Why is Learning Chinese Numbers Important

Numbers in Chinese are comparatively easy. Once a person learns 1-10, it is easy for him/her to learn 11-99.

What Can We Do with the Chinese Numbers

In Chinese, numbers one to ten are the most basic ones to learn. Once they are mastered, it is easy to move forward:

– We can count higher
Many people wonder why Chinese people are good at basic maths.  Well, Chinese number structure is very logical. That must be the reason.
Above number 10, it works as tens plus the unit. For example, 33 in Chinese is 三十三 （sān shí sān ), which equals to 3*10+3.
Let me take another example of 17. In Chinese, it is 十七 （shí qī ), which equals to 1*10+7.
99 in Chinese is 九十九 （jiǔ shí jiǔ) ,  which is 9*10+9.

– learn the weekdays, dates of a month, months of a year, etc.

Weekdays in Chinese are quite logical too. Week is 星期（Xīngqí）in Chinese. The first day of a week in Chinese is Monday. So the 7 days in Chinese are:

Monday    星期一   Xīngqí yī
Tuesday   星期二    Xīngqí’èr
Wednesday  星期三    Xīngqísān
Thursday   星期四    Xīngqísì
Friday    星期五    Xīngqíwǔ
Saturday    星期六     Xīngqíliù
Sunday    星期天    Xīngqítiān

The only day we need to pay attention to is Sunday, which is not 星期七，but 星期天.

－to tell prices

The Chinese currency is called RMB（CNY）. The unit is 元 or 块（Yuán／Kuài). Then it is 毛 or 角 (Máo ／Jiǎo), meaning 10 cents. The smallest unit is 分(Fēn), meaning cent.

To say RMB 10, we say it 十块（Shí kuài).
For RMB 10.50, we say it 十块五毛 （Shí kuài wǔmáo）。
To say RMB 10.56, we say it 十块五毛六分 (Shí kuài liù máo liù fēn）.

It is easy, right?

– to tell the time

O’clock in Chinese is 点(Diǎn). Keeping that in mind, it is easy to tell the time:
1 o’clock is 一点  （Yīdiǎn）
9 o’clock is 九点 (Jiǔ diǎn）

What Are the First 10 Chinese Numbers?

The first ten numbers from 1 to 10 are as follows:

一 yī
二　èr
三 sān
四 sì
五 wǔ
六 liù
七 qī
八 bā
九 jiǔ
十 shí

Hundred in Chinese is 百（bǎi)．So, 100 is simply 一百（yī bǎi ）．

See, learning numbers in Chinese is quite easy. Are you ready to learn Chinese numbers?

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Resources mentioned and Further Reading

• Chinese Number Booklet
• Simple Math in Chinese: Learn some math vocabulary in Chinese

You May Also Be Interested:

• Chinese4kids Membership – a portal for busy Chinese teachers and parents
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• Chinese learning worksheets collection – Also a part of Chinese4kids membership, this collection is for teachers and parents who want to have access to engaging worksheets and activity sheets created for kids learning Mandarin Chinese as an additional language
• Speak Chinese with Kids Course