NetChai Chinese

Chinese NumbersConverter and counting guide

Type any number to see how it is written and said in Mandarin Chinese — characters, pinyin, the formal and financial forms, and how to read it as a year, a price or a phone number. Below the converter is a complete guide to counting in Chinese, from 0 to 亿 (100 million).

Chinese numbers 1 to 10 (with audio)

Everything else is built from these eleven words. Press play to hear each one in the voice of a native NetChai teacher.

0 零 líng
1 一 yī
2 二 èr
3 三 sān
4 四 sì
5 五 wǔ
6 六 liù
7 七 qī
8 八 bā
9 九 jiǔ
10 十 shí

Want to practice just these? See how to count 1 to 10 in Chinese.

11 to 99: tens and ones

Chinese numbers are completely regular — you say the tens, then the ones, like reading the digits aloud:

11 十一 shíyī ten + one
12 十二 shí'èr ten + two
20 二十 èrshí two × ten
21 二十一 èrshíyī two × ten + one
35 三十五 sānshíwǔ three × ten + five
99 九十九 jiǔshíjiǔ nine × ten + nine

Numbers from 10 to 19 start with 十 on its own (not “one ten”). Once you know 1–10, you can already say every number up to 99.

Hundreds and thousands: 百 and 千

100 is 一百 (yìbǎi) and 1,000 is 一千 (yìqiān). Say each digit with its place, from the biggest down. Two rules make it sound natural:

  • Zeros in the middle: say 零 (líng) once for any run of zeros inside the number, and nothing for zeros at the end.
  • Inside a bigger number, keep the 一: 110 is 一百一十, not 一百十.
101 一百零一 yìbǎi líng yī zero in the middle → 零
110 一百一十 yìbǎi yìshí keep 一 before 十
999 九百九十九 jiǔbǎi jiǔshíjiǔ
1,001 一千零一 yìqiān líng yī two zeros → one 零
1,010 一千零一十 yìqiān líng yìshí
2,026 两千零二十六 liǎngqiān líng èrshíliù 2 before 千 → 两

Big numbers: 万 (10,000) and 亿 (100 million)

English groups digits in threes (thousand, million, billion). Chinese groups them in fours: 万 (wàn) is 10,000 and 亿 (yì) is 100,000,000. So “one million” is “one hundred 万”. The easiest trick: move the comma four places from the right.

Big numbers: 万 (10,000) and 亿 (100 million)
Grouped in fours Chinese Pinyin English
10 十 shí ten
100 一百 yìbǎi one hundred
1,000 一千 yìqiān one thousand
1,0000 一万 yíwàn ten thousand (10,000)
10,0000 十万 shíwàn one hundred thousand (100,000)
100,0000 一百万 yìbǎiwàn one million (1,000,000)
1000,0000 一千万 yìqiānwàn ten million (10,000,000)
1,0000,0000 一亿 yíyì one hundred million (100,000,000)
10,0000,0000 十亿 shíyì one billion (1,000,000,000)

The same zero rule applies across the groups: 10,001 is 一万零一, and 100,001,000 is 一亿零一千. Try any big number in the converter above.

二 or 两? Two ways to say “two”

Mandarin has two words for 2, and they are not interchangeable:

  • 二 (èr) — when counting or reading digits, in the tens place (二十), in ordinals (第二), decimals, years and phone numbers.
  • 两 (liǎng) — before a measure word (两个人 “two people”), and usually before 千, 万 and 亿 (两千, 两万, 两亿).

Before 百 you will hear both 两百 and 二百; 两百 is more common in speech. In money, “2 yuan” is 两块.

Years, phone numbers and rooms: digit by digit

Years are read one digit at a time, followed by 年 (nián). Zero is written 〇 or 零 and said líng.

2026 二〇二六年 èr líng èr liù nián the year 2026
1998 一九九八年 yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián the year 1998

Phone numbers, room numbers and bus numbers are also read digit by digit, and 1 is usually said yāo (幺) so it can't be confused with 七 qī. China's police number 110 is yāo yāo líng.

Money: 块, 毛 and 分

The Chinese currency is the yuan. In writing and on price tags you see 元 (yuán), 角 (jiǎo, 0.1) and 分 (fēn, 0.01). In speech people say 块 (kuài) and 毛 (máo), and often drop the last unit:

¥25.50 二十五块五 èrshíwǔ kuài wǔ written 二十五元五角
¥12.34 十二块三毛四 shí'èr kuài sān máo sì written 十二元三角四分
¥2 两块 liǎng kuài not 二块
¥0.50 五毛 wǔ máo written 五角

Discounts work the other way round from English: 打八折 (dǎ bā zhé) means you pay 80% — in other words, 20% off.

Decimals, fractions, percentages, ordinals

  • Decimals: 点 (diǎn) is the decimal point, and the digits after it are read one by one: 3.14 = 三点一四 (sān diǎn yī sì).
  • Fractions: say the bottom number first: 1/3 = 三分之一 (sān fēn zhī yī), “of three parts, one”.
  • Percentages: 20% = 百分之二十 (bǎi fēn zhī èrshí); 100% = 百分之百.
  • Ordinals: put 第 (dì) in front: 第一 “first”, 第二 “second”, 第十 “tenth”.
  • Negative numbers: 负 (fù): −5 = 负五.

Financial numerals (大写 dàxiě)

On checks, invoices, receipts and contracts, amounts are written with special “capital” numerals, because a simple 一 can be turned into 二, 三 or 十 with one extra stroke:

123456789101001,000
壹贰叁肆伍陆柒捌玖拾佰仟

万 and 亿 stay the same. 2026 in financial numerals is 贰仟零贰拾陆 — the converter above shows any amount.

Lucky and unlucky numbers

Because many words sound alike, some numbers carry meaning:

  • 8 (bā) sounds like 发 (fā, “to prosper”) — the luckiest number. Phone numbers and license plates full of 8s sell for high prices.
  • 6 (liù) sounds like 溜 / 流, “smooth”: 六六大顺 means “everything goes smoothly”.
  • 9 (jiǔ) sounds like 久, “long-lasting”, so it is popular for weddings.
  • 4 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ, “death”), so many buildings skip the 4th floor.
  • 520 (wǔ èr líng) sounds a little like 我爱你 “I love you”, so May 20 is an unofficial Valentine's Day online.

Frequently asked questions

How do you count from 1 to 10 in Chinese?

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

How do you say one million in Chinese?

一百万 (yìbǎiwàn), literally “one hundred ten-thousands”, because Chinese groups big numbers in fours: 万 is 10,000 and 亿 is 100 million.

When do you use 两 instead of 二?

Use 两 before a measure word (两个) and usually before 千, 万 and 亿. Use 二 when counting, in the tens place (二十), in ordinals (第二), decimals, years and phone numbers.

Why is 8 lucky and 4 unlucky in China?

8 (bā) sounds like 发 (fā), “to prosper”; 4 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ), “death”.

How do you write numbers on a check in Chinese?

With the financial numerals 壹 贰 叁 肆 伍 陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟, which are hard to alter. The converter above shows any amount in this form.