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
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
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.
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
a.
1
b.
7
c.
14
d.
19
e.
33
f.
40
g.
56
h.
64
i.
78
j.
99
The correct answers are b, d, e, f, g and i.
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.
