Numbers and Counting

Numbers are among the most practical characters to learn first. Chinese numbers are beautifully simple — the characters for 1–10 form the basis of the entire counting system, and larger numbers are built through logical combinations.

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Numbers 0–10

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Stroke Count	Example Word
零	líng	zero	13	零钱 (líng qián) — small change
一	yī	one	1	一个 (yī gè) — one (of something)
二	èr	two	2	二月 (èr yuè) — February
三	sān	three	3	三天 (sān tiān) — three days
四	sì	four	5	四季 (sì jì) — four seasons
五	wǔ	five	4	五月 (wǔ yuè) — May
六	liù	six	4	六点 (liù diǎn) — six o'clock
七	qī	seven	2	七月 (qī yuè) — July
八	bā	eight	2	八百 (bā bǎi) — eight hundred
九	jiǔ	nine	2	九十 (jiǔ shí) — ninety
十	shí	ten	2	十二 (shí èr) — twelve

Memory Tip: The characters 一, 二, and 三 are simply one, two, and three horizontal lines. This is the clearest example of ideographic characters in Chinese.

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Numbers 11–99

Chinese numbers beyond 10 are formed by logical combination:

Number	Chinese	Literal Meaning
11	十一 (shí yī)	ten-one
12	十二 (shí èr)	ten-two
20	二十 (èr shí)	two-ten
25	二十五 (èr shí wǔ)	two-ten-five
30	三十 (sān shí)	three-ten
99	九十九 (jiǔ shí jiǔ)	nine-ten-nine

Tip: There is no special word for "eleven" or "twelve" like in English. The system is perfectly regular: [digit] + 十 + [digit].

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Larger Numbers

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Stroke Count	Example Word
百	bǎi	hundred	6	一百 (yī bǎi) — one hundred
千	qiān	thousand	3	三千 (sān qiān) — three thousand
万	wàn	ten thousand	3	一万 (yī wàn) — ten thousand

Building Larger Numbers

Number	Chinese	Breakdown
100	一百 (yī bǎi)	one-hundred
250	二百五十 (èr bǎi wǔ shí)	two-hundred-five-ten
1,000	一千 (yī qiān)	one-thousand
3,500	三千五百 (sān qiān wǔ bǎi)	three-thousand-five-hundred
10,000	一万 (yī wàn)	one-ten-thousand
50,000	五万 (wǔ wàn)	five-ten-thousand