Chinese numbers: how to count to 10,000
Chinese numbers are built from ten characters, and once you have those you can say any price, floor, platform or phone number you will meet in China. There is no separate word for eleven, twelve or twenty — you stack the ten.
0 to 10 — learn these first
零
líng
zero
一
yī
one
二
èr
two
三
sān
three
四
sì
four
五
wǔ
five
六
liù
six
七
qī
seven
八
bā
eight
九
jiǔ
nine
十
shí
ten
Tap any character to hear it. These eleven are the whole foundation: everything below is assembled from them.
How every other number is built
11–19: ten, then the unit
十一 (11), 十二 (12), 十九 (19). Literally “ten-one”, “ten-two”, “ten-nine”.
20–99: unit, ten, unit
二十 (20), 三十五 (35), 九十九 (99). No 和 or “and” anywhere — the characters run straight together.
Zero holds an empty place: 零
105 is 一百零五 (one hundred, zero, five). The 零 keeps the tens slot from collapsing — drop it and it reads like 一百五, which people hear as 150.
百, 千 and the 万 that changes everything
一百 (100), 一千 (1,000), 一万 (10,000). Chinese counts in ten-thousands where English counts in thousands: 20,000 is 两万, 100,000 is 十万, 1,000,000 is 一百万.
Speakers drop the last zero
3,500 is usually 三千五, not 三千五百. Short and long forms both exist, so 一千五 can mean 1,500 — context, and a written price, settle it.
十一
shí yī
eleven
二十
èr shí
twenty
一百
yì bǎi
one hundred
一千
yì qiān
one thousand
一万
yí wàn
ten thousand
Saying prices
块
kuài
yuan (spoken)
元
yuán
yuan (written)
角
jiǎo
10 fen / a dime
分
fēn
fen / cent, and minute
两
liǎng
two (before a measure word)
半
bàn
half
- 块 and 元 are the same yuan. 块 is what people say, 元 is what receipts print. 十块 = 十元 = 10 yuan.
- Decimals run straight on. 十块五 = 10.5 yuan, 三块二 = 3.2 yuan. No word for “point” in everyday speech.
- 两百, not 二百. Before a unit, two becomes 两 — 两百块 (200 yuan), 两万 (20,000).
- 半 is half. 半块 is half a yuan, 三点半 is half past three.
To actually ask the price you need one sentence: 多少钱？ (How much?)
Time and dates
点
diǎn
o'clock
号
hào
date (of the month)
- Time: 三点 (3:00), 三点半 (3:30), 三点十五 (3:15). Minutes are just the number after 点.
- Dates: month first, then 号 — 五月八号 is 8 May. To ask the date, say 今天几号？
- Where you will actually need this: platform and seat numbers, hotel floors, taxi fares, and the price of everything.
Questions about Chinese numbers
How do you say numbers in Chinese?
Chinese numbers 0 to 10 are 零 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 (líng, yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí). Every other number is built by stacking those ten characters: 11 is 十一 (ten-one), 20 is 二十 (two-ten) and 55 is 五十五 (five-ten-five). There are no separate words to memorise for 11, 12 or 20.
How do you say 100, 1,000 and 10,000 in Chinese?
100 is 一百 (yì bǎi), 1,000 is 一千 (yì qiān) and 10,000 is 一万 (yí wàn). The big difference from English is 万: Chinese groups large numbers in units of ten thousand, not thousands. So 20,000 is 两万 (two 万), 100,000 is 十万 (ten 万) and 1,000,000 is 一百万.
How do you say prices in Chinese?
The unit is 块 (kuài) when you speak and 元 (yuán) on signs, menus and receipts — same money, two words. Prices are read straight through: 十块五 is 10.50 yuan, 两百块 is 200 yuan. Ten 分 (fēn) make a 角 (jiǎo) and ten 角 make a 块, but 角 is rare on modern prices.
When do you use 两 instead of 二 for two?
二 (èr) is two as a number — counting, phone numbers, dates. 两 (liǎng) is used before a measure word: 两个人 (two people), 两百 (200 yuan), 两万 (20,000). Saying 二百 in speech sounds like you are reading a form out loud, so 两百 is what you want at a till.
How do you ask how much something costs in Chinese?
多少钱？ (Duōshao qián?) is the phrase — it needs no grammar to work, and pointing at the item is enough. Add a word in front to be specific: 这个多少钱？ (how much is this one?) or 一共多少钱？ (how much altogether?).
Use them in the wild
Numbers show up in every situation on this site — these 105 phrases are grouped by where you will be standing when you need them.
Going to China?
24 number sounds are the start. The rest is a short list you can work through before you fly.
China travel checklist