Last Updated on 2023/01/04
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Chinese numbers and symbols
Chinese numbers: Whether you’re going to China you’re bound to use numbers.
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Let’s look at some of the ways to count in Chinese, and write.
Do the Chinese use English numbers?
Yes, they do. In China and Taiwan, Arabic numerals are more often used in horizontal writing for convenience. There are three ways of writing the numbers in Chinese: in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), in Chinese numerals (一, 二, 三) and the rare indigenous system, the Suzhou numerals (〡, 〢, 〣 ) or huama. Chinese numerals are more common in vertical writing.
What are the Chinese numerals?
The main indigenous system is based on Chinese characters. This system is also used in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Traditional Chinese numerals are more used in banknotes, some ceremonial occasions, and on commercials.
How to Count in Chinese
The Chinese number system is based on counting the number of tens and then adding the ones. For the numbers11 through 19, the leading “one” (一) is usually omitted.
Chinese numbers from 0 to 100 with images
In Mandarin, the multiplier 兩 (liǎng) is often used rather than 二 (èr) for all numbers 200.
0 零 Líng 1 一 Yī2 二 Èr3 三 Sān4 四 Sì5 五 Wǔ6 六 Liù7 七 Qī8 八 Bā
9 九 Jiǔ10 十 Shí11 十一 Shí yī12 十二 Shí èr13 十三 Shí sān14 十四 Shí sì15 十五 Shí wǔ16 十六 Shí liù17 十七 Shí qī18 十八 Shí bā19 十九 Shí jiǔ20 二十 Èr shí21 二十一 Èr shí yī22 二十二 Èr shí èr30 三十 Sān shí40 四十 Sì shí50 五十 Wǔ shí60 六十 Liù shí70 七十 Qī shí80 八十 Bā shí90 九十 Jiǔ shí100 一百 Yì bǎi
101 一百一 Yì bǎi yī
Large numbers in Chinese
1000 一千 yìqiân
10000 一万 Yī wàn
100000 十万 shí wàn (hundred thousand)1,000,000 百万 bǎi wàn (million)100,000,000 亿 yì (hundred million)1,000,000,000 十亿 shí yì (billion)
Huama, Suzhou Numerals
The Suzhou numerals (苏州码子), also known as Suzhou mazi (蘇州碼子), is a numeral system used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals.
0 —-
1 〡
2 〢
3 〣
4 〤
5 〥
6 〦
7 〧
8 〨
9 〩
10 〸
20 〹
30 〺
Chinese number gestures
Chinese number gestures are a method to signify the natural numbers one through ten using one hand only. Counting with fingers is often different from expressing a specific number with a finger gesture. [wikipedia]
Topic: Chinese numerals,Chinese numbers,Chinese numbers 1-20,Chinese numbers 1-100
Design: Matteo Damiani (China-underground.com)
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