Chinese Numbers Explained

Ten-Thousands

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万

Moving up past the thousands it starts to get a little tricky, this is where the structures of Mandarin and English numbers part ways. In English the number ten thousand is constructed by simply combining smaller multiples of ten: "ten" times "thousand", essentially reusing two smaller numbers to create the larger one. You might be tempted to do the same in Mandarin, combining 十 and 千 to create 十千. Don't do it!! Mandarin has a distinct word that means "ten thousand":

万

wàn

. Creating multiples of ten-thousand is the same as for lower numbers: put a digit in front of 万 to make unit multiples:

The Ten-Thousands
1,0000	一万	yī wàn	one 'ten-thousand'
2,0000	两万	liǎng wàn	two 'ten-thousands'
3,0000	三万	sān wàn	three 'ten-thousands'
4,0000	四万	sì wàn	four 'ten-thousands'
5,0000	五万	wŭ wàn	five 'ten-thousands'
6,0000	六万	liù wàn	six 'ten-thousands'
7,0000	七万	qī wàn	seven 'ten-thousands'
8,0000	八万	bā wàn	eight 'ten-thousands'
9,0000	九万	jiŭ wàn	nine 'ten-thousands'

Notice that in this table the commas are placed around groups of four digits, rather than three. In practice Chinese uses the international standard, placing commas around groups of three digits, but they are presented here in groups of four to help you visualize how Chinese numbers work. In Chinese, numbers can be visualzed as bundles of 4 digits: the thousands digit 千, hundreds 百, tens 十, and the units digit: 一 – 九. These four digits will repeat in larger numbers, each bundle of four appearing before a larger multiplier. In Chinese 万 is the first such multiplier.

So as before, to construct more complex numbers starting with 万 simply string along the pairs of unit numbers with their multipliers, going from highest to lowest in a sort of a number train: 54,321 (5,4321) = 五万 + 四千 + 三百 + 二十 + 一.

五万四千三百二十一 54,321 (5,4321)
five	ten-thousands	four	thousand	three	hundred	two	tens	one
五	万	四	千	三	百	二	十	一
wŭ	wàn	sì	qiān	sān	bǎi	èr	shí	yī

And we can make larger, more complex numbers up to 99,999,999 (9999,9999), by chaining multiples of 千, 百 and 十 before the 万:

九千八百七十六万 98,760,000 (9876,0000)
nine	thousand	eight	hundred	seventy		six	ten-thousands
九	千	八	百	七	十	六	万
jiŭ	qiān	bā	bǎi	qī	shí	liù	wàn

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Ten-Thousands

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