Chinese For Dummies (26 page)

Chinese people count all the way up to
wàn
万
(
萬
) (wahn) (
10,000
) and then repeat in those larger amounts up to
yì
亿
(
億
) (ee) (
100 million
).

In Chinese, numbers are represented with the higher units of value first. So the number
387
is
sānbǎi bāshí qī
三百八十七
(sahn-bye bah-shir chee). The number
15,492
is
yíwàn wǔqiān sìbǎi jiǔshí'èr
一万五千四百九十二
(
一萬五千四百九十二
(ee-wahn woo-chyan suh-bye jyoe-shir-are).

The number
1
(yī
一
)
changes its tone from the first (high) to the fourth (falling) tone when followed by a first tone, as in
yìqiān
一千
(ee-chyan) (
1,000
); by a second (rising) tone, as in
yì nián
一年
(ee nyan) (
one year
); and by a third (low dipping) tone, as in
yìbǎi
一百
(ee-bye) (
100
). And it changes to the second tone when followed by a fourth tone, as in
yíwàn
一万
(
一萬
) (ee-wahn) (
10,000
). It retains its original first tone mark only when people count numbers: one, two, three, and so on.

Numbers from 10,000 to 100,000 and beyond

Here are the big numbers:

10,000
is
yíwàn
一万
(
一萬
) (ee-wahn) (Literally:
one unit of 10,000
).

100,000
is
shí wàn
十万
(
十萬
) (shir wahn) (Literally:
ten units of 10,000
).

1 million
is
yìbǎi wàn
一百万
(
一百萬
) (ee-bye wahn) (Literally:
100 units of 10,000
).

100 million
is
yí yì
一亿
(
一億
) (ee ee).

Numbers play an interesting role in everyday speech in China. Sometimes you'll hear someone say emphatically
Nǐ qiānwàn búyào xìn tāde huà!
你千万不要信他的话!
(
你千萬不要信他的話!
) (nee chyan-wahn boo-yaow sheen tah-duh hwah!) (
No matter what, you're not to believe what he says!
)
Qiān
means
1,000
, and
wàn
means
10,000,
but when you put those two words together in front of the negative prefix
bù,
you emphasize a point even more. Another phrase that has been heard often in the Chinese past is the partial phrase
wàn suì
万岁
(
萬歲
) (wahn sway) (
long live
). After that phrase, the person may add the name of someone in power, so you hear something like
Máo zhǔxí wàn suì!
毛主席万岁
! (
毛主席萬歲
!) (maow joo-she wahn sway!) (
Long live Chairman Mao!
) If you use this expression these days, you're kind of parodying a phrase taken extremely seriously just a few short decades ago.

How 'bout those halves?

So what happens if you want to add a half to anything? Well, the word for
half
is
bàn
半
(bahn), and it can either come at the beginning, such as in
bàn bēi kělè
(
半杯可乐
) (
半杯可樂
) (bahn bay kuh-luh) (
a half a glass of cola
), or after a number and classifier but before the object to mean
and a half,
such as in
yí ge bàn xīngqī
一个半星期
(
一個半星期
) (ee guh bahn sheeng-chee) (
a week and a half
).

Ordinal numbers

If you want to indicate the order of something, add the word
dì
第
(dee) before the numeral:

If a noun follows the ordinal number, a classifier needs to go between them, such as in
dì bā ge xuéshēng
第八个学生
(
第八個學生
) (dee bah guh shweh-shuhng) (
the eighth student
) or
dì yī ge háizi
第一个孩子
(
第一個孩子
) (dee ee guy hi-dzuh) (
the first child
).

Asking how many or how much

You have two ways to ask how much something is or how many of something there are. The first is the question word
duōshǎo
多少
(dwaw-shaow), which you use when referring to something for which the answer is probably more than ten. The second is
jǐ
几
(
å¹¾
) (jee) or
jǐge
几个
(
幾個
) (jee-guh), which you use when referring to something for which the answer is probably going to be less than ten:

Nàge qìchē duōshǎo qián?
那个汽车多少钱
? (
那個汽車多少錢
?) (nah-guh chee-chuh dwaw-shaow chyan?) (
How much is that car?
)

Nǐ xiǎo nǚ'ér jīnnián jǐ suì?
你小女儿今年几岁
? (
你小女兒今年幾歲
?) (nee shyaow nyew-are jin-nyan jee sway?) (
How old is your little girl this year?
)