If you're trying to learn Chinese Numbers which is also called Mandarin, check our courses about Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers... to help you with your Chinese grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Chinese. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Chinese Numbers displayed below is vital to the language. Chinese cardinal number convey the "how many" they're also known as "counting numbers," because they show quantity.
In Mandarin numbers from 1 to 10 are unique and therefore need to be memorized individually. Numbers from 11 and upwards are formed by using the following pattern: for example 11 can be formed by using 10 + 1 (shi+yi). 12 by 10 + 2 (shi+er), 21 by 2 +10 +1 (er+shi+ yi) and so on. 56 would be 5+10+6 (wu+shi+liu). There are words for the bigger numbers, 100, 1000, 10.000 etc. The same rules apply
Here are some examples:
| English Numbers | Chinese Numbers |
|---|---|
| numbers | shù zì - 数字 |
| one | yī - 一 |
| two | èr - 二 |
| three | sān - 三 |
| four | sì - 四 |
| five | wǔ - 五 |
| six | liù - 六 |
| seven | qī - 七 |
| eight | bā - 八 |
| nine | jiǔ - 九 |
| ten | shí - 十 |
| eleven | shí yī - 十一 |
| twelve | shí èr - 十二 |
| thirteen | shí sān - 十三 |
| fourteen | shí sì - 十四 |
| fifteen | shí wǔ - 十五 |
| sixteen | shí liù - 十六 |
| seventeen | shí qī - 十七 |
| eighteen | shí bā - 十八 |
| nineteen | shí jiǔ - 十九 |
| twenty | èr shí - 二十 |
| hundred | bǎi - 百 |
| one thousand | yī qiān - 一千 |
| million | bǎi wàn - 百万 |
Counting in Chinese is very easy, the numerals are 一二三四五六七八九十百千万 1-yī 2-èr 3-sān 4-sì 5-wǔ 6-liù 7-qī 8-bā 9-jiǔ 10-shí 100-bǎi 1000-qiān 10000-wan. From this all numerals can be made, after 10, 100, 1000 or 10000 means de number has to be added, before it means you have to multiply the number it is standing before. 三百五十一 sān bǎi wǔ shí yī three times hundred plus five times ten plus one. (The same as our number system 351 means 3 x 100 + 5 x 10 + 1, only we leave out the powers of ten.)
Notice the structure of the Numbers in Chinese.
Chinese Ordinal numbers tell the order of things in a set: first, second, third, etc. Ordinal numbers do not show quantity. They only show rank or position. Below is a list of the Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers in Chinese. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Chinese vocabulary.
| English Numbers | Chinese Numbers |
|---|---|
| Ordinal Numbers | xù shù - 序数 |
| first | dì yī - 第一 |
| second | dì èr - 第二 |
| third | dì sān - 第三 |
| fourth | dì sì - 第四 |
| fifth | dì wǔ - 第五 |
| sixth | dì liù - 第六 |
| seventh | dì qī - 第七 |
| eighth | dì bā - 第八 |
| ninth | dì jiǔ - 第九 |
| tenth | dì shí - 第十 |
| eleventh | dì shí yī - 第十一 |
| twelfth | dì shí èr - 第十二 |
| thirteenth | dì shí sān - 第十三 |
| fourteenth | dì shí sì - 第十四 |
| fifteenth | dì shí wǔ - 第十五 |
| sixteenth | dì shí liù - 第十六 |
| seventeenth | dì shí qī - 第十七 |
| eighteenth | dì shí bā - 第十八 |
| nineteenth | dì shí jiǔ - 第十九 |
| twentieth | dì èr shí - 第二十 |
| once | yī cì - 一次 |
| twice | liǎng cì - 两次 |
Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers have a very important role in Chinese. Once you're done with the Mandarin Numbers, you might want to check the rest of our Chinese lessons here: Learn Chinese. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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The links above are only a small sample of our lessons, please open the left side menu to see all links.