Chinese Numbers: The Complete Guide for Counting in Chinese from 0 to 100+

Numbers are the foundation of language and we use them constantly in our daily lives. In China, the numbers used are divided into Chinese and Arabic numbers, and Chinese numbers are further divided into upper and lower cases. In order to standardize the use of numbers, China has clarified the respective usage of Arabic numbers and Chinese numbers.

This article will give you a complete guide on Chinese numbers from 0 to 100+ and will also teach you how to use numbers in daily life, such as introducing your age, giving phone numbers, saying dates, etc. I promise you’ll know how to talk about numbers like a Chinese native by the end of this article! Now it might be a bit long, so bookmark it first if you wish to read it later.

Are you ready? Then let’s start with 0-10!

Table of Contents

Chinese Numbers 0 to 10

The trick to learning most Chinese numbers is to master 0-10!

First of all, there are actually three ways to write 0 in Chinese – namely the Arabic numeral “0”, the Chinese character lowercase “O” and the Chinese character uppercase “零(líng)”. Each 0 has its own specific use and should not be used interchangeably.

The zero in Chinese can be used to link two number units, similar to the way we use “and” in English. For example, instead of saying “one thousand and two hundred”, the Chinese people say 一千零二百 (yì qiān líng èr bǎi), which literally means “one thousand and two hundred”.

When it comes to the numbers 1, 2, and 3, remembering them is quite simple.

One horizontal stroke 一 (yī) means 1

Two horizontal strokes 二 (èr) means 2

Three horizontal strokes 三 (sān) means 3!

Easy, right? Counting is probably one of the easiest parts of learning Chinese! It’s very predictable and logical just like English ones. But remember, as the Chinese language doesn’t have articles like a, an, and the, the number 一 (yī) is often used as an article and it’s pronounced differently such as 一万 (yíwàn, 10 thousand)、一千(yìqiān, one thousand). So don’t trust any source that tells you the pronunciation of “一” never changes!

However, 4-10 are not as simple as just horizontal lines! You’ll have to memorize the table below and try to use them as much as possible. You can also use LingoDeer App to practice the strokes of these Chinese letters!

Chinese Numbers 11 to 100

11-20 is easy. Once you know 1-10, you’ll know how to write 11-100! They all work by adding numbers together.

Number	Hanzi	Pinyin
21	二十一	Èr shí yī
22	二十二	Èr shí èr
23	二十三	Èr shí sān
24	二十四	Èr shí sì
25	二十五	Èr shí wǔ
26	二十六	Èr shí liù
27	二十七	Èr shí qī
28	二十八	Èr shí bā
29	二十九	Èr shí jiǔ
30	三十	sān shí
31	三十一	sān shí yī
32	三十二	sān shí èr
33	三十三	sān shí sān
34	三十四	sān shí sì
35	三十五	sān shí wǔ
36	三十六	sān shí liù
37	三十七	sān shí qī
38	三十八	sān shí bā
39	三十九	sān shí jiǔ
40	四十	sì shí
41	四十一	sì shí yī
42	四十二	sì shí èr
43	四十三	sì shí sān
44	四十四	sì shí sì
45	四十五	sì shí wǔ
46	四十六	sì shí liù
47	四十七	sì shí qī
48	四十八	sì shí bā
49	四十九	sì shí jiǔ
50	五十	wǔ shí
51	五十一	wǔ shí yī
52	五十二	wǔ shí èr
53	五十三	wǔ shí sān
54	五十四	wǔ shí sì
55	五十五	wǔ shí wǔ
56	五十六	wǔ shí liù
57	五十七	wǔ shí qī
58	五十八	wǔ shí bā
59	五十九	wǔ shí jiǔ
60	六十	liù shí
61	六十一	liù shí yī
62	六十二	liù shí èr
63	六十三	liù shí sān
64	六十四	liù shí sì
65	六十五	liù shí wǔ
66	六十六	liù shí liù
67	六十七	liù shí qī
68	六十八	liù shí bā
69	六十九	liù shí jiǔ
70	七十	Qī shí
71	七十一	qī shí yī
72	七十二	qī shí èr
73	七十三	qī shí sān
74	七十四	qī shí sì
75	七十五	qī shí wǔ
76	七十六	qī shí liù
77	七十七	qī shí qī
78	七十八	qī shí bā
79	七十九	qī shí jiǔ
80	八十	bā shí
81	八十一	bā shí yī
82	八十二	bā shí èr
83	八十三	bā shí sān
84	八十四	bā shí sì
85	八十五	bā shí wǔ
86	八十六	bā shí liù
87	八十七	bā shí qī
88	八十八	bā shí bā
89	八十九	bā shí jiǔ
90	九十	jiǔ shí
91	九十一	jiǔ shí yī
92	九十二	jiǔ shí èr
93	九十三	jiǔ shí sān
94	九十四	jiǔ shí sì
95	九十五	jiǔ shí wǔ
96	九十六	jiǔ shí liù
97	九十七	jiǔ shí qī
98	九十八	jiǔ shí bā
99	九十九	jiǔ shí jiǔ
100	一百	yì bǎi

Large Chinese Numbers

If you already know 1-100, the numbers that follow shouldn’t be too hard. You already know how it works! The only difference is that you need to use the number 0 sometimes!

When you say 101-109, you have to add a 0 after a hundred. If you don’t, it becomes another number entirely. Same for 200, 300, and so on. Let me give you some examples.

一百零一 (yì bǎi líng yī) – “one hundred and one ”
一百一 (yì bǎi yī) – “one hundred and ten”

一百零二 (yì bǎi líng èr) – “one hundred and two ”
一百二 (yì bǎi èr) – “one hundred and twenty ”

Now you must have noticed the tone of 一 (yī) is changed to yì. Don’t worry, it only happens occasionally with the number 一 (yī). We’ll explain that later.

From 110, there are two different ways you can say a number. But the first one is often used in spoken Chinese.

一百一(十) (yì bǎi yī (shí)) – “one hundred and ten”

三百二(十) (sān bǎi èr (shí)) – “three hundred and twenty”

The concept of hundreds and tens is the same as that of adding different numbers together:

Chinese Numbers 1,000 & Above

How to Use Numbers in Chinese

Phone numbers

After you learn 1 to 10, it’s much easier to tell someone your phone number! In China, phone numbers always start with 1. Note that the number one in phone numbers must be pronounced 幺(yāo) in order to avoid confusion with 7 (qi), which sounds similar to 1 (yī). Another difference is that in English, we sometimes combine two or even three numbers together, such as thirty-five or triple zero.In Chinese phone numbers, the numbers are always spoken individually.

Let’s try it out!

If your cell phone number is 13699802345, we can simply pronounce the corresponding numbers: yāo, sān, liù, jiǔ, jiǔ, bā, líng, èr, sān, sì, wǔ.

Date

Now it’s time to teach you how to tell dates using numbers. Let’s start with some Chinese that we’ll need to use.

年(nián) – year

月(yuè) – month

日(rì) available in both writing and speaking)/号(hào) only in spoken Chinese – date

What you need to remember is that in Chinese, people usually say dates in year/month/date order.

Here are the examples:

Today is October 4, 2020.
今天是 2020年10月4日/号。
(jīn tiān shì èr líng èr líng nián shí yuè sì rì/hào)

My birthday is April 3, 1998.
我的生日是1998年4月3日/号。
(wǒ de shēng rì shì yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián sì yuè sān rì/hào)

Chinese Internet Slangs using Numbers

666 (liùliùliù) – 666 is used to praise someone or something for doing a good job.

233 (èrsānsān) – Similar to “LOL” in English, 233 is used to express laughter. An extended version can be “2333” or even “23333333…”.

555 (wǔwǔwǔ) – A mimic of the sound of crying in Chinese (呜呜呜).

520 (wǔ’èr líng) – A homophone for “I love you” in Mandarin Chinese, used to express love or affection.

1314 (yī sān yī sì)– A homophone for “forever” or “lifetime” in Chinese, used to express love or affection.

88 (bābā) – Sounds like “拜拜”, meaning “goodbye”.

Ordinal Numbers

The use of Ordinal Numbers is very simple! You just need to add the Chinese character 第(dì) before the number. You can see it as the prefix of numbers to indicate order. For example,

She is the first one to arrive at the station.
她是第一个到车站的。
(tā shì dì yī gè dào chēzhàn de)

第一 (dìyī)	第六 (dìliù)
第二 (dìèr)	第七 (dìqī)
第三 (dìsān)	第八 (dìbā)
第四 (dìsì)	第九 (dìjiǔ)
第五 (dìwǔ)	第十 (dìshí)

What to Notice when Using Chinese Numbers

Change in tones

In Mandarin, the four most common tones (四声sìshēng) are:

The first tone – 阴平 (yīn píng), often called 第一声 (dì yī shēng), is stable and flat, meaning it does not rise or fall. It is also often described as a high tone. The word 轻 (qīng; ) is pronounced in the first tone.

The second Tone – 阳平 (yáng píng), often called the second tone (dì èr shēng), is a rising tone. The word 图 (tú; picture, map) is pronounced in the second tone.

The third tone – 上声 (shàng shēng), usually called the third tone (dì sān shēng) – is most commonly taught as a descending tone followed by a rising tone, as in 煮 (zhǔ; boil, cook).

The fourth Tone – 去声 (qù shēng), often referred to as the fourth tone (dì sì shēng), is a falling tone. The word 去 (qù; go) is pronounced in the fourth tone.

Finger counting

Apart from writing and speaking, Chinese people also use finger counting – hand gestures that signify numbers 1 to 10.

Taboo numbers

4 (sì) – is considered unlucky because of the similarity in pronunciation between 4 and the word 死( sǐ; death) in Chinese. It is a taboo number, just like 13 in Western countries. Usually, you will see the number 4 replaced by the English capital F or just skipped in many elevators in China.

38(sān bā) – It used to have a derogatory meaning in Chinese, referring to a person (usually women) who often meddles in other people’s affairs. In recent years, however, this term is used less often as feminist movements gain popularity and more people realize the term actually comes from Women’s Day (March 8th). Some people even proudly say they are 38 on social media, surprisingly changing the meaning of the term to something neutral or even positive.

250 (Èrbǎiwǔ) – it refers to a person who is stupid, ignorant, and stubborn. It is a number with a long history; people have been using it to curse others since the late Qing Dynasty. You don’t want to use it, and you certainly don’t want to hear people saying it to you.

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