Mandarin Numbers: How Chinese Counting Works, 0 to 亿
By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026
To 99, Mandarin numbers spell themselves: no teens to memorise, no special words for the tens. Eleven syllables and one rule cover prices, ages and times. After that come four traps: a zero you have to say, a second word for two, a (yī) that changes tone, and big numbers counted in ten-thousands.
Quick check
Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.
Pick the right one
0/3二 (èr) or 两 (liǎng)? Count with 二, count things with 两. In 十二, 二十 and ordinals it is 二.
个人 (two people)
___ gè rén (two people)
十 (twelve)
shí ___ (twelve)
十 (twenty)
___ shí (twenty)
The whole system on one screen
Colour marks the part English speakers leave out or get wrong:
| Rule | Hanzi | Pinyin | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| After adds | | shísān | 13 |
| Before multiplies | | sānshí | 30 |
| , need a number | | yìbǎi | 100 |
| fills a gap | | yìbǎi líng wǔ | 105 |
| Count in | | sānwàn | 30,000 |
| Count with | | shí'èr | 12 |
| Things take | | liǎng ge rén | two people |
| makes ordinals | | dì èr | second |
Nought to ten
| Number | Hanzi | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | líng | |
| 1 | yī | |
| 2 | èr | |
| 3 | sān | |
| 4 | sì | |
| 5 | wǔ | |
| 6 | liù | |
| 7 | qī | |
| 8 | bā | |
| 9 | jiǔ | |
| 10 | shí |
one
two
three
four
five
Each is one syllable with one tone, and a wrong tone is a wrong price. The pair that trips everyone is (sì, four) and (shí, ten). Chinese children drill it with a tongue-twister:
，。(Sì shì sì, shí shì shí.) - Four is four, ten is ten.
Say sì short and falling, shí rising with the tongue curled back.
Eleven to ninety-nine: the number spells itself
A digit after (shí) adds; a digit before it multiplies.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Built as | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| shíyī | ten-one | 11 |
| shíjiǔ | ten-nine | 19 |
| èrshí | two-ten | 20 |
| èrshíyī | two-ten-one | 21 |
| sìshísì | four-ten-four | 44 |
| jiǔshíjiǔ | nine-ten-nine | 99 |
There is no catch in the teens. They even have a name built from the rule, (shíjǐ), ten-and-a-few:
。(Tā shíjǐ suì.) - He's in his teens.
Hundreds and thousands: 百 (bǎi) and 千 (qiān)
Unlike (shí), the units (bǎi), (qiān) and (wàn) always take a number in front. 100 is (yìbǎi), never bare (bǎi). After that the units stack from largest to smallest:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Value |
|---|---|---|
| sānbǎi | 300 |
| sānbǎi wǔshí | 350 |
| sìqiān liùbǎi | 4,600 |
| jiǔqiān jiǔbǎi jiǔshíjiǔ | 9,999 |
In speech the last unit is often dropped when it is the next one down, so (sānbǎi wǔ) means 350, not 305:
。(Zhège sānbǎi wǔ.) - This one is 350.
Shopkeepers say it constantly, which is exactly why the (líng) rule below matters.
十 (shí) or 一十 (yìshí)?
At the start of a number, ten is plain (shí): (shíwǔ) is 15. Inside a bigger number, the (yī) comes back:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Value |
|---|---|---|
| yìbǎi yìshíwǔ | 115 |
| yìbǎi yìshí | 110 |
| yìqiān líng yìshí | 1,010 |
Saying (yìbǎi shíwǔ) for 115 is a classic learner's slip.
零 (líng): one zero for any gap
When a number has a gap in the middle, Mandarin says it with (líng):
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Value |
|---|---|---|
| yìbǎi líng yī | 101 |
| yìbǎi líng wǔ | 105 |
| yìqiān líng wǔ | 1,005 |
| yìqiān líng wǔshí | 1,050 |
| liǎngqiān líng bā | 2,008 |
One (líng) covers a whole run of missing digits: 1,005 has one, not two. Zeros at the end are never said: 1,500 is (yìqiān wǔbǎi). And (yìbǎi líng wǔ) is 105, while (yìbǎi wǔ) is 150: forget the and you have asked for forty-five more than you meant.
Counting in 万 (wàn), not in thousands
English groups big numbers in threes: thousand, million, billion. Mandarin groups them in fours: (wàn) for 10,000 and (yì) for 100,000,000.
| Value | Hanzi | Pinyin | Literally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | | yíwàn | one ten-thousand |
| 100,000 | | shíwàn | ten ten-thousands |
| 1,000,000 | | yìbǎiwàn | a hundred ten-thousands |
| 10,000,000 | | yìqiānwàn | a thousand ten-thousands |
| 100,000,000 | | yíyì | one hundred-million |
| 1,000,000,000 | | shíyì | ten hundred-millions |
To read a big figure, forget the English commas and regroup the digits in fours from the right:
The same trick turns 1,400,000,000 into 14,0000,0000:
。(Zhōngguó yǒu shísì yì rén.) - China has 1.4 billion people.
The commonest mistake is reading the digit before (wàn) as thousands. (sānwàn) is 30,000, not 3,000, and on a rent deposit that is not a rounding error.
二 (èr) or 两 (liǎng)?
Two has two words. (èr) is the number itself; (liǎng) is two of something, before a measure word:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
，， | yī, èr, sān | one, two, three |
| shí'èr ge rén | twelve people |
。 | Wǒ yǒu liǎng ge háizi. | I have two children |
| liǎngqiān | 2,000 |
Before (qiān) and (wàn) two is normally (liǎng); before (bǎi) both (liǎngbǎi) and (èrbǎi) are heard. Phone numbers, years and the rest are on the 二 vs 两 page.
A measure word between the number and the noun
In everyday speech a number does not sit straight against a noun. A measure word goes between them, and (gè) is the general one:
。(Zhèlǐ yǒu sān ge rén.) - There are three people here.
Number, then 个 gè, then the noun. 苹果 píngguǒ, apple, stays the same for one or three.
A few nouns are units themselves and take no measure word: (sān tiān, three days), (liǎng nián, two years). Which noun takes which measure word is on the measure words page.
第 (dì) for first, second, third
Put (dì) in front of a number and it becomes an ordinal: (dì yī), first; (dì èr), second, never (dì liǎng). The measure word and noun follow as usual:
。(Tā shì dì yī ge lái de.) - He was the first to arrive.
Floors are counted from the ground: (yī lóu) is the ground floor, so (èr lóu) is what British English calls the first floor.
How many? 几 (jǐ) or 多少 (duōshao)
(jǐ) expects a small number, usually under ten, and always takes a measure word or a unit noun such as (tiān, day); (duōshao) fits any number, and the measure word is optional:
？(Nǐ yǒu jǐ ge háizi?) - How many children do you have?？(Zhège duōshao qián?) - How much is this?
More in interrogative pronouns.
Why 一 (yī) changes tone
(yī) is first tone on paper and has three pronunciations in speech. The character never shows it.
| Hanzi | Said | Why |
|---|---|---|
| shíyī | at the end of a number |
| dì yī | an ordinal |
| yí ge | gè is fourth tone |
| yíwàn | wàn is fourth tone |
| yìqiān | qiān is first tone |
| yìbǎi | bǎi is third tone |
Dictionaries write the base tone yī; learner materials, this page included, write the tone you say. (bù) does the same before a fourth tone, as the negation page shows.
Lucky and unlucky numbers: 4, 6 and 8
Some digits carry weight because of what they sound like:
| Number | Pinyin | Sounds like | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| (4) | sì | sǐ, death | fourth floors skipped |
| (6) | liù | liū, smooth | 666 online means nice one |
| (8) | bā | fā, to prosper | plates and phone numbers sell dear |
None of this is grammar, but it is priced in: New Year red envelopes, (hóngbāo), hold sums such as 888 yuan and avoid 4s.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Pinyin | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| | liǎng ge rén | two things take |
| for 100 | | yìbǎi | and need their |
| | yíwàn | Mandarin counts in |
| | shíwàn | 100,000 is ten |
| | yìbǎi líng wǔ | for 105, say the |
| | dì èr | ordinals take |
Numbers up to a million and ordinals with (dì) are on the AQA GCSE Chinese specification at Foundation and Higher tier.
What to do next
- Do the drill below until
(líng) in the gaps is automatic. - Read 二 (èr) vs 两 (liǎng), then time, dates and money.
- Say every price you see aloud in Mandarin before you say it in English.