1.3 Numbers & Measure Words

Numbers 1–10

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. Then 十一 = 11, 二十 = 20, 一百 (yìbǎi) = 100.

Measure words

To count nouns, Chinese requires a measure word between the number and noun: 三个人 (sān gè rén) = three people. 个 (gè) is the general, all-purpose measure word.

Specific measure words

Different nouns use different measure words: 本 (běn) for books (一本书), 只 (zhī) for animals, 张 (zhāng) for flat things (paper, tables). When unsure, 个 often works.

Key terms

一 二 三 四 五

yī èr sān sì wǔ — 1 2 3 4 5

六 七 八 九 十

liù qī bā jiǔ shí — 6 7 8 9 10

Measure word

required between number and noun: 三个人

个 (gè)

the general, all-purpose measure word

本 / 张 / 只

běn (books) / zhāng (flat) / zhī (animals)

Try an AP-style question

The measure word for books is…

1. 只 (zhī)
2. 张 (zhāng)
3. 条 (tiáo)
4. 本 (běn)