten one-syllable words, each with its own tone. 一二三四五六七八九十. Zero is 零. Watch the pairs that sound alike. Four, 四, falls. Ten, 十, rises. One of the ten changes its tone. Before another syllable, 一 shifts: 一百, a hundred, 一万, ten thousand. Alone, at the end of a number, or in 第一, first, it keeps its usual tone.
Eleven to 9,999
From eleven on, Chinese just says the sum. Eleven is ten-one, 十一. Twenty is two tens, 二十. Ninety-nine is 九十九. No teens to memorise, and the pattern never breaks. In a classic study, Chinese preschoolers learned to count sooner than American children, and the researchers traced it to the number words. Above 99, add 百 for hundred and 千 for thousand. 365 is 三百六十五. Two details trip people up. Say the one in one hundred: 一百, never just 百. And a ten inside a bigger number keeps its one. So 110 is 一百一十, a hundred and one ten. A gap gets 零, said once, however many zeros there are. 1,001 is 一千零一: one 零 for two zeros. That's why 一百五 means 150, never 105. People drop the last unit. For 105, you need the 零: 一百零五.
Big numbers in fours
So how do you say big numbers? In fours. English puts a comma every three digits. Chinese has a word every four: 万, ten thousand. The next one, 亿, is a hundred million. Here's where English speakers slip. A million is 一百万, a hundred ten-thousands. A billion is 十亿, ten hundred-millions. To read a long figure, put the commas back every four digits from the right, and say 万 at the gap. The guide's converter does it for you. Try 10,001, then 10,010, and watch the single 零 move.
Two: 二 or 两
Chinese has two words for two. 二 is the digit, as in 十二. 两 means two of something, before a measure word: 两个人, two people. Before hundred or thousand, both are correct, so we counted. In 33.5 million words of film and TV subtitles, a two starting a big number was 两 four times in five. Two is also the number you'll hear most: 1,235 times per million words. Three manages 504. The exam agrees on the small ones. Every word you need to count to 9,999 is on the HSK 1 list. But 亿 waits until HSK 5, even though you need it for China's population.
Prices, dates and times
Money has two sets of words. Price tags say 元. People say 块. In speech, the last unit drops, so three yuan eighty is just 三块八. Two yuan is 两块, because 块 is a measure word. To ask the price, say 多少钱? Dates run from big to small: year, month, day. Years go digit by digit, so 2026 is 二零二六年. October is 十月, and the 27th is 二十七号. Times use 点 for o'clock. Two o'clock is 两点.
Phones, fractions and hands
Phone numbers have a twist. You read them digit by digit, and one is usually 幺, not 一. On a bad line, 一 and 七 sound alike. So the police number, one one zero, is 幺幺零. Ordinals put 第 in front, so first is 第一. Fractions run backwards: a third is 三分之一, of three parts, one. And conversation is full of rough numbers. 两三天 is two or three days. 一百多 is a hundred-odd. Chinese even has a hand sign for every number to ten. Six to ten catch visitors out. In most of China, a thumb and index finger spread like an L is eight. In Fujian, People's Daily reported, it means seven. So when a seller flashes an L, the price depends on where you are.
Capitals and lucky numbers
On cheques, China uses a second set: capital numbers. They're harder to forge. Ordinary 三十, thirty, can become 五千 with a few extra strokes. Its capital form, 叁拾, can't. So 1,409 yuan becomes 壹仟肆佰零玖元整. Some numbers carry meaning because of how they sound. Eight, 八, rhymes with 发, to prosper. Four, 四, sounds close to 死, death. And the belief has a price. In Vancouver, one study found houses with an address ending in 4 sold at a 2.2% discount, and those ending in 8 at a 2.5% premium. Online, numbers stand in for words. 五二零 sounds like 我爱你, I love you. 一三一四 sounds like 一生一世, for life. Just be careful with 250. As a price, it's fine. Call a person 二百五, and you've called them an idiot.
What to do next
So what's next? Learn zero to ten as sounds. Read big figures in fours, saying 万 at each gap. Use 两 for things and 二 for digits. Say your phone number with 幺. Then test yourself with the converter. Numbers are easy to understand and hard to say fast. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. The full guide, with the converter and every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.