Basics 2 - Numbers
Vocabulary
Numbers
Above twenty you must first enumerate the tens column, then the digits:
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| 二十
二十一
二十二
二十三
三十
三十一
三十二
三十五
四十八
九十二
百
一百
千
一千
|
ershí
ershíyī
ershíèr
ershísān
sānshí
sānshíí
sānshíèr
sānshíwǔ
sìshíbā
jǐshíèr
bǎi
yī bǎi
qīan
yī qīan
|
twenty
twenty-one
twenty-two
twenty-three
...
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-five
...
forty-eight
ninety-two
hundred
one hundred
thousand
one thousand |
The Chinese have a special character for ten thousand: |
In enumerating numbers above one hundred, start with the largest grouping: |
一百零一
一百零二
一百二十
一百六十八
八百四十五
一千四百五十 |
yībǎi līngyī
yībǎi língèr
yībǎi èrshí
yībǎi lìushíbā
bābǎi sìshíwǔ
yīqīan sìbǎi wǔshí
|
101
102
120
168
845
1,450 |
Use "liang" not "er," in constructing two thousand: |
兩千
兩千二百八十七 |
lǐangqīan
lǐangqīan èrbǎi bāshíqī
|
2,000
2,287
|
Instead of grouping large numbers in sets of three, as in the Western world, the Chinese group them in sets of four (notice the special character for one hundred million): |
一千
一萬
十萬
百萬
千萬
一億
十億 |
yīqīan
yīwàn
shíwàn
bǎiwàn
qīanwàn
yīyì
shíyì
|
Number
one thousand
ten thousand
one hundred thousand
one million
ten million
one hundred million
one billion |
Western
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000 |
Chinese
1000
1,0000
10,0000
100,0000
1000,0000
1,0000,0000
10,0000,0000 |
Notice how numbers above ten thousand are spoken (in the following example "eight tens of thousands, three thousands," etc.): |
| 八萬三千五百二十七 |
bāwàn sānqīan wǔbǎi èrshíqī
|
83,527
|
Ordinals, Fractions, more...
Prefix "di" to the number, to make the ordinal; add "ci" to make an adverb: |
第一
第二
第三
第四
第十
第二十
一次
兩次
三次
一半
三分之一
四分之一
十分之一
一雙
一打 |
dìyī
dìèr
dìsān
dìsì
dìshí
dìèrshí
yīcì
lǐangcì
sāncì
yī bàn
sān fēnzhī yī
sì fēnzhī yī
shí fēnzhī yī
yī shuāng
yī dá
|
first
second
third
fourth
tenth
twentieth
once
twice
three times
a half
a third
a fourth
a tenth
a pair
a dozen |
For telephone numbers and years, just say the respective digits: |
一九五四
一九五四年
五五五一二零八 |
yī jǐu wǔ sì (or)
yī jǐu wǔ sì nían
wǔ wǔ wǔ yī èr líng bā
|
1954
1954
555-1208
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