Many people agree that Mandarin Chinese will be one of the most important languages of the next decade thanks to China's rapid economic growth. That said, if you're interested in learning the language, you can start with Chinese numbers , as learning to count is one of the best ways to begin learning a language.
If you are about to visit the country, there are certain basic words that you must master before arriving so that you can make yourself understood, at least the most basic things.
As with all languages, to learn numbers in Chinese the first thing you have to learn are the basic numbers, that is, learn from 0 to 9 , since the other numbers are made up of these.
Next, I will share a table in which you can see the number, its Chinese character and its translation into Spanish, so that you can get an idea about the pronunciation of the number. Either way, you could use an online translator to learn the pronunciation a little better.
Chinese numbers from 1 to 10
| Number | Chino | Pinyin |
| 0 | 零/〇 | ling |
| 1 | One | yi |
| 2 | two | èr |
| 3 | three | saint |
| 4 | four | Yup |
| 5 | Five | wǔ |
| 6 | Six | liu |
| 7 | Seven | what |
| 8 | Eight | ba |
| 9 | nine | hee |
| 10 | Ten | she thought |
We recommend that you spend some time memorizing the numbers and practicing their pronunciation. Once you have mastered them you can move on to the following table:
Numbers from 10 to 20
| Number | Chino | Pinyin |
| 11 | eleven | shí yī |
| 12 | twelve | yes it is |
| 13 | thirteen | shí sān |
| 14 | fourteen | shi yes |
| 15 | fifteen | shi wǔ |
| 16 | sixteen | shí liù |
| 17 | Seventeen | shi qī |
| 18 | Eighteen | shí bā |
| 19 | Nineteen | shi hee |
| 20 | twenty | er shí |
As you can see in the two tables, what is done from 11 to 19 is to put ten followed by the unit. For example, to say twelve (shí ér) start with shí (10) ér (2).
This is a rule that is used with most numbers in Chinese. For example, if you wanted to say 22, all you have to do is say "two, ten, two" in Chinese. Easy enough isn't it?
Hundreds, thousands and millions in Chinese
| Number | Chino | Pinyin |
| 100 | one hundred | yī bǎi |
| 200 | two hundred | èr bǎi |
| 300 | Three hundred | san bǎi |
| 1 000 | One thousand | yī qiān |
| 2 000 | Two thousand | er qian |
| 10 000 | Ten thousand | yī wàn |
| 1000 000 | one million | yī bǎi wàn |
| 100 000 000 | 一 亿 | yi yi |
With larger numbers, it's almost the same. For example, if you want to say 135, you simply say 'one, one hundred, three, ten, and five'. Of course, there are some rules and exceptions, but in general, you shouldn't have any problems with numbers in Chinese. Below, we have a very well-explained video that will help you better understand numbers, and it also features a native Chinese speaker to help with the pronunciation of Chinese numbers.
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