Chinese Numbers: Counting from 1 to 100 Million

How Chinese numbers work, from the simple 1–10 pattern to 万 (ten thousand) and 亿 (hundred million), plus lucky and unlucky numbers.

Chinese numbers are among the most logical in the world. Once you know 1 to 10, you can build almost any number by combining them.

1 to 10

一 (yī), 二 (èr), 三 (sān), 四 (sì), 五 (wǔ), 六 (liù), 七 (qī), 八 (bā), 九 (jiǔ), 十 (shí). Zero is 零 (líng).

11 to 99

The pattern is "ten-one", "two-ten", "two-ten-one":

十一 (shíyī) — 11
十五 (shíwǔ) — 15
二十 (èrshí) — 20
二十三 (èrshísān) — 23
九十九 (jiǔshíjiǔ) — 99

Hundreds and thousands

一百 (yì bǎi) — 100
三百五十 (sān bǎi wǔshí) — 350
一千 (yì qiān) — 1,000
两千 (liǎng qiān) — 2,000

When a zero appears inside a number, say 零 once: 一百零五 (yì bǎi líng wǔ, 105), 一千零一 (yì qiān líng yī, 1,001).

万 (wàn) and 亿 (yì)

Chinese groups big numbers by ten-thousands, not thousands:

一万 (yí wàn) — 10,000
十万 (shí wàn) — 100,000 ("ten ten-thousands")
一百万 (yì bǎi wàn) — 1,000,000
一亿 (yí yì) — 100,000,000

This is the trickiest part for English speakers, because 100,000 is "ten wan", not "a hundred thousand". A useful trick is to convert by moving the comma.

Phone numbers and other special readings

In phone numbers and room numbers, 一 is often read yāo to avoid confusion with 七 (qī): 110 is yāo yāo líng.

Years and dates

Years are read digit by digit: 二〇二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián), 2026. Dates use 月 and 号: 十月五号 (5 October).

Ordinals

Add 第 (dì): 第一 (first), 第二 (second), 第三 (third).

Fractions, percentages and decimals

一半 (yí bàn) — half
三分之一 (sān fēn zhī yī) — one third
百分之五十 (bǎi fēn zhī wǔshí) — 50 percent
三点五 (sān diǎn wǔ) — 3.5

Lucky and unlucky numbers

8 (八, bā) sounds like 发 (fā, "prosper"), so it is considered very lucky. Phone numbers and licence plates with many eights can be very expensive.
4 (四, sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ, "death"), so it is often avoided, and some buildings skip the fourth floor.
6 (六, liù) sounds like 流 (smooth), so is considered good.
9 (九, jiǔ) sounds like 久 (long-lasting) and is associated with longevity.

Finger counting

Chinese people use one-hand gestures to show numbers from 6 to 10, which differ from Western gestures. If you see them in a market, it can help to check by saying the number aloud.

Practice

Count objects around you in Chinese.
Read prices and phone numbers aloud.
Practise converting large numbers using wàn.
Look up number words in a dictionary.

Look up number words and characters with English Chinese Dictionary →