Chinese Numbers
Type any number and read it in Chinese — characters, pinyin and speech. Below that: the hand signs for 1–10, the rules that catch everyone out, and a worksheet you can print.
Type a number, read it in Chinese数字转换
Works for whole numbers from 0 up to a trillion. It reads the number the way Chinese actually groups them — four digits at a time, not three — so 10000 is not "ten thousand", it is 一万.
Numbers on one hand数字手势
Chinese hand signs for 1 to 10 are not the ones most European or American readers grew up with — 6 to 10 in particular are shown on a single hand and get used constantly in markets and noisy restaurants. The middle three are the ones visitors most often get wrong.
Two things worth knowing before you use these. Six, seven, eight and nine all live on one hand, which is why a Chinese friend can order eight beers without saying a word. And ten is the crossing fingers, not ten fingers — showing two open hands reads as ten only by accident, and it looks like you are waving.
Six things that catch learners out六个坑
The numbers 1–10 take ten minutes. Everything after that is these six rules, and every one of them is a mistake you would otherwise make for months.
Zero is read once, and never at the end
When zeros sit next to each other in the middle of a number, only one 零 is spoken. At the end of a number, no 零 is spoken at all.
108 → 一百零八 · 2005 → 二千零五 · 10001 → 一万零一
120 → 一百二十 (not 一百二十零) · 2000 → 二千 (not 二千零零零)
The 一 in front of 十 disappears
But only when 十 is the first thing you say. Ten itself, and anything from eleven to nineteen, drops the 一.
10 → 十 (not 一十) · 15 → 十五 (not 一十五)
Once something comes before it, the 一 comes back: 110 → 一百一十, 1015 → 一千零一十五.
The same thing happens up at the top of a number: 100000 is 十万, not 一十万 — but 110000 is 十一万.
Count in fours, not threes
English starts a new group name every three digits: thousand, million, billion. Chinese starts one every four: 万 (ten thousand) and 亿 (a hundred million). There is no separate word for "million".
10000 → 一万 · 100000 → 十万 · 100000000 → 一亿
A million is 一百万 — literally "one hundred ten-thousand". This is the single biggest reason learners cannot follow prices being said out loud.
Two has two forms: 二 and 两
二 èr is the counting form, used alone and inside numbers. 两 liǎng is used when you are counting things — that is, whenever a measure word follows.
二十 20 · 十二 12 · 二 "two" (counting, or reading out a digit)
两个人 two people · 两本书 two books · 两百块 two hundred yuan · 两点 two o'clock
Never 两十 — 20 is always 二十. There is a full measure-word list on the phrases page.
一 changes tone depending on what follows
Written yī in every dictionary, but spoken differently in three cases. Chinese speakers do this without thinking about it.
Before a 4th tone it rises: yī + gè → yí gè 一个. Before a 1st, 2nd or 3rd tone it falls: yì tiān 一天, yì nián 一年, yì qǐ 一起.
On its own, or when you are counting out loud, it keeps its first tone: yī, èr, sān. The tone guide goes through the same pattern for 不 bù.
Phone numbers are read digit by digit
A phone number is not a number — it is a string of digits, so you never say 万 or 亿 in one, and 一 is usually read yāo so it cannot be confused with 七 qī.
13594049505 → yāo sān wǔ jiǔ sì líng sì jiǔ wǔ líng wǔ
Years work differently again — they are read as a normal number, digit by digit within the century: 2026 → 二零二六 nián.
Quick reference速查表
The numbers worth knowing by heart before you try to build bigger ones. Press 🔊 on any row to hear it — the audio reads the characters, so it is the Chinese pronunciation you are getting, not an English reading of the digits.
| Number | Chinese |
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How numbers are actually said实际说法
Reading a number correctly and using it in a shop are different skills. These four come up daily, and each one has a habit that is not obvious from the numeral.
Can you read it?读数字
Ten numbers, four possible readings each. The wrong answers are the mistakes people actually make — a missing 零, a 一 that should have been dropped, or 二十 where the number wanted 十二.
Print a numbers worksheet练习纸
Twenty numbers to write out in characters. Answers are hidden until you ask for them, and each printout is a fresh set, so it works as a class handout. Cover the answer line and work down the sheet.
Everything except the sheet is hidden when you print, so the page does not have to be trimmed afterwards.
Questions常见问题
How do you say zero in Chinese?
零 líng, second tone. It has a second life as a filler in phone numbers and years, where every digit is read on its own: 2026 is 二零二六, and 1005 as a phone number would be yāo líng líng wǔ.
Inside a larger number, 零 appears only where a group of digits has been skipped — 108 has a gap in the tens place, so it is 一百零八. It is never spoken at the end of a number: 120 is 一百二十, not 一百二十零.
Is 一万 ten thousand or a hundred thousand?
Ten thousand. 万 is the group name for the fourth digit, in the same way that "thousand" is the group name for the fourth digit in English. One million is not 一 million — it is 一百万, literally "one hundred ten-thousands".
This is why prices spoken quickly can be hard to follow even when you know the digits: 350000 is not "three hundred and fifty thousand" in your head, it is 三十五万 — thirty-five ten-thousands.
When do I use 两 instead of 二?
Use 二 when counting or reading a number out: 二, 十二, 二十, 二百五十. Use 两 when a measure word is coming — that is, whenever you are saying how many of something: 两个, 两本, 两百块, 两点.
The exception people trip on is 20, which is always 二十. There is no 两十. And 2 as the last digit of a number keeps 二: 32 is 三十二.
Does this page use real recordings?
No. Every 🔊 button uses your browser's built-in text-to-speech, so the voice is whatever your device ships with. Quality varies a lot between systems, and some devices have no Mandarin voice installed at all — in that case the page tells you where to add one rather than leaving you with a dead button.
We say this plainly because it affects how much you should trust what you hear. The pronunciation of the characters is accurate and the tones are right, but the timing and rhythm of a synthetic voice are not how a person speaks. Use it to check that you have read a number correctly, not as a model to imitate.
Why does the pinyin not match what I hear?
Because the pinyin is written in each character's dictionary tone, while speech changes 一 yī to yí or yì depending on what follows. The same thing happens to 不 bù. The written form never changes — only your voice does.
So 一百 yī bǎi is written with a first tone and spoken closer to yì bǎi. Both are correct: one is the spelling, the other is the sound. Rule 5 above has the full pattern.
Do I need to learn the characters for numbers?
You will pick them up whether you plan to or not, because they are the first characters in almost every Chinese text: 一, 二, 三 are literally one, two and three strokes. The other seven (四五六七八九十) are worth learning early for the same reason — you will see them on price tags, menus, lift buttons and train tickets long before you can read anything else.
If you want to write them properly rather than just recognise them, the stroke order tool shows the direction and order of every stroke and will print a 田字格 practice sheet for the characters you choose.
Numbers sorted? Put them to work
Numbers are the easiest thing in Chinese to get right and the fastest way to be understood in a shop, a taxi or a ticket office. The Starter Kit has the phrases that go around them, free and without signup.
Buying something means talking about money, and money means prices — see the money section above. For the sounds underneath all of it, the pinyin chart covers every syllable, and the tone test drills the four tones that carry them.