Mandarin: Numbers and numeracy

Numbers are a great place to start when learning Mandarin.

Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!

Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.

Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.

Remember!

It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!

Did you know?

When you want to say you have two of something in Mandarin, you don’t use 二èr (two).

Instead, you use the Mandarin word 两liǎng, for example:

两只小狗Liǎng zhǐ xiǎo gǒu - two dogs

This rule only applies to the number ‘two’.

Numbers higher than ten

All numbers higher than ten in Mandarin are built on the basics of one through ten, for example:

• To say 11, you would combine ten and one, so 十一shí yī (ten plus one)

• To say 20, you would combine two and ten, so 二十èr shí (two tens)

• To say 31, you would combine three, ten and one, so 三十一sān shí yī (three tens plus one)

To tell someone how old you are you can say:

我 … 岁了Wǒ … suì le - I am … years old.

Examples:

• 我八岁了Wǒ bā suì le - I am eight years old
• 我九岁了Wǒ jiǔ suì le - I am nine years old
• 我十岁了Wǒ shí suì le - I am ten years old

Recap on your learning

Practice numbers 1 - 10 with a fun song.