Counting in Chinese is refreshingly logical. The numbers one through ten are yi (一), er (二), san (三), si (四), wu (五), liu (六), qi (七), ba (八), jiu (九), and shi (十), with ling (零) for zero. Learn those eleven syllables and the rest of the system clicks into place.
There are no irregular teens, no odd words like "eleven" or "twelve" — everything stacks from these building blocks. It is one of the easiest wins in the whole language, and it pays off in markets, taxis, and menus every single day.
The numbers, zero to ten
Here is the full set. Pinyin normally carries tone marks, and each of these has its own melody — the linked lessons teach them with audio so the tones stick.
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 | ling |
| 1 | 一 | yi |
| 2 | 二 | er |
| 3 | 三 | san |
| 4 | 四 | si |
| 5 | 五 | wu |
| 6 | 六 | liu |
| 7 | 七 | qi |
| 8 | 八 | ba |
| 9 | 九 | jiu |
| 10 | 十 | shi |
Counting past ten
This is where Chinese shows off. Eleven is simply "ten-one," twenty is "two-ten," and ninety-nine is "nine-ten-nine." No new words required.
十一
shi yi
Eleven (ten-one)
二十
er shi
Twenty (two-ten)
九十九
jiu shi jiu
Ninety-nine (nine-ten-nine)
There is one wrinkle worth knowing early. The number two has two forms: er (二) is the digit itself, used for counting out loud and in things like dates and phone numbers, while liang (两) is the "two" you use for a quantity of things. So it is er when you recite "one, two, three," but liang ge ren (两个人) for "two people."
That little ge (个) is a measure word — a counter that sits between a number and a noun, like "two sheets of paper." Chinese uses one for almost every noun, and ge is the catch-all default. Our guide to measure words sorts out when to use which.
Big numbers and money
Above a hundred, three words carry you a long way: bai (百) for hundred, qian (千) for thousand, and wan (万) for ten-thousand. That last one matters, because Chinese groups large numbers by ten-thousands rather than thousands — so 100,000 is shi wan ("ten ten-thousands"), not "one hundred thousand."
You will feel this most with prices. Big-ticket items like rent or a phone are quoted in wan, so listen for it and multiply.
When reading out a string of digits — a phone number, a room number — Chinese speakers say yao (幺) instead of yi for the number one, because yi and qi (seven) sound too alike on a crackly line. So 110 comes out as yao yao ling.
Prices come in two flavors: yuan (元) is the formal, written unit, while kuai (块) is the everyday spoken word for the same thing — exactly like "dollar" versus "buck." At any market you will hear kuai.
Counting to ten on one hand
Here is the party trick: Chinese people can count all the way to ten on a single hand. One through five are the obvious raised fingers, but six through ten each have their own gesture, and market sellers flash them across noisy stalls all the time.
- Six — extend your thumb and pinky, tuck the middle three (the "hang loose" shape).
- Seven — pinch your thumb and first two fingertips together to a point.
- Eight — stick out your thumb and index finger in an L, like a finger gun.
- Nine — curl your index finger into a hook.
- Ten — cross your two index fingers into a little 十, or just make a fist.
Learning to read these is real travel skill — when a vendor flashes the six sign, they mean six kuai, not "call me."
Lucky eight, unlucky four
Numbers carry luck in China, and it comes down to homophones.
Eight (八, ba) sounds close to fa (发), as in facai, "to get rich," so eight is the lucky number — license plates and phone numbers thick with eights sell for real money. Four (四, si) sounds like si (死), "death," so it is quietly avoided: many buildings label the floor above three as five, skipping four entirely, the way some Western buildings skip thirteen.
None of this is treated as physics — it is folk belief, played with as much as followed — but noticing it will make a lot of everyday choices in China suddenly make sense.
Keep learning Chinese
Numbers are the fastest fluency you will ever buy: ten minutes now, and you can shop, split a bill, and read a price tag anywhere in China. Cement them with our free numbers and counting lessons, then drill the sounds with audio and spaced repetition in the Pretalk app until jiu shi jiu rolls off your tongue.
