(yì) - a hundred million in Mandarin
yìTraditional: 億
Translation
a hundred million
Test yourself on 亿
Three quick questions. No account needed.
Know this word? Create a free account to track it.
Word origin
The traditional form 億 is 亻 (the person radical) with 意 (yì) giving the sound. The simplified form keeps the person radical and swaps in the far simpler 乙 (yǐ) as the sound element.
- Origin
- phono-semantic
- Root
- 亻 (person) + 乙 (yǐ, phonetic); traditional 亻 + 意 (yì, phonetic)
Stroke order
亿
Examples
。
China has 1.4 billion people.
。
There are more than eight billion people in the world.
。
They spent two hundred million yuan.
。
This country has over a hundred million people.
。
This is going to cost several hundred million.
亿 (yì) is a hundred million, 100,000,000, and it is the second pivot of the Chinese number system after 万 (wàn, ten thousand). Chinese groups big numbers in blocks of four digits, so it counts up in 万 until it runs out of room: 一万 (yíwàn) is 10,000, 一千万 (yìqiānwàn) is 10,000,000, and one step further is 一亿 (yíyì). Like 百 (bǎi), 千 (qiān) and 万 (wàn), it always takes a number in front, and the 一 of 一亿 is said yí because 亿 is a fourth tone.
The practical payoff is population and money. A billion is 十亿 (shíyì), literally ten hundred-millions, so China's 1.4 billion is 十四亿 (shísì yì) and the world's eight billion is 八十亿 (bāshí yì). Read the figure in 亿 first, then in 万: 三亿五千万 (sānyì wǔqiānwàn) is 350,000,000. Two hundred million takes 两 (liǎng), as two does before 千 and 万: 两亿 (liǎngyì).
The pinyin clashes with plenty of other yì words, including 亦 (yì, also) and 意 (yì, meaning), so on paper the character does the work. In speech the number in front and the measure word or 人 (rén) after it make it unmistakable.
Where this fits
Used in
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Meet this word in a story
Every course has graded stories written only with words you have been taught, plus grammar drills, a games arcade and printable worksheets. Chapters 1 and 2 are free.
Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.
Mandarin · Free printables
亿: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "亿" (a hundred million): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
This word is taught in chapter 2, lesson 9: 亿, 不能, 真的 and 10 more words.