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How to read and speak numbers in Chinese?

Let’s learn how to read and speak Numbers in Chinese.

Numbers数字 (shù zì)
It is easy to learn numbers in Chinese, once you’ve mastered 1 – 10, you can count any numbers!

Single digits
Single digits work the same way as in English.

One	Two	Three	Four
一 yī	二 èr	三 sān	四 sì
Five	Six	Seven	Eight
五 wǔ	六 liù	七 qī	八 bā
Nine		Ten
九 jiǔ		十 shí

There is a special case in the number “2”. This number can be read as 二 (èr) or 两 (liǎng).

FORMAT
When “2” is a single digit, it is called 二 (èr).
When the “2” is in the first position in 3 and above number,and when the “2” is before a classifier, it is called 两 (liǎng).
When the “2” is between other numbers, it is called 二 (èr).

FORMAT
286, 两百八十六 (liǎng bǎi bā shí liù)
726 七百二十六 (qī bǎi èr shí liù)

Counting up to 99
Counting up to 10 is simple. You just need to add on the unit before the single digit.

10	+	1	=	11
十 shí	+	一 yī	=	十一 shí yī

The same goes with 21, 31, it would be 二十一，三十一。

99 and above
Here’s how to speak Hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and so on. In the Chinese counting system, we replace the ”,” in the English numbering system with words. (1,000 = 一千)

Zero	Hundred	Thousand
零 líng	百 bǎi	千 qiān
Ten Thousand	Hundred Thousand	Million
万 wàn	十万 shí wàn	百万 bǎi wàn

EXAMPLE
A hundred and twelve is 一百一十二
A hundred and five is literally “one hundred zero five”: 一百零五