An easy beginner's guide on how to count in Chinese numbers

Counting in Chinese may sound like a daunting task, but it is truly one of the easiest and most rewarding parts of this language.

One of the first things that you’ll learn in your Mandarin Chinese classes is how to count to ten. Unsurprisingly, this will require some rote memorization, as each number has a different name. However, as you may have suspected, things get interesting after ten. Despite Mandarin being classed as more challenging for English speakers to learn, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that counting beyond ten and well into the trillions is really quite simple!

Indeed, you can go from absolute novice to near-accountant levels in a matter of hours, thanks to the Chinese counting system. Counting in Mandarin is so easy, in fact, that Chinese children regularly outperform their Western, English-speaking peers. There are two main reasons why learning to count in Mandarin is easier than you may think:

• The first ten numbers are all monosyllabic. As you’ll see, each of the first ten numbers has a very short and easy-to-remember name.
• Numbers beyond 10 do not have unique names. Starting from 11, numbers are just a multiplication and/or addition of the first ten numbers. Even if you’re not good at math, this is actually a lot easier than it sounds. Just keep reading, and you’ll see!

So, let’s get started!

Why learning numbers in Mandarin is useful

Spending just a few hours learning how to count in Chinese can have massive payoffs. For example, knowing how to count will help you:

• Ask for a definite number of things. When you go to the supermarket, you’ll be able to ask for the exact number of fruits and vegetables that you want to buy.
• Stay away from unlucky numbers. Luck is an important part of Chinese culture, so there are certain numbers that you’ll definitely want to avoid!
• Make plans! Knowing the numbers in Chinese will allow you to tell the time in Chinese and make plans on specific dates. You’ll be able to celebrate birthdays, make plans to grab a drink, and even book dinner reservations!
• Learn some slang. Yep! You read that right. Number slang is extremely common in China, so learning how to count will also help you learn some helpful Chinese slang!

At this point, you must be so ready to get started with Chinese. So, without further ado, let’s dive into how to actually read and write numbers in Chinese.

How to read and write numbers in Mandarin

The first thing you need to know about reading and writing numbers in Chinese is that there are two ways to represent numbers: with Arabic numerals and Chinese characters. Just as in English, you can use actual numbers or “spell out” the numbers by writing their names in characters.

For the most part, only single or perhaps double-digit numbers are ever written using characters. Years, addresses, phone numbers, and all other large numbers are written using Arabic numbers, just as in English. What a relief! No need to memorize hundreds of different characters just to learn how to write numbers.

But… that’s not the case. Even if years and phone numbers were written with characters, you still wouldn’t need to memorize more than just over 11 characters to write any number. The way the writing system is structured ensures that you won’t actually have to do a whole lot of memorizing. As long as you know some basic arithmetic (and we really mean basic!), you’ll be fine with just around a dozen characters.

Ready to get into it? Let’s start counting!

How to count in Chinese from 0 - 10

Counting to ten is the absolute hardest thing about counting in Chinese. Yes, we do mean that! Once you’ve mastered the first ten, everything else is all about stacking them in different orders. But we’ll get to that in a second! For now, let’s get started with the first ten numbers in Mandarin.

Number	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
0	零	líng	leeng
1	一	yī	e
2	二	èr	ahr
3	三	sān	sahn
4	四	sì	sih
5	五	wǔ	woo
6	六	liù	liow
7	七	qī	chee
8	八	bā	bah
9	九	jiǔ	jeou
10	十	shí	shih

How to count in Chinese from 11 - 99

We promised you that learning the first ten numbers was the hardest part, and we’re not ones to break our promises! Here’s the great news: if you already know how to count to ten, then you already have what it takes to count to 100! Beyond 10, all you need to do is stack your numbers a certain way to get to a hundred. Here’s a quick formula:

• A × 十 (10) + B

Where A is multiplied by 10, and then B is added to the result. Let’s plug in some numbers into our formula:

• (2) × 十 (10) + 3 = 2 × 10 + 3 = 23 (two-ten-three)
• (5) × 十 (10) + 5 = 5 × 10 + 5 = 55 (five-ten-five)
• 8 × 十 (10) + 9 = 8 × 10 + 9 = 89 (eight-ten-nine)

And that’s it! That’s all the math you will need to know, and doing these calculations will become second nature as you start practicing. Truthfully, you don’t even need to make the operations in your head: just as long as you remember that the first digit comes first, followed by 十 (shí) and then the second digit, you’ll be fine.

Two things to keep in mind, and part of the reason the math formula above is important, is that you do not need to say one before the ten for 11-19. Since multiplying one by ten is redundant, you can omit the one completely and just say “ten-five” for 15.

The other thing to consider is when the second digit is a zero. Using our formula above, you would be adding a zero, which is redundant. So, instead of saying “three-ten-zero” for 30, you can just say “three-ten.”

Here’s a detailed table of the numbers from 11 to 99. Take a look at it, and we’re sure you’ll find the rhythm of counting in Chinese in no time.

Number	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
11	十一	shí yī	shih e
12	十二	shí èr	shih ahr
13	十三	shí sān	shih sahn
14	十四	shí sì	shih sih
15	十五	shí wǔ	shih woo
16	十六	shí liù	shih liow
17	十七	shí qī	shih chee
18	十八	shí bā	shih bah
19	十九	shí jiǔ	shih jeou
20	二十	èr shí	ahr shih
21	二十一	èr shí yī	ahr shih
22	二十二	èr shí èr	ahr shih ahr
23	二十三	èr shí sān	ahr shih sahn
24	二十四	èr shí sì	ahr shih sih
25	二十五	èr shí wǔ	ahr shih woo
26	二十六	èr shí liù	ahr shih liow
27	二十七	èr shí qī	ahr shih chee
28	二十八	èr shí bā	ahr shih bah
29	二十九	èr shí jiǔ	ahr shih jeou
30	三十	sān shí	sahn shih
31	三十一	sān shí yī	sahn shih
32	三十二	sān shí èr	sahn shih ahr
33	三十三	sān shí sān	sahn shih sahn
34	三十四	sān shí sì	sahn shih sih
35	三十五	sān shí wǔ	sahn shih woo
36	三十六	sān shí liù	sahn shih liow
37	三十七	sān shí qī	sahn shih chee
38	三十八	sān shí bā	sahn shih bah
39	三十九	sān shí jiǔ	sahn shih jeou
40	四十	sì shí	sih shih
41	四十一	sì shí yī	sih shih
42	四十二	sì shí èr	sih shih ahr
43	四十三	sì shí sān	sih shih sahn
44	四十四	sì shí sì	sih shih sih
45	四十五	sì shí wǔ	sih shih woo
46	四十六	sì shí liù	sih shih liow
47	四十七	sì shí qī	sih shih chee
48	四十八	sì shí bā	sih shih bah
49	四十九	sì shí jiǔ	sih shih jeou
50	五十	wǔ shí	woo shih
51	五十一	wǔ shí yī	woo shih
52	五十二	wǔ shí èr	woo shih ahr
53	五十三	wǔ shí sān	woo shih sahn
54	五十四	wǔ shí sì	woo shih sih
55	五十五	wǔ shí wǔ	woo shih woo
56	五十六	wǔ shí liù	woo shih liow
57	五十七	wǔ shí qī	woo shih chee
58	五十八	wǔ shí bā	woo shih bah
59	五十九	wǔ shí jiǔ	woo shih jeou
60	六十	liù shí	liow shih
61	六十一	liù shí yī	liow shih
62	六十二	liù shí èr	liow shih ahr
63	六十三	liù shí sān	liow shih sahn
64	六十四	liù shí sì	liow shih sih
65	六十五	liù shí wǔ	liow shih woo
66	六十六	liù shí liù	liow shih liow
67	六十七	liù shí qī	liow shih chee
68	六十八	liù shí bā	liow shih
69	六十九	liù shí jiǔ	liow shih jeou
70	七十	qī shí	chee shih
71	七十一	qī shí yī	chee shih
72	七十二	qī shí èr	chee shih ahr
73	七十三	qī shí sān	chee shih sahn
74	七十四	qī shí sì	chee shih sih
75	七十五	qī shí wǔ	chee shih woo
76	七十六	qī shí liù	chee shih liow
77	七十七	qī shí qī	chee shih chee
78	七十八	qī shí bā	chee shih bah
79	七十九	qī shí jiǔ	chee shih jeou
80	八十	bā shí	bah shih
81	八十一	bā shí yī	bah shih
82	八十二	bā shí èr	bah shih ahr
83	八十三	bā shí sān	bah shih sahn
84	八十四	bā shí sì	bah shih sih
85	八十五	bā shí wǔ	bah shih woo
86	八十六	bā shí liù	bah shih liow
87	八十七	bā shí qī	bah shih chee
88	八十八	bā shí bā	bah shih bah
89	八十九	bā shí jiǔ	bah shih jeou
90	九十	jiǔ shí	jeou shih
91	九十一	jiǔ shí yī	jeou shih
92	九十二	jiǔ shí èr	jeou shih ahr
93	九十三	jiǔ shí sān	jeou shih sahn
94	九十四	jiǔ shí sì	jeou shih sih
95	九十五	jiǔ shí wǔ	jeou shih woo
96	九十六	jiǔ shí liù	jeou shih liow
97	九十七	jiǔ shí qī	jeou shih chee
98	九十八	jiǔ shí bā	jeou shih bah
99	九十九	jiǔ shí jiǔ	jeou shih jeou

How to count in Chinese from 100 - 1000

After learning how to count to 99, the natural next progression is to keep going. Counting beyond 100 works the same, except that you’d use 百 (bǎi) for 100 instead of 十 (shí) to go beyond a hundred.

Check out how easy it is to count from 100 to 1,000 in Chinese.

Number	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
100	一百	yì bǎi	e buy
200	二百	èr bǎi	ahr buy
300	三百	sān bǎi	sahn buy
400	四百	sì bǎi	sih buy
500	五百	wǔ bǎi	woo buy
600	六百	liù bǎi	liow buy
700	七百	qī bǎi	chee buy
800	八百	bā bǎi	bah buy
900	九百	jiǔ bǎi	jeou buy
1000	一千	yì qiān	e chian

Counting beyond 1000 in Chinese

Surely, counting into the millions in Chinese must be extremely difficult. Right? Nope! Counting beyond 1,000 is just as easy as counting to 1,000. In fact, it may be even easier if you already have the basics down!

The only thing you need to keep in mind is that large numbers are separated by four digits instead of three. For example, in English, we count in thousands, millions, billions, trillions, and so on. In Chinese, we count in ten thousands, one hundred millions, trillions, and so on. Just keep in mind that commas still go every three digits when typing numbers in Arabic numerals, just as in English!

Here’s a chart on how to count up to one trillion in Chinese!

Number	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation	English name	Literal Translation
0	零	líng	leeng	Zero	Zero
10	十	shí	shih	Ten	Ten
100	一百	yì bǎi	e bye	One hundred	One hundred
1000	一千	yì qiān	e chian	One thousand	One thousand
10,000	一万	yí wàn	e wan	Ten thousand	Ten thousand
100,000	十万	shí wàn	shih wan	One-hundred thousand	Ten ten thousands
1,000,000	一百万	yì bǎi wàn	e bye wan	One million	One-hundred ten thousands
10,000,000	一千万	yì qiān wàn	e chian wan	Ten million	One thousand ten thousands
100,000,000	一亿	yí yì	e yee	One-hundred million	One hundred million
1,000,000,000	十亿	shí yì	shih yee	One billion	Ten one hundred millions
10,000,000,000	一百亿	yì bǎi yì	e bye yee	Ten billion	One hundred one hundred millions
100,000,000,000	一千亿	yì qiān yì	e chian yee	One-hundred billion	One thousand one hundred millions
1,000,000,000,000	一兆	yí zhào	e jao	One trillion	One trillion

How to put it all together

Now that you know the general structure of counting in Chinese, it’s time to put it all together. Here are some “difficult” numbers that — as you will see — aren’t all that difficult to put together after all!

Number	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
387	三百八十七	sān bǎi bā shí qī	sahn buy bah shih chee
756	七百五十六	qī bǎi wǔ shí liù	chee buy woo shih liow
120	一百二(十)	yì bǎi èr (shí)	e buy ahr shih
566	五百六十六	wǔ bǎi liù shí liù	woo buy liow shih liow
803	八百零三	bā bǎi líng sān	bah buy leeng sahn
222	二百二十二	èr bǎi èr shí èr	ahr buy ahr shih ahr
678	六百七十八	liù bǎi qī shí bā	liow buy chee shih bah

Chinese number songs

JunyTony Number Song

If musical learning is your thing, this catchy and exhaustive song will teach you how to count all the way to a hundred! Just listen to this catchy tune a handful of times, and you’ll learn to count in Chinese before you know it.

九九乘法 – Chinese multiplication song

If you want to take things to a whole different level, try memorizing the Chinese multiplication song 九九乘法 (Jiǔ jiǔ chéng fǎ). Even if you’ve already learned your multiplication tables, this fun song can demonstrate just how easy it is to count and do math in Mandarin Chinese!

Ordinal numbers in Chinese

Now that you’ve learned the cardinal numbers in Chinese, figuring out how to say the ordinal numbers will take no time. All you need to learn is the ordinal word 第 (dì) and add it before the number. For example, to turn “one” into “first,” you just say 第一 (dì yī). The same for second, third, fourth, tenth, fiftieth, hundredth, and so on!

Here are some example sentences for using ordinal numbers in Chinese:

Chinese	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
这是我第一次坐飞机	This is the first time I take a flight	zhè shì wǒ dì yī cì zuò fēi jī	zhuh shih woh dee e tzi tzuo fay-gee
第三课	The third lesson	dì sān kè	dee sahn kuh
第十六个人	The sixteenth person	dì shí liù gè rén	dee shih liow guh rehn
第五十句话	The fiftieth sentence	dì wǔ shí jù huà	dee woo shih joo hua

Chinese number slang

If you’re already learning Mandarin online with us, you know we love to include real-life applications of the language whenever possible. After all, your goal isn’t to learn how to read textbooks and communicate with people!

So, we would be remiss to teach you how to count in Chinese without mentioning some helpful Chinese slang numbers as well. These are very common in text messages, so you’ll definitely want to take a close look at these if you follow our tips to learn Chinese characters and get a Chinese language partner!

Number	Meaning	Reason	Characters
886	Goodbye	It sounds like 拜拜了 (bái bái le), which is a common way to say goodbye in Chinese.	八八六
520	I love you	Sounds like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ), which means “I love you”	五二零
555	Crying	Sounds like crying.	五五五
666	Awesome!	Six is one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese, and using it repeatedly means “cool” or “awesome!”	六六六
484	Yes or no?	Sounds like 是不是 (shì bú shì), which means yes or no.	四八四
1314	Forever	Sounds like 一生一世 (yì shēng yī shì), which means “in all one's life”	一三一四
233	Laughter	Represents 哈哈哈 (hā hā hā) which means to laugh.	二三三
996	The 996 working schedule	Common work schedule in Chinese tech companies that includes work from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. 6 days a week.	九九六

FAQs for the numbers in Chinese

Which number is unlucky in China?

If you’re in the United States, you know not to walk under a ladder, to beware of broken mirrors, and to avoid the number 666 at all costs. But do you know what to avoid when you visit China?

The most unlucky number in China is the number 4. This is because four 四 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ), which means death. Therefore, the number four is to be avoided at all costs in Chinese. This causes most people to avoid the number four altogether in their phone numbers or residential address!

What are Chinese lucky numbers?

The luckiest number in Chinese is the number 8 八 (bā), as it is associated with wealth and success. It sounds similar to 发 (fā) as in 发财 (fā cái), which means “to get rich.” So, if it’s riches and fortunes you’re after, try incorporating more eights into your life!

Other lucky numbers are 2, 6, and 9. The number two is lucky because it is considered that all good things come in pairs. The number 6 is considered lucky because of the Chinese Idiom 六六大顺, which means everything going smoothly. ! And finally, 9 is considered lucky in Chinese because 九 (jiǔ) sounds like 久 (jiǔ), which means “long time” or “everlasting.”

How do you count in Chinese with one hand?

You probably already know how to count to 5 using one hand, but what about 6-10? Would you get your other hand involved, then? Well, in Chinese, there’s a way to count all the way up to 10 with a single hand! You’ll definitely want to learn this before you visit China, as this is a very popular way to count to ten in everyday interactions.

Check out this short video for a quick demonstration of how to count to ten in Chinese with one hand.

What is the difference between 二 and 两?

You may have noticed that there are two ways to say two in Chinese: 二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng). The main difference is that 二 (èr) is generally used when counting or doing any kind of math, while 两 (liǎng) is used when expressing “two of” something. Saying 两 (liǎng) in Chinese is similar to saying “a couple of” in English, except that using 两 (liǎng) isn’t optional. You should use 两 (liǎng) whenever talking about two of anything, including:

• 两个月 (liǎng gè yuè) - two months
• 我要两个 (wǒ yào liǎng gè) - I want two
• 两天 (liǎng tiān) - two days

How do you read years in Chinese?

You already know that there are special rules for reading years in English (happy twenty-twenty-three!), so what about Chinese? Do you have to read the whole number when mentioning a specific year? No! Luckily, reading years in Chinese is extremely easy: all you have to do is read each individual digit! No need to add anything up or read things together.

All you need to do is add the word for “year” at the end of the number: 年 (nián). Here are some examples:

Year	Mandarin	Pinyin	Pronunciation
2023	2023年	èr líng èr sān nián	ahr leeng ahr sahn niehn
1997	1997年	yī jiǔ jiǔ qī nián	e jiow jiow chee niehn
1830	1830年	yī bā sān líng nián	e bah sahn leeng niehn
2000	2000年	èr líng líng líng nián	ahr leeng leeng leeng niahn

Time to say 88!

And just like that, you now know how to count all the way to 100 and beyond in Mandarin Chinese! Learning to count is undoubtedly a major milestone in every language learner’s journey, and you should pat yourself on the back for reaching it!

Why not complement this lesson with a few more of our helpful Chinese articles, like our full guide to Chinese radicals and our quick intro to saying hello in Mandarin? Keep the momentum going!