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A1 Beginner Quantities & Measures

How to Read Chinese Numbers (1, 10, 100, 1000)

Chinese numbers are wonderfully logical: build any number from the digits 一-九 plus the place words 十 (10), 百 (100), 千 (1000). The only tricky bits are 零 (middle zeros) and 二 vs 两.

Why this trips learners up

Good news: Chinese numbers are about as logical as a number system gets. Learn the digits 一 to 九 and the place words — 十 (10), 百 (100), 千 (1000) — and you can build almost anything. Teens are just 十 + a digit (十五 = 15); the tens are a digit + 十 (三十 = 30, 三十五 = 35); hundreds and thousands work the same way (三百五十 = 350, 一千二百 = 1200).

Only two things trip learners up. First, a zero in the middle is spoken as 零 (líng), with no place word after it: 一百零五 = 105 — and watch the trap, because 一百五 means 150, not 105. Second, the digit “2” inside a number is 二 (十二 = 12, 二十 = 20), while 两 is reserved for “two of something”. Master those, and any number is yours.

The structure

Other 百 bǎi Other 十 shí Other
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Pattern Other

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

shí 十 Pattern wǔ 五 Other

15

sān 三 Other shí 十 Pattern wǔ 五 Other

35

liǎng 两 Other bǎi 百 Pattern

200 (also written 二百)

yī 一 Other bǎi 百 Pattern líng 零 Pattern bā 八 Other

108

sān 三 Other bǎi 百 Pattern wǔ 五 Other shí 十 Pattern

350

liù 六 Other bǎi 百 Pattern sān 三 Other shí 十 Pattern wǔ 五 Other

635

yī 一 Other qiān 千 Pattern èr 二 Other bǎi 百 Pattern sān 三 Other shí 十 Pattern sì 四 Other

1,234

yī 一 Other qiān 千 Pattern líng 零 Pattern wǔ 五 Other

1,005

Common mistakes

Avoid: 一百八 yìbǎi bā （= 180!）
Say this: 一百零八 yìbǎi líng bā （= 108）

Why it happens: A zero in the middle of a number must be spoken: 一百零八 = 108. Skip it and 一百八 actually reads as 180 (shorthand for 一百八十). The 零 is what marks the empty tens place.

Avoid: 一百五 yìbǎi wǔ （= 150!）
Say this: 一百零五 yìbǎi líng wǔ （= 105）

Why it happens: 一百五 doesn't mean 105 — it means 150 (short for 一百五十). For 105 you need the zero: 一百零五. Whenever a middle place is empty, say 零.

Avoid: 十两 shí-liǎng
Say this: 十二 shí’èr

Why it happens: Inside a number, the digit 2 is always 二: 十二 (12), 二十 (20), 二百 (200). 两 is only for counting things (两个). So twelve is 十二, never 十两.

Compare & contrast

With 零 — a zero in the middleWithout 零 — shorthand for round numbersThe difference
一百零五yìbǎi líng wǔ = 105一百五yìbǎi wǔ = 150一百零五 = 105 (the tens place is empty, so 零). 一百五 drops the 十 as shorthand — it's 150, not 105.
一千零一yìqiān líng yī = 1001一千一yìqiān yī = 1100一千零一 = 1001. 一千一 is shorthand for 一千一百 = 1100. Completely different numbers.
Rule of thumbA 零 in the middle means an empty place — 一百零五 = 105. Dropping a place word instead (一百五) is shorthand for a round number — 一百五 = 150 (= 一百五十). 一百零五 (105) and 一百五 (150) are not the same. When in doubt, say the zero.

Try it yourself

Build the number 306 — tap the pieces into order.

Related patterns

个Chinese Measure Words: The Common Ones and How They Work

Numbers usually need a measure word before the noun — 三个, 五个 — and 个 is the all-purpose one.

 二／两二 vs 两: The Two Words for “Two”

Inside a number it's always 二 (十二, 二十); 两 is for “two of something”.

 万 / 亿Big Numbers in Chinese: 万 (10,000) and 亿 (100 Million)

Past 千 a new unit appears every four digits — 万 (10,000), then 亿 (100,000,000). The big-number system, built straight on these basics.

 年月日How to Say Dates in Chinese (年 / 月 / 号)

Put these numbers to work: every date — year, month and day — is built from them.

 点 / 分How to Tell Time in Chinese (点, 分, 刻, 差)

Clock time runs on these digits too — 点 (o'clock) and 分 (minutes), plus the 刻 / 半 / 差 shortcuts.

 我吃饭How to Build a Basic Chinese Sentence

Numbers slot into a sentence as the subject or object, like any other word.

 差不多差不多 (chàbuduō): “More or Less” and “About”

差不多 + a number is a rough estimate: 差不多五十 (“about fifty”).

 第一How to Say “First, Second, Third” with 第 (dì)

Put 第 in front of any of these numbers for the ordinal: 第五 (“fifth”), 第二十五 (“twenty-fifth”).

 三分之一How to Say Fractions and Percentages with 分之 (fēn zhī)

These same numbers build fractions and percentages with 分之, denominator first: 三分之一 (“one third”), 百分之五十 (“50%”).

 不到三岁How to Say “Less Than” with 不到 (bùdào)

不到 + a number means the amount falls short of it: 不到一百块 (“less than 100”), 不到三岁 (“not yet three”).
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin How to Read Chinese Numbers (1, 10, 100, 1000) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Other + 百 + Other + 十 + Other
Example
十五
15
Watch out
✗ 一百八  →  ✓ 一百零八