Mandarin Numbers, Time, Dates, and Currency: From 1 to 1,000,000, the 二/两 Split, and Time-Before-Verb

Numbers 1-10

11-19 = 十 (shí) + n. 11 = 十一 (shí yī), 19 = 十九 (shí jiǔ). 20-90 = n + 十 (shí). 20 = 二十 (èr shí), 99 = 九十九 (jiǔ shí jiǔ). 100 = 一百 (yì bǎi).

The 万 (wàn) problem

Mandarin doesn't go thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million. It groups numbers in fours and resets at 万 (10,000).

• 一千 (yì qiān) - 1,000
• 一万 (yí wàn) - 10,000
• 十万 (shí wàn) - 100,000 (lit. ten ten-thousand)
• 一百万 (yì bǎi wàn) - 1,000,000 (lit. one hundred ten-thousand)
• 一千万 (yì qiān wàn) - 10,000,000 (lit. one thousand ten-thousand)
• 一亿 (yí yì) - 100,000,000

The trick for converting from English: divide your English number's digit count by 4, not by 3. 100,000 has one comma in English but is read as 10万 (wàn) in Mandarin (one batch of 万 (wàn), with ten of them). This catches everyone, including fluent learners, on bigger numbers. Slow down and count in groups of four.

二 (èr) vs 两 (liǎng): both mean 'two'

Mandarin has two words for 'two', used in different contexts.

• 二èr is the abstract / counting / compound-number form. Used when reciting numbers, in fractions, in compound numbers (12 = 十二, 22 = 二十二), in dates and times (二月 = February).
• 两liǎng is the 'two of' form. Used before a classifier or a unit of measurement.

So: 二月 (February) but 两个月 (two months). 二十 (twenty) but 两百 (two hundred). 二点 (èr diǎn) is wrong; 两点 (liǎng diǎn) is right for 'two o'clock' (with one exception: 二十二点 (èr shí èr diǎn) in 24-hour time).

The shortcut: when there's a classifier or measure unit right after the 'two', use 两 (liǎng). Otherwise use 二 (èr).

Ordinals with 第 (dì)

Add 第 (dì) in front of a number to make it ordinal.

• 第一 (dì yī) - first
• 第二 (dì èr) - second (always 二, never 两)
• 第三 (dì sān) - third
• 第十次 (dì shí cì) - the tenth time

For 'the second book', it's 第二本书 (dì èr běn shū). 第 (dì) stays in front of the number, the classifier and noun follow normally.

Telling the time

Pattern: X 点diǎn (Y 分fēn) (Z 秒miǎo (miǎo)) for hours, minutes, seconds.

• 三点 (sān diǎn) - 3 o'clock
• 三点十分 (sān diǎn shí fēn) - 3:10
• 三点二十五分 (sān diǎn èr shí wǔ fēn) - 3:25
• 两点 (liǎng diǎn) - 2 o'clock (note 两, not 二)

For minutes you can drop 分 (fēn) in casual speech if the minute number is two-digit: 三点二十 (sān diǎn èr shí) is fine for 3:20.

Special times:

• 半 (bàn) - half past. 三点半 = 3:30.
• 一刻 (yí kè) - a quarter past. 三点一刻 = 3:15.
• 三刻 (sān kè) - three-quarters past (45 minutes). 三点三刻 = 3:45.
• 差 (chà) - to (before the hour). 差五分三点 = 5 to 3 (2:55).

Times of day in conversation use 早上 (morning), 上午 (late morning), 中午 (noon), 下午 (afternoon), 晚上 (evening). 晚上八点 (wǎn shàng bā diǎn) = 8 pm.

Dates: year-month-day order

Mandarin always goes from BIG to SMALL: year, then month, then day.

• 2026年6月15日 (èr líng èr liù nián liù yuè shí wǔ rì) - 15 June 2026
• 2026年6月15号 (èr líng èr liù nián liù yuè shí wǔ hào) - 15 June 2026 (colloquial; 号 instead of 日)

Years are read DIGIT BY DIGIT: 2026 = 二零二六 (èr líng èr liù), NOT 两千零二十六 (liǎng qiān líng èr shí liù).

Months are number + 月 (yuè): 一月 (January), 二月 (February), 十二月 (December). Always 二月 (èr yuè) for February (二 (èr), not 两 (liǎng)).

Days are number + 日 (formal) or 号 (everyday). 十五日 (shí wǔ rì) / 十五号 (shí wǔ hào) = the 15th.

Days of the week use 星期 (xīng qī) + number, with one quirk: Sunday is 星期天 (xīng qī tiān) or 星期日 (xīng qī rì), not 星期七 (xīng qī qī).

• 星期一 (Monday), 星期二 (Tuesday), ..., 星期六 (Saturday), 星期天 (xīng qī tiān) / 星期日 (Sunday).

Currency: 元 (yuán) / 块 (kuài) / 毛 (máo) / 分 (fēn)

The Chinese yuan (人民币 rén mín bì, RMB) splits into:

• 元 (yuán) - the formal name (on banknotes, in writing). 100元 = 100 yuan.
• 块 (kuài) - the spoken form. 100块 = 100 quid (informally). Same value as 元.
• 角 (jiǎo) / 毛 (máo) - 1/10 of a yuan. 角 in writing, 毛 in speech.
• 分 (fēn) - 1/100 of a yuan. Hardly used in modern China.

Spoken price format: 三块五 (3.50 yuan), 十五块二毛 (15.20 yuan). In writing: 三元五角 (sān yuán wǔ jiǎo).

Asking 'how much?': 多少钱? (duō shǎo qián?).

Durations

For 'how long', different units carry the duration directly.

• X个小时 (X ge xiǎo shí) - X hours. 两个小时 = 2 hours.
• X分钟 (X fēn zhōng) - X minutes. 十分钟 = 10 minutes.
• X天 (X tiān) - X days. 三天 = 3 days.
• X个星期 (X ge xīng qī) - X weeks. 两个星期 = 2 weeks.
• X个月 (X ge yuè) - X months. 两个月 = 2 months.
• X年 (X nián) - X years. 三年 = 3 years.

Note that 天 (tiān) and 年 (nián) don't need 个 (gè) - they're their own classifier. 月 (yuè) and 星期 (xīng qī) do.

The time-before-verb word-order rule

The single biggest word-order divergence from English. Time expressions go before the verb, after the subject. English puts them at the END.

• 我明míng天tiān去北京。 (Wǒ míng tiān qù běi jīng.) - I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
• 我昨zuó天tiān吃了面条。 (Wǒ zuó tiān chī le miàn tiáo.) - I ate noodles yesterday.
• 我们晚wǎn上shàng七点见面。 (Wǒ men wǎn shàng qī diǎn jiàn miàn.) - We're meeting at 7 pm.
• 他每měi天tiān学中文。 (Tā měi tiān xué zhōng wén.) - He studies Chinese every day.

The full slot ordering is Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object. Time slots in right after the subject, before any place or verb.

Durations work slightly differently - they often go AFTER the verb, marking how long the action lasted: 我学了两年中文 (I studied Chinese for two years). But the time-WHEN slot is always before the verb.

What to internalise

1. Numbers reset at 万wàn (10,000), not 1,000. Group in fours.
2. 二èr for compound numbers and dates; 两liǎng before classifiers and 百bǎi/千qiān/万wàn. Memorise the split.
3. Years are read digit-by-digit. 二零二六 (èr líng èr liù), not 两千零二十六 (liǎng qiān líng èr shí liù).
4. Date order is big-to-small: year, month, day. 2026年 (nián)6月 (yuè)15日 (rì).
5. Currency: 块kuài (kuài) in speech, 元yuán (yuán) in writing. Both mean yuan.
6. Time expressions go BEFORE the verb. 我明天去 (wǒ míng tiān qù), not 我去明天 (wǒ qù míng tiān).

For the wider word-order picture, see the word-order page.