Chinese Cardinal Numbers
Chinese cardinal numbers are the numbers used for counting and expressing quantity.
They answer the question:
“How many?”
Examples include:
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一 | yī |
| 2 | 二 | èr |
| 3 | 三 | sān |
Cardinal numbers are used in many everyday situations such as:
- counting objects
- telling time
- writing dates
- giving prices
- describing quantities
Learning cardinal numbers is the foundation for understanding Chinese numbers.
Chinese Cardinal Numbers 1–20
The first twenty numbers should be memorized because they form the foundation for larger numbers.
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
You can also view the full number chart here:
Chinese Cardinal Numbers 21–99
Chinese numbers follow a very regular structure.
Examples:
21 = 二十一 (èr shí yī)
24 = 二十四 (èr shí sì)
37 = 三十七 (sān shí qī)
48 = 四十八 (sì shí bā)
59 = 五十九 (wǔ shí jiǔ)
The structure is generally:
ten + unit
Examples:
42 = 四十二 (sì shí èr)
67 = 六十七 (liù shí qī)
Chinese Tens
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 二十 | èr shí |
| 30 | 三十 | sān shí |
| 40 | 四十 | sì shí |
| 50 | 五十 | wǔ shí |
| 60 | 六十 | liù shí |
| 70 | 七十 | qī shí |
| 80 | 八十 | bā shí |
| 90 | 九十 | jiǔ shí |
These combine with the numbers 1–9 to create larger numbers.
Example:
45 = 四十五 (sì shí wǔ)
Chinese Hundreds
Chinese hundreds follow a clear pattern.
Examples:
100 = 一百 (yī bǎi)
200 = 二百 (èr bǎi)
300 = 三百 (sān bǎi)
These numbers combine with smaller numbers to create larger values.
Example:
245 = 二百四十五
èr bǎi sì shí wǔ
Chinese Thousands
Examples:
1,000 = 一千 (yī qiān)
2,000 = 二千 (èr qiān)
10,000 = 一万 (yī wàn)
Chinese numbers continue to follow consistent patterns as they increase.
Examples of Chinese Cardinal Numbers
Example sentences:
我有三本书。
Pinyin:
wǒ yǒu sān běn shū
Meaning:
I have three books.
Another example:
价格是五十元。
Pinyin:
jiàgé shì wǔ shí yuán
Meaning:
The price is fifty yuan.
Practice Chinese Cardinal Numbers
You can practice Chinese numbers using the interactive tools below.
Try Our Chinese Numbers Interactive Translate Tool
Test Your Knowledg. Take the Chinese Numbers Quiz
Related Chinese Pages
Further reference: Wikibooks Mandarin numbers.