Lesson 2.3: Numbers and Quantifiers

In this lesson, we’ll learn the beautifully simple process of naming numbers in Chinese, along with a category of words called quantifiers that link numbers to the nouns they describe (much like 的 (de, of) in the last lesson).

Numbers

The Chinese number system is one of the most efficient number systems in existence. The hardest part is just learning the names of the digits, which are:

• 零 (líng, zero)
• 一 (yī, one)
• 二 (èr, two)
• 三 (sān, three)
• 四 (sì, four)
• 五 (wǔ, five)
• 六 (liù, six)
• 七 (qī, seven)
• 八 (bā, eight)
• 九 (jiǔ, nine)

Each of the above characters can be used as a word on its own. For numbers larger than nine, you’ll combine them with each other as well as a few other characters.

For two-digit numbers, you’ll also have to learn the character 十 (shí, ten). Name two-digit numbers like this: [first digit]十[second digit]

For three-digit numbers, you’ll also need the character 百 (bǎi, hundred). Name three-digit numbers like this: [first digit]百 (bǎi)[second digit]十 (shí)[third digit]

For larger numbers, just continue the pattern from there! The characters for the powers of ten up to ten thousand are:

• 十 (shí, ten)
• 百 (bǎi, hundred)
• 千 (qiān, thousand)
• 万 (wàn, ten thousand)

As a general rule, don’t start a number with 一十 (yī shí, one ten); instead, just use 十 (shí, ten). 一十 (yī shí) can appear in other places, just not at the beginning.

Finally, if a digit is zero, don’t use 零; instead, just omit that digit.

Also, just be aware that all modern languages, including Chinese, use Arabic numerals as well. That means that it’s very common to see a number like 452 in Chinese text, and you should still pronounce it using its Chinese name: 四百五十二 (sì bǎi wǔ shí èr).

Ordinal Numbers vs. Cardinal Numbers

In linguistics, there are two different ways to use numbers: ordinal numbers and cardinal numbers.

• Ordinal number: used as a noun, or to describe order/position — e.g. “the number two”; “the second movie”
• Cardinal number: used to describe quantity — e.g. “two movies”

To describe a noun with an ordinal number, use the character 第 (dì):

Format: 第 [number] [noun]

To use any cardinal number, you’ll need a quantifier (covered below).

There are two forms of the number two: 二 (èr, two for ordinal numbers) and 两 (liǎng, two for cardinal numbers).

This distinction only applies to the number two, not to numbers like 20 or 200, which usually still use 二.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers, also known as measure words, are words that are required to connect cardinal numbers to the nouns they modify. They’re mostly a Chinese concept, but English also has some words that function like them, like “glasses” in “three glasses of water” or “slice” in “one slice of bread.”

There are many quantifiers to pick from depending on which noun you use, but the default, most general one is 个 (ge). Use quantifiers like this: [cardinal number] [quantifier] [noun].

• 三个苹果 (sān ge píngguǒ, three apples)
• 四个人 (sì ge rén, four people)
• 一个包子 (yí ge bāozi, one steamed bun)

Here are some more common quantifiers:

• 支 (zhī, stick-like objects)
• 只 (zhī, animals or one of a pair)
• 条 (tiáo, long/narrow objects)
• 件 (jiàn, clothing or events)
• 双 (shuāng, pair)
• 杯 (bēi, cup or glass)
• 本 (běn, books)
• 辆 (liàng, vehicles)
• 张 (zhāng, flat objects, paper, tickets)

The following words also require quantifiers:

• 这 (zhè, this)
• 那 (nà, that)
• 哪 (nǎ, which)
• 几 (jǐ, how many)
• 每 (měi, every)