Expressing numbers
In Chinese, numbers can be written in two ways:
1. With Arabic numerals, e.g. 1
2. With Chinese characters, e.g. 一
1. Writing and reading the numbers 0–99
Numbers from 0 to 99 are normally written with the Chinese numerals.
The basic numerals:
零0 — zero
一1 — one
二2 — two
三3 — three
四4 — four
五5 — five
六6 — six
七7 — seven
八8 — eight
九9 — nine
十10 — ten
2. Writing and reading the numbers 100–10,000
From 100 upwards these units are used:
百hundred
千thousand
万ten thousand
Examples
100
一百
100 — one hundred
208
二百零八
208 — two hundred and eight
The tens place is empty here, so 零 is used.
999
九百九十九
999 — nine hundred and ninety-nine
1000
一千
1000 — one thousand
1528
一千五百二十八
1528 — one thousand five hundred and twenty-eight
9999
九千九百九十九
9999 — nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
3. Writing and reading the number 2
In Chinese, 2 can be said and written in two ways:
二 (èr)
两 (liǎng)
They are not used in the same places.
二 — èr
二 is normally used in ordinal numbers.
第二
second
两 — liǎng
两 is normally used before a measure word.
两 + 量词
两 + measure word
两个
two (of something)
The rule in short
Writing numbers
1
or
一
Chinese uses both Arabic numerals and Chinese characters.
Large numbers
百 = hundred
千 = thousand
万 = ten thousand
Examples:
一百 = 100
二百零八 = 208
一千 = 1000
一千五百二十八 = 1528
九千九百九十九 = 9999
The number 2
二 — in ordinals: 第二 (second)
两 — before a measure word: 两个 (two)