# 4 Basic numbers

In this section you will learn the basic numbers from 1–10 and how to form more complex numbers from these. You will also learn the hand gestures for these basic numbers.

## The numbers 0–99

- 零 líng 0
- 一 yī 1
- 二 èr 2
- 三 sān 3
- 四 sì 4
- 五 wǔ 5
- 六 liù 6
- 七 qī 7
- 八 bā 8
- 九 jiǔ 9
- 十 shí 10

Once you know the numbers 1–10 in Chinese, it is easy to form the rest of the numbers up to 99. For example:

- 十一 shí yī 11 (ten one)
- 十二 shí’èr 12 (ten two)
- 二十 èr shí 20 (two ten)
- 三十 sān shí 30 (three ten)
- 四十 sì shí 40 (four ten)
- 二十一 èr shí yī 21 (two ten one)
- 二十二 èr shí’èr 22 (two ten two)

When you come to read Chinese, you will notice that Chinese people frequently write down numbers in Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, etc.) – a habit that has become increasingly widespread in recent years. The numeral ‘0’ is used particularly often because the Chinese character for zero (零) is so complicated.

In the next activity you will practise saying the numbers from zero to ten.

## Activity 10 Numbers

Listen to the numbers from 0 to 5 in Chinese. After each number, pause and repeat.

0 零 líng

1 一 yī

2 二 èr

3 三 sān

4 四 sì

5 五 wǔ

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Audio 21
Transcript

Now listen to numbers 6-10 in Chinese. After each number, pause and repeat.

6 六 liù

7 七 qī

8 八 bā

9 九 jiǔ

10 十 shí

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Audio 22
Transcript

## Good and bad numbers

As in most cultures, numbers have specific connotations in Chinese. For instance, Chinese regard eight as a lucky number because it sounds very similar to the word for ‘get rich’ (fā) or ‘good fortune’ in Cantonese. More importantly, eight lies at the heart of an ancient Chinese belief system, built around an eight-sided diagram called 八卦 bā guà. It has often been seen as providing a guide to life and has been applied to contexts as diverse as urban planning and diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine. Because eight is a lucky number, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opened at 8 p.m. on the 8th day of the 8th month in 2008! Four, on the other hand, is not a good number in Chinese culture as 四 sì sounds similar to the word 死 sǐ meaning ‘death’ or ‘to die’.

## Activity 11 Phone numbers

Telephone numbers are read out digit by digit. Listen to this telephone number. Can you write down the number you hear? Listen as many times as you want.

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Audio 23
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### Answer

021 8549 3677

In some northern dialects, when saying telephone numbers, the number one is usually pronounced yāo to avoid confusion between the numbers one (yī) and seven (qī). Telephone numbers are always given digit by digit in Chinese: e.g. 77 would be ‘seven seven’, rather than ‘double seven’.

## Activity 12 Lottery numbers

Imagine you are taking part in a sports lottery while visiting China, and it’s now time for the announcement of the winner. Listen to the audio clip to find out whether yours are the winning numbers. From the following ten numbers, select the six winning numbers that you hear in the announcement.

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Audio 24
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What are the six numbers you hear?

1
7
14
19
33
40
56
64
78
99

## Culture note: hand gestures

Until now, you have studied the writing of Chinese numerals. But there is a way to gesture them, too. It is extremely common in China to signal numbers one to ten with one hand. Watch the following video, and practise gesturing these numerals on your own. You can pause the video and repeat after each number, saying aloud the Chinese word for each numeral.

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Video 5
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Figure 6 Hand gestures for numbers one to ten.

OpenLearn - Beginners’ Chinese: a taster course
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