Difference between revisions of "Structure of numbers"

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== Different units ==
 
== Different units ==
  
Mandarin has two units that English doesn't have (or at least, it has unique words for these units whilst English describes them with combinations of other units. These are:
+
Mandarin has two units that English doesn't have (or at least, it has unique words for these units whilst English describes them with combinations of other units). These are:
  
 
* 万 - wàn - ten thousand
 
* 万 - wàn - ten thousand

Revision as of 01:50, 18 June 2015

Chinese handles numbers in a very consistent and logical way. The system does have any tricky parts, but once you've learned it, you will know how to read out any number in Chinese.

One to one hundred

Single digits are handled the same way as in English, nothing tricky there.

Structure for teens

Eleven, twelve and the teens are handled very logically. They're formed with 十 (shí) followed by a digit 一 (yī) to 九 (jiǔ). So eleven is 十一 (shíyī), twelve is 十二 (shí'èr), thirteen is 十三 (shísān), and so on up to nineteen, which is 十九 (shíjiǔ).

十 x

Examples

  • shí 11
  • shí èr 12
  • shí sān 13
  • shí 14
  • shí 15
  • shí liù16
  • shí 17
  • shí 18
  • shí jiǔ 19

Structure for tens

All the tens are also formed very logically. Twenty is 二十 (èrshí), thirty is 三十 (sānshí), and so on. Units in the tens are simply added on the end. So twenty one is 二十一 (èrshíyī), thirty four is 三十四 (sānshísì), and ninety-nine is 九十九 (jiǔshíjiǔ). All very logical and consistent.

x + 十

x + 十 + y

Examples

  • èr shí 20
  • sān shí 30
  • shí 40
  • shí 50
  • èr shí sān23
  • sān shí jiǔ39
  • shí 44
  • jiǔ shí 97
  • shí èr82
  • shí sān73

And one hundred is simply 一百 (yībǎi), as in English. So you now know how to count to one hundred in Chinese.

After one hundred

Structure for 101

Note: when there's a "0" in the middle of a number, you read it as 零 (líng), and don't put a number after it.

x + 百 + 零 + y

Examples

  • 百 零bǎi líng 101
  • 百 零sān bǎi líng 305
  • 百 零jiǔ bǎi líng jiǔ909
  • 百 零liǎng bǎi líng liù206
  • 百 零bǎi líng 407
  • 百 零bǎi líng sān803
  • 百 零bǎi líng 504
  • 百 零liù bǎi líng èr602
  • 百 零bǎi líng 701
  • 百 零liǎng bǎi líng èr202

Structure for 110

x + 百 + y

To express the number 250, we say, "二百五" (èrbǎiwǔ). But, if you want to put a measure word after the number, you have to say "x + 百 + y + 十 + 个 + Noun." For example: 360 people is "三百六十个人" (sānbǎiliùshí gè rén).

Examples

  • bǎi shí 111
  • bǎi 110
  • èr bǎi shí 210
  • 个 人èr bǎi shí gè rén210 people
  • sān bǎi shí 350
  • jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí 990
  • bǎi 870
  • bǎi 550
  • bǎi liù460
  • liù bǎi shí 680

Structure for 111

x + 百 + y + 十 + z

Examples

  • bǎi shí 111
  • jiǔ bǎi shí 915
  • liù bǎi sān shí 635
  • bǎi èr shí sān123
  • liǎng bǎi shí jiǔ249
  • sān bǎi liù shí 365
  • jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ999
  • liǎng bǎi èr shí èr222
  • bǎi sān shí èr832
  • bǎi shí 451

After one thousand

千 (qiān) means "thousand" in Chinese. The rules are similar with ”hundred." Just note that no matter how many zeros between the number, you just say 零 (líng) once.

Examples

  • 一 千 yīqiān líng 1001
  • 一 千 一 十yīqiān líng yīshí1010
  • 一 千 一 十 一yīqiān líng yīshíyī1011
  • 一 千 一 十 九yīqiān líng yīshíjiǔ1019
  • 一 千 二 十yīqiān líng èrshí1020
  • 一 千 一 百yīqiān yībǎi1100
  • 一 千 一 百 yīqiān yībǎi líng 1101
  • 一 千 一 百 一 十yīqiān yībǎi yīshí1110
  • 九 千 九 百 九 十 九jiǔqiān jiǔbǎi jiǔshíjiǔ9999

More examples

Mandarin numbers examples
Digit Chinese Pinyin English
1 one
10 shí ten
13 十三 shísān thirteen
20 二十 èrshí twenty
21 二十一 èrshíyī twenty-one
99 九十九 jiǔshíjiǔ ninety-nine
100 一百 yībǎi one hundred
101 一百零一 yībǎi líng yī one hundred and one
110 一百一十 yībǎi yīshí one hundred and ten
119 一百一十九 yībǎi yīshíjiǔ one hundred and nineteen

Different units

Mandarin has two units that English doesn't have (or at least, it has unique words for these units whilst English describes them with combinations of other units). These are:

  • 万 - wàn - ten thousand
  • 亿 - yì - hundred million

万 (wàn) comes up the most often and is the largest stumbling block for most people learning Mandarin numbers. In English, numbers are usually broken up into chunks of three digits. Because of 万 (wàn), it's easier to break numbers up into groups of four in Mandarin. For example:

  • 一 万 二yī wàn èr12,000
  • 一 万 两 千 yī wàn liǎng qiān rén12,000 persons

In English, we split "twelve thousand" numerically into "12,000" (chunks of three digits). Split it the Chinese way, "1,2000," and the Chinese reading "一万两千" (one wan and two "thousand" = yī wàn liǎng qiān) becomes more logical.

More examples:

Separating numbers
English split English reading Chinese split Chinese Pinyin
10 000 ten thousand 1 0000 一万 yī wàn
13 200 thirteen thousand two hundred 1 3200 一万三千两百 yī wàn sānqiān liǎng bǎi
56 700 fifty six thousand seven hundred 5 6700 五万六千七百 wǔ wàn liùqiān qībǎi

Mandarin number structure

Mandarin number structure
亿 千万 百万 十万
qiān wàn bǎi wàn shí wàn wàn qiān bǎi shí
One hundred millions Ten millions Millions Hundred thousands Ten thousands Thousands Hundreds Tens Ones

See also

Sources and further reading

Websites

Books