The Number System of Mandarin

A Playground of Thoughts > Number Systems of the World > The Number System of Mandarin

The Number System of Mandarin

Mandarin is the official language of China, and it's different from other Chinese languages such as Cantonese and Wu but they share the same characters.

Chinese languages are famous for having tones, and Mandarin has four strong tones and one light tone. The alphabetical notation of Mandarin needs macron ("¯") for the high tone, acute ("´") for the rising tone, caron ("ˇ") for the low tone, and grave ("`") for the falling tone. The light tone doesn't need a tone mark.

Number	Reading	Meaning
0	líng	0
1	yī	1
2	èr	2
3	sān	3
4	sì	4
5	wŭ	5
6	liù	6
7	qī	7
8	bā	8
9	jiŭ	9
10	shí	10
11	shíyī	10 + 1
12	shíèr	10 + 2
13	shísān	10 + 3
14	shísì	10 + 4
15	shíwŭ	10 + 5
16	shíliù	10 + 6
17	shíqī	10 + 7
18	shíbā	10 + 8
19	shíjiŭ	10 + 9
20	èrshí	2 × 10
21	èrshi yī	2 × 10^* + 1
22	èrshi èr	2 × 10^* + 2
23	èrshi sān	2 × 10^* + 3
24	èrshi sì	2 × 10^* + 4
25	èrshi wŭ	2 × 10^* + 5
26	èrshi liù	2 × 10^* + 6
27	èrshi qī	2 × 10^* + 7
28	èrshi bā	2 × 10^* + 8
29	èrshi jiŭ	2 × 10^* + 9
30	sānshí	3 × 10
31	sānshi yī	3 × 10^* + 1
32	sānshi èr	3 × 10^* + 2
33	sānshi sān	3 × 10^* + 3
34	sānshi sì	3 × 10^* + 4
35	sānshi wŭ	3 × 10^* + 5
36	sānshi liù	3 × 10^* + 6
37	sānshi qī	3 × 10^* + 7
38	sānshi bā	3 × 10^* + 8
39	sānshi jiŭ	3 × 10^* + 9
40	sìshí	4 × 10
41	sìshi yī	4 × 10^* + 1
42	sìshi èr	4 × 10^* + 2
43	sìshi sān	4 × 10^* + 3
44	sìshi sì	4 × 10^* + 4
45	sìshi wŭ	4 × 10^* + 5
46	sìshi liù	4 × 10^* + 6
47	sìshi qī	4 × 10^* + 7
48	sìshi bā	4 × 10^* + 8
49	sìshi jiŭ	4 × 10^* + 9
50	wŭshí	5 × 10
51	wŭshi yī	5 × 10^* + 1
52	wŭshi èr	5 × 10^* + 2
53	wŭshi sān	5 × 10^* + 3
54	wŭshi sì	5 × 10^* + 4
55	wŭshi wŭ	5 × 10^* + 5
56	wŭshi liù	5 × 10^* + 6
57	wŭshi qī	5 × 10^* + 7
58	wŭshi bā	5 × 10^* + 8
59	wŭshi jiŭ	5 × 10^* + 9
60	liùshí	6 × 10
61	liùshi yī	6 × 10^* + 1
62	liùshi èr	6 × 10^* + 2
63	liùshi sān	6 × 10^* + 3
64	liùshi sì	6 × 10^* + 4
65	liùshi wŭ	6 × 10^* + 5
66	liùshi liù	6 × 10^* + 6
67	liùshi qī	6 × 10^* + 7
68	liùshi bā	6 × 10^* + 8
69	liùshi jiŭ	6 × 10^* + 9
70	qīshí	7 × 10
71	qīshi yī	7 × 10^* + 1
72	qīshi èr	7 × 10^* + 2
73	qīshi sān	7 × 10^* + 3
74	qīshi sì	7 × 10^* + 4
75	qīshi wŭ	7 × 10^* + 5
76	qīshi liù	7 × 10^* + 6
77	qīshi qī	7 × 10^* + 7
78	qīshi bā	7 × 10^* + 8
79	qīshi jiŭ	7 × 10^* + 9
80	bāshí	8 × 10
81	bāshi yī	8 × 10^* + 1
82	bāshi èr	8 × 10^* + 2
83	bāshi sān	8 × 10^* + 3
84	bāshi sì	8 × 10^* + 4
85	bāshi wŭ	8 × 10^* + 5
86	bāshi liù	8 × 10^* + 6
87	bāshi qī	8 × 10^* + 7
88	bāshi bā	8 × 10^* + 8
89	bāshi jiŭ	8 × 10^* + 9
90	jiŭshí	9 × 10
91	jiŭshi yī	9 × 10^* + 1
92	jiŭshi èr	9 × 10^* + 2
93	jiŭshi sān	9 × 10^* + 3
94	jiŭshi sì	9 × 10^* + 4
95	jiŭshi wŭ	9 × 10^* + 5
96	jiŭshi liù	9 × 10^* + 6
97	jiŭshi qī	9 × 10^* + 7
98	jiŭshi bā	9 × 10^* + 8
99	jiŭshi jiŭ	9 × 10^* + 9
100	yìbăi	1^* × 100

* Different tone

Note:
Numbers larger than 100 have a more complicated way of reading.

Rule 1: If a number ends with one or more zero after two or more nonzero digits, the last unit can be omitted. In other words, the unit for y in the number xy00 can be omitted.

Rule 2: If there is a zero or zeroes in a number, "líng" must be inserted to avoid confusion with a reading by rule 1. In other words, "líng" must be inserted before y in the number x00y to avoid confusion with xy00.

Example:

Number	Reading	Meaning
1234	yìqiān èrbăi sānshi sì	1^* × 1000 + 2 × 100 + 3 × 10^* + 4
1230	yìqiān èrbăi sān	1^* × 1000 + 2 × 100 + 3 (× 10)
1200	yìqiān èr	1^* × 1000 + 2 (× 100)
1000	yìqiān	1^* × 1000
1002	yìqiān líng èr	1^* × 1000 + 0 + 2
1020	yìqiān líng èrshí	1^* × 1000 + 0 + 2 × 10
1203	yìqiān èrbăi líng sān	1^* × 1000 + 2 × 100 + 0 + 3

Sino-Tibetan (360)

Chinese (14)

CHINESE, GAN
CHINESE, HAKKA
CHINESE, HUIZHOU
CHINESE, JINYU
CHINESE, MANDARIN
CHINESE, MIN BEI
CHINESE, MIN DONG
CHINESE, MIN NAN
CHINESE, MIN ZHONG
CHINESE, PU-XIAN
CHINESE, WU
CHINESE, XIANG
CHINESE, YUE
DUNGAN

Tibeto-Burman (345)

Unclassified (1)

Return to the index