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Chinese numbers 1–100 (plus hand signs)

Maca Laoshi, Mandarin Chinese teacher
Updated October 20, 2026 · 7 min read

A fruit stall with a sign reading 10元3个: three for 10 yuan — Photo: Pexels User / Pexels

Short answer

From 1 to 10: 一 yī, 二 èr, 三 sān, 四 sì, 五 wǔ, 六 liù, 七 qī, 八 bā, 九 jiǔ and 十 shí. With those ten, you can build everything up to 99: 十一 is 11 (ten one), 二十 is 20 (two tens) and 九十九 is 99. 100 is 一百 yìbǎi. Before a measure word, 2 is 两 liǎng, and large numbers are grouped by ten thousands.

0 to 10

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

11 to 99

They're built with simple addition and multiplication, with no new words:

Number	Chinese	Pinyin	Literally
11	十一	shíyī	ten one
15	十五	shíwǔ	ten five
20	二十	èrshí	two tens
21	二十一	èrshíyī	two tens one
33	三十三	sānshísān	three tens three
99	九十九	jiǔshíjiǔ	nine tens nine

Chinese numbers 1 to 100: full chart

Here are all the numbers from 1 to 100 with their characters and pinyin. Apart from the 百 in 100, the same ten characters come back again and again:

1 一 yī	2 二 èr	3 三 sān	4 四 sì	5 五 wǔ
6 六 liù	7 七 qī	8 八 bā	9 九 jiǔ	10 十 shí
11 十一 shíyī	12 十二 shí'èr	13 十三 shísān	14 十四 shísì	15 十五 shíwǔ
16 十六 shíliù	17 十七 shíqī	18 十八 shíbā	19 十九 shíjiǔ	20 二十 èrshí
21 二十一 èrshíyī	22 二十二 èrshí'èr	23 二十三 èrshísān	24 二十四 èrshísì	25 二十五 èrshíwǔ
26 二十六 èrshíliù	27 二十七 èrshíqī	28 二十八 èrshíbā	29 二十九 èrshíjiǔ	30 三十 sānshí
31 三十一 sānshíyī	32 三十二 sānshí'èr	33 三十三 sānshísān	34 三十四 sānshísì	35 三十五 sānshíwǔ
36 三十六 sānshíliù	37 三十七 sānshíqī	38 三十八 sānshíbā	39 三十九 sānshíjiǔ	40 四十 sìshí
41 四十一 sìshíyī	42 四十二 sìshí'èr	43 四十三 sìshísān	44 四十四 sìshísì	45 四十五 sìshíwǔ
46 四十六 sìshíliù	47 四十七 sìshíqī	48 四十八 sìshíbā	49 四十九 sìshíjiǔ	50 五十 wǔshí
51 五十一 wǔshíyī	52 五十二 wǔshí'èr	53 五十三 wǔshísān	54 五十四 wǔshísì	55 五十五 wǔshíwǔ
56 五十六 wǔshíliù	57 五十七 wǔshíqī	58 五十八 wǔshíbā	59 五十九 wǔshíjiǔ	60 六十 liùshí
61 六十一 liùshíyī	62 六十二 liùshí'èr	63 六十三 liùshísān	64 六十四 liùshísì	65 六十五 liùshíwǔ
66 六十六 liùshíliù	67 六十七 liùshíqī	68 六十八 liùshíbā	69 六十九 liùshíjiǔ	70 七十 qīshí
71 七十一 qīshíyī	72 七十二 qīshí'èr	73 七十三 qīshísān	74 七十四 qīshísì	75 七十五 qīshíwǔ
76 七十六 qīshíliù	77 七十七 qīshíqī	78 七十八 qīshíbā	79 七十九 qīshíjiǔ	80 八十 bāshí
81 八十一 bāshíyī	82 八十二 bāshí'èr	83 八十三 bāshísān	84 八十四 bāshísì	85 八十五 bāshíwǔ
86 八十六 bāshíliù	87 八十七 bāshíqī	88 八十八 bāshíbā	89 八十九 bāshíjiǔ	90 九十 jiǔshí
91 九十一 jiǔshíyī	92 九十二 jiǔshí'èr	93 九十三 jiǔshísān	94 九十四 jiǔshísì	95 九十五 jiǔshíwǔ
96 九十六 jiǔshíliù	97 九十七 jiǔshíqī	98 九十八 jiǔshíbā	99 九十九 jiǔshíjiǔ	100 一百 yìbǎi

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100 and up

Number	Chinese	Pinyin
100	一百	yìbǎi
101	一百零一	yìbǎi líng yī
110	一百一十	yìbǎi yīshí
1,000	一千	yìqiān
10,000	一万	yíwàn
100,000	十万	shíwàn
1,000,000	一百万	yìbǎiwàn
100,000,000	一亿	yíyì

零 marks the gaps: 101 has no tens, so it's 一百零一. In everyday speech, 一百一 means 110, never 101.
Numbers are grouped by ten thousands: in English, we count in thousands and millions; in Chinese, in 万 (10,000) and 亿 (100 million). A million is “one hundred ten-thousands”, 一百万. For example, 13,579 is 一万三千五百七十九.
The tone of 一 changes: yì before 百 and 千, yí before 万 and 亿. We explain why in the 4 Mandarin tones.

Is two 二 or 两?

Use	When	Example
两 liǎng	Before a measure word, to say “two of something”	两个人 two people · 两本书 two books
二 èr	When counting, before 十, at the end of a number and in ordinals	二十 20 · 十二 12 · 第二 second
两 or 二	Before 百, 千, 万 and 亿, both work; in speech you'll hear 两 a lot	两百 or 二百 200 · 两千 2,000 · 两万 20,000

Years, phone numbers and prices

Years are read digit by digit, with 年 at the end: 2026 is 二〇二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián). In years, zero is written 〇.
In phone and room numbers, 1 is often said 幺 yāo, so it isn't confused with 7 (qī).

How to say prices

To ask a price: 多少钱？ (duōshao qián?), how much is it? China's currency is the yuan, which is divided into 10 jiao, and each jiao into 10 fen. Spoken and written Chinese use different words:

Value	Written	Spoken
1 yuan	元 yuán	块 kuài
0.1 yuan	角 jiǎo	毛 máo
0.01 yuan	分 fēn	分 fēn (its coins are rarely used today)

In speech, the last unit can be dropped: ¥8.74 is said 八块七毛四 (bā kuài qī máo sì); in writing, 八元七角四分.
With 2, use 两, because 块 works as a measure word: 两块钱 (liǎng kuài qián), 2 yuan.

Counting on one hand

In China, you count from 1 to 10 on one hand. These are the most common gestures in mainland China, though they vary by region: in Fujian or Taiwan, for example, 7 and 8 are made differently.

Number	Gesture
1	Index finger raised; the other fingers closed.
2	Index and middle fingers raised, like a V.
3	Middle, ring and little fingers raised, with the tips of the thumb and index finger touching in a circle. Some people raise the index, middle and ring fingers instead, with the thumb holding down the little finger.
4	All four fingers raised, with the thumb folded across the palm.
5	An open hand, with all five fingers spread.
6	Thumb and little finger extended; the other three fingers closed.
7	The fingertips of all five fingers pressed together, or just those of the thumb, index and middle fingers, pointing up.
8	Thumb and index finger extended in an L; the other fingers closed.
9	Index finger bent like a hook; the other fingers closed.
10	A closed fist, or the middle finger crossed over the index finger. With two hands, the two index fingers crossed make a cross, like the character 十.

On China's southern coast, 7 is the index finger pointing down with the thumb out, like a drawn 7, and 8 is the thumb, index and middle fingers extended.

Lucky and unlucky numbers

4: 四 (sì) sounds almost like 死 (sǐ, to die); only the tone is different. That's why many buildings have no fourth floor.
8: 八 (bā) rhymes with 发 (fā), as in 发财 (to get rich), and is associated with prosperity. The Beijing Olympics opened on August 8, 2008 (8/8/08) at 8:00 pm.

Numbers with a double meaning

In text messages and online, some numbers are used for how they sound. These are the ones you'll see most:

Number	Read as	Means	Why
520	wǔ èr líng	I love you	Sounds a bit like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ). On May 20 (5/20), many couples register their marriage.
1314	yī sān yī sì	for a lifetime	Sounds a bit like 一生一世 (yìshēng yíshì). Together, 5201314 means “I love you for a lifetime.”
88	bā bā	bye	Sounds like 拜拜 (bàibai), from the English “bye-bye.”
666	liù liù liù	awesome!, nice skills!	六 (liù) sounds like 溜 (liù), “smooth, skillful.” It's used a lot to praise someone in comments and chats.
250	二百五 èrbǎiwǔ	idiot	It's an insult: 二百五 is said of someone very foolish. Only this form works; 两百五 or 二百五十 are just the number.

The numbers on checks

In legal documents and financial receipts, numbers are written with different characters that are harder to alter: 壹贰叁肆伍陆柒捌玖拾 (1 to 10). For example, 3,504 yuan is written 叁仟伍佰零肆圆. You don't need to learn them at first, but it's worth being able to recognize them if you're going to live in China.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say 100 in Chinese?

一百, yìbǎi: literally “one hundred” (you can't drop the 一). The 一 is in the fourth tone because of its tone change before 百.

When do you use 两 and when 二?

两 (liǎng) goes before a measure word: 两个人, two people. 二 (èr) is used when counting, before 十 (二十, 20), at the end of a number (十二, 12) and in ordinals (第二, second). Before 百, 千, 万 and 亿 both work, and in speech you'll hear 两 a lot: 两百, 两千, 两万.

How do you say years in Chinese?

Digit by digit, with 年 at the end: 2026 is 二〇二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián).

Why is 4 unlucky in China?

Because 四 (sì, four) sounds almost the same as 死 (sǐ, to die): only the tone is different. That's why many buildings skip the fourth floor.

How do you count on your hand in China?

From 1 to 5, you show that number of fingers. From 6 to 10, there are one-handed gestures of their own, such as thumb and pinky for 6, but they vary by region.

What does 520 mean in Chinese?

“I love you.” 520 is read wǔ èr líng, which sounds a bit like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ). That's why many couples register their marriage on May 20, and 5201314 means “I love you for a lifetime.”

Maca Laoshi, born in Beijing, has taught Mandarin Chinese for more than 22 years and has had over 1,500 students. Together with her son Manu Shi, who has more than 93,000 subscribers on YouTube, she created Macalaoshi, an app that challenges you to push yourself one character at a time. Few Chinese teachers can show both: their own app and a channel like that.

Sources

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