I can say a number up to 9,999 and an ordinal number, ask 多少钱？, and understand a price: 元 on the price tag, 块 in speech.
How many: 百, 千, 多少; money: 块 and 元
How many: 百, 千, 多少; money: 块 and 元
Hundreds and thousands are built like tens: number + 百 or + 千. “Two hundred” is 两百 or 二百, “two thousand” only 两千; 1,600 is 一千六百 (not “sixteen hundred”). A zero inside a number is always said: 零 (105 — 一百零五, yìbǎi líng wǔ). A round tail can be dropped, but only at the very end of a phrase: the price 一百五 means 150; before a measure word, always in full: 一百五十个 (yìbǎi wǔshí gè).
Ordinal numbers are 第 (dì) + number: 第一 (dì-yī), 第二 (dì-èr), 第三本书 (dì-sān běn shū). In 第一 the character 一 is read yī, with no tone change.
几 asks for a small number, and a measure word always follows it: 几个, 几口人, 几点; the exception is the set phrase 星期几 (xīngqī jǐ, what day of the week), with no measure word. 多少 works for any number, and the measure word can be left out; a price is usually asked with 多少钱？
Price tags say 元 (yuán), but aloud you say 块 (kuài); a tenth of a yuan is 毛 (máo): 2.50 yuan — 两块五 (liǎng kuài wǔ) (毛 at the end is usually not said). Prices are usually written in figures. 贵 (guì) — “expensive”, 便宜 (piányi) — “cheap”.
Common mistakes:
• ×一百五 for 105 → 一百零五 (yìbǎi líng wǔ) (一百五 is 150).
• ×几老师 → 多少老师 (duōshao lǎoshī) (几 needs a measure word).
• ×一百三个老师 → 一百三十个老师。(Yìbǎi sān gè lǎoshī → yìbǎi sānshí gè lǎoshī.)
Hundreds and thousands
| Number | In characters | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 一百 | yìbǎi |
| 200 | 两百 / 二百 | liǎngbǎi / èrbǎi |
| 105 | 一百零五 | yìbǎi líng wǔ |
| 150 | 一百五十 / 一百五 (at the end of a phrase) | yìbǎi wǔshí / yìbǎi wǔ |
| 1000 | 一千 | yìqiān |
| 2000 | 两千 | liǎngqiān |
| 1008 | 一千零八 | yìqiān líng bā |
几 or 多少
| Word | Examples (with pinyin) |
|---|---|
| 几 + measure word — a small number | 几个？(Jǐ gè?) 几本？(Jǐ běn?) 几口人？(Jǐ kǒu rén?) |
| 多少 (+ measure word) — any number | 多少人？(Duōshao rén?) 多少本书？(Duōshao běn shū?) |
| price | ……多少钱？(… duōshao qián?) |
元 on the price tag, 块 out loud
| On the price tag | Out loud | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 25元 | 二十五块 | èrshíwǔ kuài |
| 2.5元 | 两块五 | liǎng kuài wǔ |
| 0.5元 | 五毛 | wǔ máo |
| 130元 | 一百三十块 | yìbǎi sānshí kuài |
Lesson notes
How many: 百, 千, 多少; money: 块 and 元
Hundreds and thousands are built like tens: number + 百 or + 千. “Two hundred” is 两百 or 二百, “two thousand” only 两千; 1,600 is 一千六百 (not “sixteen hundred”). A zero inside a number is always said: 零 (105 — 一百零五, yìbǎi líng wǔ). A round tail can be dropped, but only at the very end of a phrase: the price 一百五 means 150; before a measure word, always in full: 一百五十个 (yìbǎi wǔshí gè).
Ordinal numbers are 第 (dì) + number: 第一 (dì-yī), 第二 (dì-èr), 第三本书 (dì-sān běn shū). In 第一 the character 一 is read yī, with no tone change.
几 asks for a small number, and a measure word always follows it: 几个, 几口人, 几点; the exception is the set phrase 星期几 (xīngqī jǐ, what day of the week), with no measure word. 多少 works for any number, and the measure word can be left out; a price is usually asked with 多少钱？
Price tags say 元 (yuán), but aloud you say 块 (kuài); a tenth of a yuan is 毛 (máo): 2.50 yuan — 两块五 (liǎng kuài wǔ) (毛 at the end is usually not said). Prices are usually written in figures. 贵 (guì) — “expensive”, 便宜 (piányi) — “cheap”.
Common mistakes:
• ×一百五 for 105 → 一百零五 (yìbǎi líng wǔ) (一百五 is 150).
• ×几老师 → 多少老师 (duōshao lǎoshī) (几 needs a measure word).
• ×一百三个老师 → 一百三十个老师。(Yìbǎi sān gè lǎoshī → yìbǎi sānshí gè lǎoshī.)