Master Mandarin Numbers: The Complete Beginner’s Guide (0 – 1 Billion)

When learning Chinese, numbers are one of the most practical and essential parts of the language. You use them when talking about prices, time, dates, phone numbers, addresses, and quantities.

The good news is that Mandarin numbers follow a very logical system. Once you learn the basic digits (0–10), you can easily build larger numbers such as 23, 567, or even 10 million.

Let’s learn Mandarin numbers step by step! 🚀

1️⃣ Basic Numbers in Mandarin (0–10)

These are the foundation of all Chinese numbers. Every larger number is built from these digits.

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)

💡 Example Sentences

📌 Tip: When counting or using measure words, 两 (liǎng) is often used instead of 二 (èr).

---

2️⃣ Mandarin Numbers 11–20

Numbers from 11–19 follow a simple pattern:

十 + number

11 — 十一 (shí yī)
12 — 十二 (shí èr)
13 — 十三 (shí sān)
14 — 十四 (shí sì)
15 — 十五 (shí wǔ)
16 — 十六 (shí liù)
17 — 十七 (shí qī)
18 — 十八 (shí bā)
19 — 十九 (shí jiǔ)
20 — 二十 (èr shí)

💡 Example Sentences

---

3️⃣ Mandarin Numbers 21–100

After 20, Mandarin numbers follow a very clear pattern:

[tens digit] + 十 + [ones digit]

Examples:

21 — 二十一 (èr shí yī)
22 — 二十二 (èr shí èr)
26 — 二十六 (èr shí liù)

30 — 三十 (sān shí)
31 — 三十一 (sān shí yī)
33 — 三十三 (sān shí sān)
37 — 三十七 (sān shí qī)

40 — 四十 (sì shí)
41 — 四十一 (sì shí yī)
44 — 四十四 (sì shí sì)
48 — 四十八 (sì shí bā)

50 — 五十 (wǔ shí)
51 — 五十一 (wǔ shí yī)
55 — 五十五 (wǔ shí wǔ)
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)
66 — 六十六 (liù shí liù)

70 — 七十 (qī shí)
71 — 七十一 (qī shí yī)
73 — 七十三 (qī shí sān)
77 — 七十七 (qī shí qī)

80 — 八十 (bā shí)
81 — 八十一 (bā shí yī)
84 — 八十四 (bā shí sì)
88 — 八十八 (bā shí bā)

90 — 九十 (jiǔ shí)
91 — 九十一 (jiǔ shí yī)
95 — 九十五 (jiǔ shí wǔ)
99 — 九十九 (jiǔ shí jiǔ)

100 — 一百 (yì bǎi)

💡 Example Sentences

---

4️⃣ Mandarin Numbers 101–1000

Chinese uses 百 (bǎi) for hundreds.

Structure:

[number] + 百 + [number]

Examples:

101 — 一百零一 (yì bǎi líng yī)
105 — 一百零五 (yì bǎi líng wǔ)
110 — 一百一十 (yì bǎi yī shí)
151 — 一百五十一 (yì bǎi wǔ shí yī)

200 — 二百 (èr bǎi)
202 — 二百零二 (èr bǎi líng èr)
220 — 二百二十 (èr bǎi èr shí)

300 — 三百 (sān bǎi)
303 — 三百零三 (sān bǎi líng sān)
373 — 三百七十三 (sān bǎi qī shí sān)

400 — 四百 (sì bǎi)
404 — 四百零四 (sì bǎi líng sì)
484 — 四百八十四 (sì bǎi bā shí sì)

500 — 五百 (wǔ bǎi)
505 — 五百零五 (wǔ bǎi líng wǔ)

600 — 六百 (liù bǎi)
606 — 六百零六 (liù bǎi líng liù)

700 — 七百 (qī bǎi)
727 — 七百二十七 (qī bǎi èr shí qī)

800 — 八百 (bā bǎi)
808 — 八百零八 (bā bǎi líng bā)

900 — 九百 (jiǔ bǎi)
909 — 九百零九 (jiǔ bǎi líng jiǔ)

990 — 九百九十 (jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí)

1000 — 一千 (yì qiān)

📌 Important Rule

When a digit is missing in the middle, Chinese uses 零 (líng).

Example:
105 → 一百零五

💡 Example Sentence

---

5️⃣ Mandarin Numbers 1000–10000

Chinese uses 千 (qiān) for thousands.

Examples:

1001 — 一千零一 (yì qiān líng yī)
1012 — 一千零一十二 (yì qiān líng yī shí èr)

1234 — 一千二百三十四
(yì qiān èr bǎi sān shí sì)

2000 — 两千 (liǎng qiān)
2002 — 两千零二 (liǎng qiān líng èr)

2345 — 两千三百四十五
(liǎng qiān sān bǎi sì shí wǔ)

3000 — 三千 (sān qiān)
4000 — 四千 (sì qiān)
5000 — 五千 (wǔ qiān)
5678 — 五千六百七十八 (wǔ qiān liù bǎi qī shí bā)

7890 — 七千八百九十 (qī qiān bā bǎi jiǔ shí)

8901 — 八千九百零一 (bā qiān jiǔ bǎi líng yī)

9000 — 九千 (jiǔ qiān)

10000 — 一万 (yí wàn)

📌 Key Point

Chinese counts numbers in units of 10,000, not 1,000 like English.

---

6️⃣ Large Mandarin Numbers

Here are some common large numbers:

10,001 — 一万零一 (yí wàn líng yī)
20,020 — 两万零二十 (liǎng wàn líng èr shí)
30,300 — 三万零三百 (sān wàn líng sān bǎi)
44,000 — 四万四千 (sì wàn sì qiān)

100,000 — 十万 (shí wàn)
500,000 — 五十万 (wǔ shí wàn)

1,000,000 — 一百万 (yì bǎi wàn)
6,000,000 — 六百万 (liù bǎi wàn)

10,000,000 — 一千万 (yì qiān wàn)
70,000,000 — 七千万 (qī qiān wàn)

100,000,000 — 一亿 (yí yì)

800,000,000 — 八亿 (bā yì)

1,000,000,000 — 十亿 (shí yì)

💡 Example Sentence

---

🎯 Final Learning Tips

✔ Start by memorizing 0–10.
✔ Understand the pattern of 十 (tens), 百 (hundreds), 千 (thousands).
✔ Practice numbers in daily situations like time, money, and phone numbers.

Chinese numbers are extremely logical. Once you learn the pattern, you can easily read very large numbers! 🚀

加油！🚀