Lesson 6 - Numbers: Introduction

Oh, its just numbers, it can be covered after I learnt other important stuffs. WRONG! This lesson is one of the most important ones, so do not skip it or else you will get lost in the subsequent lessons!

If you know other East Asian languages such as Korean or Japanese, this part should be easy for you. However if you don't then this part may be a little daunting to you. But anyway just try your best.

First of all, let's introduce the numbers.

1. 一 (yi1) - one
2. 二 (er4) - two
3. 三 (san1) - three
4. 四 (si4) - four
5. 五 (wu3) - five
6. 六 (liu4) - six
7. 七 (qi1) - seven
8. 八 (ba1) - eight
9. 九 (jiu3) - nine
10. 十 (shi2) - ten
11. 零 or 〇 (ling2) - zero

To express larger numbers, simply combine the numbers.

1. 11 = 10 + 1 = 十 (shi2) + 一 (yi1) = 十一 (shi2 yi1)
2. 12 = 10 + 2 = 十 (shi2) + 二 (er4) = 十二 (shi2 er4)
3. 20 = 2 x 10 = 二 (er4) x 十 (shi2) = 二十 (er4 shi2)
4. 45 = 4 x 10 + 5 = 四 (si4) x 十 (shi2) + 五 (wu3) = 四十五 (si4 shi2 wu3)

Hundred is 百 (bai3), while Thousand is 千 (qian1). So similarly,

1. 100 = 1 x 100 = 一 x 百 = 一百 (yi1 bai3)
2. 569 = 5 x 100 + 6 x 10 + 9 = 五 x 百 + 六 x 十 + 九 = 五百六十九 (wu3 bai3 liu4 shi2 jiu3)
3. 406 = 4 x 100 + 0 x 10 + 6 = 4 x 100 + 0 + 6 = 四 x 百 + 〇 + 六 = 四百零六 (si4 bai3 ling2 liu4) 
4. 3000 = 3 x 1000 = 三 x 千 = 三千 (san1 qian1)
5. 4009 = 4 x 1000 + 0 x 100 + 0 x 10 + 9 = 4 x 1000 + 0 + 9 =  四 x 千 + 〇 + 九 = 四千零九 (si4 qian1 ling2 jiu3)

Note that if there is a 0 in between two other digits, it is necessary to pronounce the 零 (ling2). This is unlike other Asian languages. However if there are 2 zeros, then only pronounce 零 (ling2) once.

Unlike English, Ten Thousand is not 十千 (shi2 qian1). Similarly to other Asian Languages, ten thousand is 万 (wan4). So,

1. 10000 = 1 x 10000 = 一万 (yi1 wan4). 
2. 53698 = 五万 三千 六百 九十 八 (wu3 wan4 san1 qian1 liu4 bai3 jiu3 shi2 ba1)
3. 80074 = 八万 零 七十四 (ba1 wan4 ling2 qi1 shi2 si4)

 Write the following numbers in the comment below!

1. 97
2. 101
3. 514
4. 1002
5. 1080
6. 6554
7. 10202
8. 65800
9. 14587
10. 155555