Learn Chinese numbers by ear.
Listening-first guides for learners who know the number words on paper but cannot catch them at native speed. Written by the team behind Countfu, with native-speaker review.
Start here
Chinese Numbers 1 to 100: A Listening Guide
The foundation. How everything from 0 to 99 is built from eleven sounds, why the system is more regular than English, and the 14 vs 40 trap.
Chinese Big Numbers: How 万 and 亿 Regroup Everything You Know
Chinese groups by ten thousand, not thousand. How the 万 and 亿 ladder works and why 三十五万 is 350,000, not 35,000.
The rules and their traps
Why 三百五 Means 350 in Chinese, Not 305
Spoken Chinese drops the final unit word. Why 三百五 is 350, how 零 marks a real zero, and where this catches you in prices and rent.
Sì vs Shí: How to Stop Mishearing 4 and 10 in Chinese
Sì falls, shí rises. The tone cue that separates 4 from 10 when the consonants blur, plus the famous tongue twister.
Liang vs Er: When Two Is 两 and When It Is 二 in Chinese
Two words for the digit 2, one clean rule for which you will hear where: 两个 and 两点, but 二十二.
零 (Líng) in Chinese Numbers: One Zero Covers Any Gap
306 is 三百零六 and 10,005 is 一万零五. One 零 spans a gap of any width, and it never comes last. With real Mandarin audio.
The 一 Tone Change: Why Yī Becomes Yì and Yí
一 is written one way and said three ways. The rule that predicts which, heard in real numbers from 一千 to 一亿.
Real-world numbers
Chinese Prices by Ear: Kuài, Máo, and Real Shop Talk
块 and 毛, the register shops and taxis actually use, and why ¥3.50 arrives as 三块五.
Chinese Discount Numbers: Why 打八折 Means 20% Off
打八折 means you pay 80%, so the discount is 20%. The inversion, the 折 conversion table, and 百分之 percentages.
Chinese Phone Numbers: Why 1 Is Pronounced Yāo (幺)
Eleven digits in a 3-4-4 rhythm, with 幺 standing in for 1 so it never sounds like 7.
Telling Time in Chinese: Why 两点 Is 2:00, Plus 半, 刻, and 差
两点 is 2:00 and never 二点. Halves with 半, quarters with 刻, and the 差 countdown pattern.
How to Say Dates in Chinese: Year, Month, Day, in That Order
Year first, digit by digit: 二零二六年. Then month, then day, the reverse of the US order.
2001 in Mandarin: Why Years Are Read Digit by Digit
2001 is 二零零一年, not two thousand and one. Why years are digit strings, why zeros repeat, and why it is 二 not 两.
百分之 and 点: Percentages and Decimals in Chinese
百分之二十 is 20 percent and 八十九点二七 is 89.27. The frame comes before the number, which reverses English order.
Height and Weight in Chinese: 一米七五 and 六十五公斤
一米七五 is 1.75 m with no decimal word at all, because 米 is the pivot. The four everyday measurement patterns.