Speaking
Chinese Numbers, Time & Dates — Master 数字, 时间 and 日期 for Everyday Mandarin
Learn how to count, tell time, and talk about dates, money, and quantities in Chinese. Covers numbers 0–10 up to 万/亿, telling time with 点/分/半/刻, dates and weekdays in the correct 年月日 order, money and prices with 块/毛/分, asking 多少钱, ages with 岁, and reading phone numbers. Includes pinyin, examples, and the key difference between 二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng).
2026-08-15 · 7 min read
Numbers 0 to 10 and beyond — 数字 (shù zì)
The building blocks of all Chinese numbers are 0 to 10: 零 (líng) 0, 一 (yī) 1, 二 (èr) 2, 三 (sān) 3, 四 (sì) 4, 五 (wǔ) 5, 六 (liù) 6, 七 (qī) 7, 八 (bā) 8, 九 (jiǔ) 9, 十 (shí) 10. Larger units follow a simple pattern: 百 (bǎi) hundred, 千 (qiān) thousand, 万 (wàn) ten-thousand, 亿 (yì) hundred-million. Unlike English, Chinese groups numbers by four digits rather than three, so 10,000 is one unit (一万), not "ten thousand" as separate words. To build numbers: 11 is 十一 (shí yī), 20 is 二十 (èr shí), 25 is 二十五 (èr shí wǔ), 100 is 一百 (yī bǎi), 1,000 is 一千 (yī qiān), 10,000 is 一万 (yī wàn).
A key subtlety: when counting things, use 两 (liǎng) instead of 二 (èr) before measure words — 两个人 (liǎng ge rén, two people), 两百 (liǎng bǎi, two hundred), but 十二 (shí èr, twelve) and 二十 (èr shí, twenty) keep 二. Useful phrases: 请问这个多少钱 (qǐng wèn zhè ge duō shao qián) — how much is this? 我会数到一百 (wǒ huì shǔ dào yī bǎi) — I can count to one hundred.
Telling time — 时间 (shí jiān)
To tell time, use 点 (diǎn) for the hour, 分 (fēn) for minutes, and 半 (bàn) for half past, 刻 (kè) for a quarter. Examples: 三点 (sān diǎn) 3:00, 三点半 (sān diǎn bàn) 3:30, 三点十五分 (sān diǎn shí wǔ fēn) 3:15, 差十分四点 (chà shí fēn sì diǎn) ten to four. Times of day use 早上 (zǎo shang) early morning, 上午 (shàng wǔ) late morning, 中午 (zhōng wǔ) noon, 下午 (xià wǔ) afternoon, 晚上 (wǎn shang) evening, 凌晨 (líng chén) the early hours after midnight. To ask the time: 现在几点了 (xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le) — what time is it now? 我们几点见面 (wǒ men jǐ diǎn jiàn miàn) — what time shall we meet?
Common expressions: 七点见 (qī diǎn jiàn) see you at seven, 明天下午三点 (míng tiān xià wǔ sān diǎn) tomorrow at 3 p.m., 我一般八点起床 (wǒ yī bān bā diǎn qǐ chuáng) I usually get up at eight. Note that Chinese uses a 12-hour clock with the time-of-day word, rather than always stating "a.m." or "p.m." separately.
Dates, months and weekdays — 日期 (rì qī)
Chinese dates always go from largest to smallest unit: year, month, day — 年月日 (nián yuè rì). For example, 2026年8月15日 (èr líng èr liù nián bā yuè shí wǔ rì) is August 15, 2026. Months are simply 一月 (yī yuè) January, 二月 (èr yuè) February, and so on up to 十二月 (shí èr yuè) December. Weekdays use 星期 (xīng qī) or the more colloquial 礼拜 (lǐ bài): 星期一 (xīng qī yī) Monday through 星期日/星期天 (xīng qī rì / xīng qī tiān) Sunday. Related time words: 今天 (jīn tiān) today, 明天 (míng tiān) tomorrow, 昨天 (zuó tiān) yesterday, 今年 (jīn nián) this year, 下周 (xià zhōu) next week, 周末 (zhōu mò) weekend.
Useful phrases: 今天是几号 (jīn tiān shì jǐ hào) — what is the date today? 我的生日是五月三号 (wǒ de shēng rì shì wǔ yuè sān hào) — my birthday is May 3rd. Note that 号 (hào) and 日 (rì) both mean "day of the month"; 号 is more common in speech, 日 appears more in writing.
Money and prices — 钱 (qián)
Chinese money is the 人民币 (rén mín bì, RMB), also called 元 (yuán), 块 (kuài) in speech, and internationally CNY. Units: 元/块 (yuán/kuài) the main unit, 角/毛 (jiǎo/máo) one tenth, 分 (fēn) one hundredth. Prices in speech are usually 块 and 毛: 五块 (wǔ kuài) five yuan, 三块五 (sān kuài wǔ) 3.50 yuan, 一块二 (yī kuài èr) 1.20 yuan. To ask prices: 多少钱 (duō shao qián) — how much? 这个多少钱一斤 (zhè ge duō shao qián yī jīn) — how much per jin (500g) for this? 太贵了 (tài guì le) — too expensive, 便宜一点 (pián yi yī diǎn) — a bit cheaper, 可以打折吗 (kě yǐ dǎ zhé ma) — can you give a discount?
When paying, you will hear 现金 (xiàn jīn) cash, 微信支付 (wēi xìn zhī fù) WeChat Pay, 支付宝 (zhī fù bǎo) Alipay, 扫码 (sǎo mǎ) scan the QR code, and 发票 (fā piào) receipt/invoice. A useful sentence: 我用微信支付 (wǒ yòng wēi xìn zhī fù) — I will pay with WeChat.
Ages, quantities and phone numbers — 年龄、数量和电话号码
Age uses 岁 (suì): 我二十岁 (wǒ èr shí suì) — I am twenty years old, 你几岁了 (nǐ jǐ suì le) — how old are you? Quantities rely on measure words: 三个人 (sān ge rén) three people, 两本书 (liǎng běn shū) two books, 五杯水 (wǔ bēi shuǐ) five cups of water. For phone numbers, digits are read one by one, and 1 is often read as 幺 (yāo) instead of 一 (yī) to avoid confusion with 七 (qī) over a bad line — for example, 138 becomes 幺三八 (yāo sān bā). To ask for a number: 你的手机号是多少 (nǐ de shǒu jī hào shì duō shao) — what is your mobile number?
A practical pattern for giving information: 我的电话是... (wǒ de diàn huà shì...) — my phone number is...; 我住在...号 (wǒ zhù zài ... hào) — I live at number...; 一共一百块 (yī gòng yī bǎi kuài) — one hundred yuan in total. These small number patterns appear constantly in travel, shopping, and daily life, so getting them automatic early pays off.
Related practice pages
FAQ
Common questions
What is the difference between 二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng)?
Both mean "two", but they are used differently. 二 (èr) is used when counting in sequence or reading digits — for example 十二 (shí èr, twelve), 二十 (èr shí, twenty), and in phone numbers, dates, and ordinal positions like 二月 (èr yuè, February). 两 (liǎng) is used before measure words and for larger round numbers when talking about quantities — 两个人 (two people), 两本书 (two books), 两百 (two hundred), 两千 (two thousand). A good rule: use 两 before measure words, and 二 when the number itself is the focus.
How do I read a large number like 12,345 in Chinese?
Chinese groups numbers by four digits, using 万 (wàn, ten-thousand) as the key unit. 12,345 is read as 一万两千三百四十五 (yī wàn liǎng qiān sān bǎi sì shí wǔ) — literally "one ten-thousand, two thousand, three hundred, forty-five". The pattern is: 万 for tens of thousands, 千 for thousands, 百 for hundreds, 十 for tens. Larger numbers add 亿 (yì, hundred-million) on top. Practice by breaking the number into blocks of four digits and reading each block with its unit.
Why do Chinese people say 幺 (yāo) instead of 一 (yī) when reading phone numbers?
Over the phone or radio, 一 (yī) and 七 (qī) can sound very similar, so Chinese speakers often read the digit 1 as 幺 (yāo) to make it unambiguous — this is standard in phone numbers, room numbers, and military or aviation contexts. So 138 becomes 幺三八 (yāo sān bā). When reading a phone number, each digit is read individually, and 0 is read as 零 (líng). You do not need to use 幺 yourself, but you should recognize it when a native speaker gives you a number.