Numbers 1-100 in Chinese

In Brief

Mandarin numbers follow a regular pattern. Learn 一 through 十; then make 11–19 with 十 + digit, and 20–99 with digit + 十 + digit: 十一 (11), 二十 (20), 三十五 (35). Use 二 for the number two itself and in counting, but normally use 两 before a measure word: 两个人 (“two people”).

Overview

Numbers are an early A1 topic in Mandarin Chinese, and the basic system is unusually regular. English has separate forms such as “eleven,” “twelve,” and “twenty,” but Mandarin builds these values from the words for one to ten. Once the pattern is familiar, you can work out almost every whole number up to 一百 (100) rather than memorizing it separately.

This article focuses on cardinal numbers—numbers that state a quantity, such as one, twelve, or ninety. In everyday Mandarin, they appear in ages, prices, dates, times, addresses, telephone numbers, and quantities. The arithmetic pattern is simple, but using a number inside a sentence introduces one important feature: a measure word (a counting word placed between a number and a noun). English uses a similar idea in phrases such as “two cups of tea,” but Mandarin normally requires one even with ordinary countable nouns: 两个人 (“two people”).

The tables include pinyin, the standard spelling system that shows Mandarin pronunciation in the Latin alphabet. Tone marks are part of the pronunciation: for example, 四 is sì, while 十 is shí. Learn the sound together with each character rather than treating tones as optional decoration.

How It Works

The building blocks: 1-10

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

Practise this list both in order—一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十—and at random. Reciting a sequence is not the same skill as immediately recognizing 七 as 7.

11-19: ten plus a digit

For 11 through 19, put the extra digit after 十:

Number	Calculation	Chinese	Pinyin
11	10 + 1	十一	shíyī
12	10 + 2	十二	shí’èr
13	10 + 3	十三	shísān
16	10 + 6	十六	shíliù
19	10 + 9	十九	shíjiǔ

There is no initial 一 in ordinary 11–19: 11 is 十一, not 一十一. Think “ten-one,” not “one-ten-one.”

Multiples of ten: a digit before 十

For 20, 30, and the other multiples of ten, place the multiplier before 十:

Number	Calculation	Chinese	Pinyin
20	2 × 10	二十	èrshí
30	3 × 10	三十	sānshí
40	4 × 10	四十	sìshí
50	5 × 10	五十	wǔshí
60	6 × 10	六十	liùshí
70	7 × 10	七十	qīshí
80	8 × 10	八十	bāshí
90	9 × 10	九十	jiǔshí

Here 二十, not 两十, is the standard form for 20. This is because 二 is part of the number’s internal structure rather than directly counting a noun.

21-99: tens plus units

Add the final digit after the tens. The full pattern is:

digit + 十 + digit

Number	Calculation	Chinese	Pinyin
21	2 × 10 + 1	二十一	èrshíyī
28	2 × 10 + 8	二十八	èrshíbā
35	3 × 10 + 5	三十五	sānshíwǔ
47	4 × 10 + 7	四十七	sìshíqī
62	6 × 10 + 2	六十二	liùshí’èr
99	9 × 10 + 9	九十九	jiǔshíjiǔ

Do not insert 零 (“zero”) between the tens and units in this range. The word 零 becomes necessary in larger numbers when a place value is skipped, as in 101, but 二十一 is simply 21.

100

One hundred is 一百 (yìbǎi in connected speech). 百 means “hundred.” At the beginner level, learn 一百 as the endpoint of this system. You will later use 百 to build larger numbers.

二 or 两?

Mandarin has two common forms corresponding to English “two.” Their beginner uses can be separated clearly:

Situation	Use	Example	Meaning
Counting or naming the number	二	一、二、三	one, two, three
Inside a number below 100	二	二十、二十二	20, 22
Ordinal numbers (“second”)	二	第二	second
Before a measure word	两	两个人	two people
Before many units of time or quantity	两	两天、两块钱	two days, two yuan

A noun is a word for a person, thing, place, or idea. In Mandarin, a number generally cannot go straight before a noun. A measure word comes between them:

number + measure word + noun

For two, this usually produces 两 + measure word + noun: 两本书 (“two books”), 两杯茶 (“two cups of tea”), and 两个学生 (“two students”). 个 is a very common general measure word, but many nouns use a more specific one.

Do not overextend this rule. The measure word changes 二 to 两 in the counting phrase, but it does not change the structure of 20: “twenty people” is 二十个人, not 两十个人.

Numbers used as labels

A quantity and a label are not always read in the same way. A telephone number, room number, bus number, or code identifies something; it is often read one digit at a time rather than as a calculated quantity. For example, 二〇五 can identify room 205 as “two-zero-five.” In such strings, 二 is used for the digit 2, not 两. This distinction becomes especially useful when you move beyond 100.

Examples in Context

Chinese	Pinyin	English	Note
我有一本书。	Wǒ yǒu yì běn shū.	I have one book.	本 counts bound books.
她有两本书。	Tā yǒu liǎng běn shū.	She has two books.	Use 两 before 本.
我们班有十二个学生。	Wǒmen bān yǒu shí’èr ge xuésheng.	Our class has twelve students.	12 follows 十 + 二.
他二十岁。	Tā èrshí suì.	He is twenty years old.	Ages use 岁 after the number.
我三十五岁。	Wǒ sānshíwǔ suì.	I am thirty-five years old.	35 is 3 × 10 + 5.
今天是五月八号。	Jīntiān shì wǔ yuè bā hào.	Today is May 8.	Month and day numbers use 二, not 两.
现在是十一点。	Xiànzài shì shíyī diǎn.	It is eleven o’clock now.	点 marks the hour.
请给我两杯茶。	Qǐng gěi wǒ liǎng bēi chá.	Two cups of tea, please.	杯 is the measure word for cups.
这件衣服八十块钱。	Zhè jiàn yīfu bāshí kuài qián.	This item of clothing costs eighty yuan.	块钱 is common in spoken prices.
一共九十九块。	Yígòng jiǔshíjiǔ kuài.	It is ninety-nine yuan altogether.	A natural shopping total.
我家有三个人。	Wǒ jiā yǒu sān ge rén.	There are three people in my family.	个 counts people here.
第二个问题很简单。	Dì-èr ge wèntí hěn jiǎndān.	The second question is easy.	第 forms an ordinal; use 二.
一百个学生来了。	Yìbǎi ge xuésheng lái le.	One hundred students came.	一百 is followed by 个.

Common Mistakes

Using 两 inside 20

• Wrong: 两十个人
• Right: 二十个人
• Why: The 二 belongs to the number 二十 (20). 两 is used before the measure word only when the quantity itself is two, as in 两个人.

Putting a number directly before a noun

• Wrong: 两书
• Right: 两本书
• Why: Mandarin normally requires a measure word between a number and a noun. 本 is the usual measure word for bound books.

Saying 一十一 for 11

• Wrong: 一十一
• Right: 十一
• Why: In ordinary Mandarin, 11–19 begin directly with 十. The initial “one ten” is omitted.

Leaving out 十 in a two-digit number

• Wrong: 三五 when you mean 35
• Right: 三十五
• Why: A quantity of 35 must state the tens place. 三五 may be understood as separate digits or occur in other special expressions, but it is not the normal cardinal number 35.

Adding 零 between tens and units

• Wrong: 三十零五 for 35
• Right: 三十五
• Why: There is no empty place between the tens and units in 35. 零 marks a skipped place in larger numbers, not the normal link between tens and units.

Treating tones as interchangeable

• Wrong: Pronouncing 四 as though it had the tone of 十
• Right: 四 sì (falling tone), 十 shí (rising tone)
• Why: A different tone can signal a different word. Short number strings give you an excellent way to build accurate tone habits early.

Usage Notes

Written digits and Chinese characters

Both Arabic numerals (such as 25) and Chinese characters (二十五) are common. Prices, times, statistics, and forms often use Arabic numerals; prose, fixed expressions, and some dates may use Chinese characters. This is mainly a writing choice: you still need to know how to say the number aloud.

In dates, years are commonly read digit by digit. The character 〇 or 零 represents zero, so 2026 can be written 二〇二六年 and read as four separate digits. This is a label-like reading, not “two thousand and twenty-six” built with place-value words.

一 changes tone in connected speech

The dictionary pronunciation of 一 is yī. In natural Standard Mandarin, it is commonly pronounced yí before a fourth-tone syllable and yì before a first-, second-, or third-tone syllable. That is why 一个 is commonly transcribed yí ge and 一百 as yìbǎi. It remains yī when read as a standalone digit, at the end of a number, and in some careful or label-like readings.

This is a pronunciation adjustment, not a spelling change: the character is always 一. Beginners should first recognize the written form and the number pattern, then imitate the tone change in phrases rather than trying to calculate it while speaking.

两 is not a complete replacement for 二

Before a measure word, 两 is the safe everyday choice: 两张票 (“two tickets”). For counting, mathematics, telephone digits, ordinals, and the tens digit, choose 二. You may encounter variation with certain units and in regional speech, but the beginner distinction will produce natural results in the great majority of basic situations.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms you will soon encounter.

Two hundred: 两百 and 二百

Before 百 (“hundred”), 千 (“thousand”), and larger place-value units, 两 is very common in everyday Mandarin: 两百 (200), 两千 (2,000). 二百 is also grammatical and appears especially in precise, formal, mathematical, or number-focused contexts. This is different from 二十, where 两十 is not the standard cardinal form.

Reading 2 in telephone numbers

The digit 2 is normally 二 (èr). In telephone numbers, the digit 1 may be pronounced 幺 (yāo) to avoid confusion, especially when clarity matters. That convention does not change quantities: one book remains 一本书, not 幺本书.

Formal financial numerals

Banks, invoices, and legal documents may use special capital forms designed to resist alteration. For example, ordinary 一、二、三、十、百 correspond to 壹、贰、叁、拾、佰 in financial writing. These are not the forms to use for normal beginner writing, but recognizing their purpose prevents confusion when you see a receipt or financial document.

Cultural associations are context, not grammar

You may hear that 八 is considered lucky because bā sounds somewhat like a word associated with prosperity, while 四 may be avoided because sì resembles 死 sǐ (“to die”). Such associations can affect prices, phone numbers, or floor labels, but they do not alter how numbers are formed. Treat them as cultural tendencies rather than universal rules about every speaker or situation.

Practice Tips

1. Build numbers in both directions. Write ten random numbers such as 14, 20, 37, 62, and 98, say them in Mandarin, then hear or read Chinese forms and convert them back to digits. This tests the pattern rather than a memorized sequence.
2. Pair two with real measure words. Make small contrast sets: 二 (the digit 2), 第二 (second), 二十 (twenty), but 两个人, 两本书, and 两杯茶. Saying the whole phrase helps the correct choice become automatic.
3. Use numbers in daily mini-tasks. Say the time, your age, a price, and today’s date aloud. Record yourself and check both the structure and tones, especially 四 versus 十 and the changing pronunciation of 一.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Measure Words (Classifiers) — learn which counting word belongs between a number and a noun.
• Next step: Time Expressions — use numbers for hours, dates, days, and schedules.
• Next step: Money and Shopping — apply numbers to prices, quantities, and purchases.