Numbers in Chinese
Chinese numbers follow a clean, predictable pattern once you know the ten basic digits. The tricky part is 一 yī — its own tone quietly changes depending on where it sits and what comes after it.
一 Basic Numerals
The ten digits from 0 to 9. Tap 🔊 to hear each one.
二 Counting Tens
For 10, 20, 30 and so on, just put the tens digit in front of 十 shí.
| Number | Chinese |
|---|---|
| 10 | 十 shí |
| 20 | 二十 èr shí |
| 30 | 三十 sān shí |
| 80 | 八十 bā shí |
| 90 | 九十 jiǔ shí |
三 Combining Digits
For 11 to 19, put the units digit right after 十. For 21 and up, it’s tens digit + 十 + units digit.
| Number | Chinese |
|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 shí yī |
| 12 | 十二 shí èr |
| 13 | 十三 shí sān |
| 19 | 十九 shí jiǔ |
| Number | Chinese |
|---|---|
| 21 | 二十一 èr shí yī |
| 32 | 三十二 sān shí èr |
| 45 | 四十五 sì shí wǔ |
| 58 | 五十八 wǔ shí bā |
| 69 | 六十九 liù shí jiǔ |
| 77 | 七十七 qī shí qī |
| 88 | 八十八 bā shí bā |
| 99 | 九十九 jiǔ shí jiǔ |
四 Tone Changes for 一 yī
一 doesn’t always sound the same. Its tone shifts depending on where it sits in a word and what tone comes right after it.
1. Stays 1st tone (yī)
When counting up to 99, or when 一 is the last character in a word, it keeps its normal 1st tone.
Exception: 一月 (January) always keeps the 1st tone, even though the tone-change rules below would otherwise apply.
2. Changes to 4th tone (yì)
When 一 comes before a measure word, is part of a number over 100, or starts a word — and the next syllable is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone — it switches to 4th tone.
3. Changes to 2nd tone (yí)
When the next syllable is 4th tone (or a neutral tone that came from one), 一 switches to 2nd tone instead.
Special case: yāo
一 and 七 qī can sound alike, so to avoid confusion, 一 is read as “yāo” in phone numbers, hotel room numbers, and bus numbers with three digits.
五 Practice
Pick the correct tone for 一 in each word.
Try to read the following words out loud
一 tiān 一 wèi 一 zhī 一 tiáo 一 wàn 一 diǎn 一 tái 一 fēn 一 běn 一 ge 一 bēi 一 dài 一 zhí 一 zhǒng 一 fèn 一 yàng
一天 (one day)
一位 (one person, polite)
一隻只 (one animal)
一條 (one long thing)
一萬万 (10,000)
一點点 (a bit)
一台 (one machine)
一分 (one minute/cent)
一本 (one book)
一個个 (one, generic)
一杯 (one cup)
一袋 (one bag)
一直 (always, continuously)
一種种 (one kind/type)
一份 (one portion)
一樣样 (kind/sort)
