Where we start
Lumen Logistics is about to quote its first shipment to the Shanghai distributor: a number of cartons, a price, a contact number and a time to meet. Each of those is a number, and each can go wrong in a different way. The quantity goes wrong at the comma, because the Chinese comma falls in a different place. The price goes wrong on a tone, because 十 (shí, ten) and 四 (sì, four) are close. The meeting goes wrong in the order, because Chinese puts the year first and the hour last.
★ What you walk out with tonight. Any number up to a million said by counting four digits from the right, 两 (liǎng, two of) and 二 (èr, two) each in its place, a price said in 块 (kuài, yuan, spoken), a phone number read digit by digit, and Lumen's meeting time written and said in Chinese order.
One to ten thousand
5 min liveThirteen words build every number you need for a deal. Ten digits: 一 (yī, one), 二 (èr, two), 三 (sān, three), 四 (sì, four), 五 (wǔ, five), 六 (liù, six), 七 (qī, seven), 八 (bā, eight), 九 (jiǔ, nine), 十 (shí, ten). Three units: 百 (bǎi, hundred), 千 (qiān, thousand) and 万 (wàn, ten thousand). English stops at thousand and jumps to million; Chinese has a unit at ten thousand and counts in them. So 100,000 is 十万 (shí wàn, ten ten-thousands), and a million is 一百万 (yìbǎi wàn, one hundred ten-thousands).
LiveBuilding any number to a million2 min▶
Say each digit, then its unit, from the biggest unit down. 25 is 二十五 (èrshíwǔ, twenty-five): two, ten, five. 99 is 九十九 (jiǔshíjiǔ, ninety-nine). 2,400 is 两千四百 (liǎngqiān sìbǎi, two thousand four hundred). 38,500 is 三万八千五百 (sānwàn bāqiān wǔbǎi, thirty-eight thousand five hundred): three wàn, eight thousand, five hundred. A zero inside a number is said once as 零 (líng, zero): 1,005 is 一千零五 (yìqiān líng wǔ, one thousand and five). Ten to nineteen start straight from ten: 11 is 十一 (shíyī, eleven), 12 is 十二 (shí'èr, twelve).
The 一 (yī, one) in front of a unit changes tone like any other: 一百 (yìbǎi, one hundred), 一千 (yìqiān, one thousand), 一万 (yíwàn, ten thousand). It stays yī when it is read as a digit, in a phone number or a year, and at the end of a number, as in 十一 (shíyī, eleven). The word lists on this page show the changed tones; the national pinyin rules (GB/T 16159-2012) write 一 (yī, one) with its original tone and allow the change to be shown in teaching.
LiveTwo ways to say two: 两 (liǎng, two of) and 二 (èr, two)2 min▶
二 (èr, two) is the counting two: in 十二 (shí'èr, twelve) and 二十 (èrshí, twenty), in 第二 (dì èr, second), and in a phone number read digit by digit. 两 (liǎng, two of) is the two of something, used before a measure word: 两个人 (liǎng ge rén, two people), 两箱 (liǎng xiāng, two cartons), 两点 (liǎng diǎn, two o'clock). Before 千 (qiān, thousand) and 万 (wàn, ten thousand) at the start of a number, 两千 (liǎngqiān, two thousand) and 两万 (liǎngwàn, twenty thousand) are what you will usually hear in mainland speech; treat that as common practice rather than a rule. Inside a number, after another digit, it is always 二 (èr, two): 十二万 (shí'èr wàn, 120,000).
Self-studyReading a big number in four moves3 min▶
Take 1,250,000. One: drop the English commas, 1250000. Two: count four digits from the right and cut, 125 | 0000. Three: say the left part as an ordinary number, 一百二十五 (yìbǎi èrshíwǔ, one hundred and twenty-five). Four: add 万 (wàn, ten thousand). The result is 一百二十五万 (yìbǎi èrshíwǔ wàn, 1,250,000). Going the other way, from Chinese to digits, write the number before 万 (wàn, ten thousand) and add four zeros: 十二万 (shí'èr wàn, 120,000) is 12 and 0000. Check it twice in a meeting by writing it down and turning the page round; numbers are the one place where writing in front of your counterpart is always welcome.
The missing zero. Lumen Logistics, its people and every number on this page are constructed. A Lumen planner on a call heard the Shanghai side say 十二万箱 (shí'èr wàn xiāng, 120,000 cartons), translated 万 (wàn, ten thousand) as "thousand" in his head, and wrote 12,000. Nobody noticed until the capacity plan came back ten times too small. The fix was not better listening; it was a habit: write the number, cut it at four digits, and read it back.
Money and prices
5 min liveA price is the number from Part 1 followed by the money word. Across a table that word is 块 (kuài, yuan, spoken); on an invoice, a contract or a price list it is 元 (yuán, yuan, written). The number in front is identical. The question you will ask most is 多少钱 (duōshao qián, how much money), and the answer comes back as number plus 块 (kuài, yuan, spoken): 三万八千五百块 (sānwàn bāqiān wúbǎi kuài, 38,500 yuan).
Live十 (shí, ten) and 四 (sì, four): the pair that costs money2 min▶
The two differ twice. 十 (shí, ten) begins with sh, the tongue curled back, and rises on the second tone. 四 (sì, four) begins with a flat s and falls on the fourth tone. Said fast, or on a poor line, each can be heard as the other, and the classic casualty is the pair 十四 (shísì, fourteen) and 四十 (sìshí, forty): rise then fall for fourteen, fall then rise for forty. Exaggerate both differences when you quote, and confirm any price containing a 4 or a 10 by writing it down or by repeating it with the digits: sì shí, four ten, is forty.
LivePhone numbers: digit by digit, and one is yāo2 min▶
A phone number is never read as a quantity. Each digit is said on its own, with 零 (líng, zero) for 0 and 二 (èr, two), never 两 (liǎng, two of), for 2. In mainland speech the digit 1 is commonly said yāo rather than yī in phone numbers, room numbers and similar strings of digits; treat this as common practice you will hear, not a rule you must follow. A constructed mobile number, 138 1047 2150, is said yāo sān bā, yāo líng sì qī, èr yāo wǔ líng, in the three groups it is written in.
Self-studyAsking and checking a price3 min▶
Ask with 多少钱 (duōshao qián, how much money), or more specifically 价格是多少 (jiàgé shì duōshao, what is the price). 价格 (jiàgé, price) is one of session 1's twelve words, so the trainer below can check it. When the answer comes, repeat it back as a number with 块 (kuài, yuan, spoken) and write it in digits at the same time: the person across the table can confirm the digits even if your tones wobble. Many business prices are large enough to need 万 (wàn, ten thousand), so say the price twice in your head before you say it once aloud: once in English, once cut at four digits.
Forty, or fourteen? A constructed case. A Lumen account manager, quoting a handling fee on the phone, said what she meant as 四十块 (sìshí kuài, 40 yuan) a pallet with a flat, unrising second syllable. The Shanghai clerk wrote 14. Each side's paperwork disagreed by a factor of almost three, and it took a week of emails to find out why. Her fix: say the price, then say it again in digits, sì líng, four zero, and ask for it to be read back.
Dates and times
5 min liveChinese says a date from the biggest unit to the smallest: year, month, day, then the weekday, then the part of the day, then the hour. Each unit is a number plus one word: 年 (nián, year), 月 (yuè, month), 日 (rì, day, written) or 号 (hào, day, spoken), 点 (diǎn, o'clock). Lumen's meeting with the Shanghai distributor, Thursday 15 October 2026 at 3 pm, is 二零二六年十月十五日 (èr líng èr liù nián shíyuè shíwǔ rì, 15 October 2026), 星期四 (xīngqīsì, Thursday), 下午三点 (xiàwǔ sān diǎn, 3 pm).
LiveSeven weekdays from one word and a number2 min▶
Monday to Saturday are 星期 (xīngqī, week) plus a number: 星期一 (xīngqī yī, Monday), 星期二 (xīngqī èr, Tuesday), 星期三 (xīngqī sān, Wednesday), 星期四 (xīngqī sì, Thursday), 星期五 (xīngqī wǔ, Friday), 星期六 (xīngqī liù, Saturday). Sunday breaks the pattern: 星期日 (xīngqī rì, Sunday), with 星期天 (xīngqī tiān, Sunday) common in speech. The 一 (yī, one) of Monday is a number in a series, so it stays yī. In schedules and messages the shorter 周 (zhōu, week) replaces 星期 (xīngqī, week): 周四 (zhōusì, Thursday). Months are numbers plus 月 (yuè, month): 一月 (yīyuè, January) to 十二月 (shí'èryuè, December).
LiveThe clock: part of the day first, then the hour2 min▶
Chinese does not add "am" or "pm" after the hour; it puts the part of the day before it. 上午 (shàngwǔ, morning) covers the business morning, 下午 (xiàwǔ, afternoon) the afternoon. The hour is a number plus 点 (diǎn, o'clock): 三点 (sān diǎn, three o'clock), and half past is 半 (bàn, half): 三点半 (sān diǎn bàn, half past three). Two o'clock is 两点 (liǎng diǎn, two o'clock), because 点 (diǎn, o'clock) counts hours like a measure word. Put together with the day: 周四下午三点 (zhōusì xiàwǔ sān diǎn, Thursday 3 pm).
Self-studySaying the year, and spoken versus written days2 min▶
A year is read digit by digit, like a phone number, with 零 (líng, zero) for 0 and 二 (èr, two) for 2: 二零二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián, 2026). The 一 (yī, one) of a year stays yī, because it is a digit. On paper the day is 日 (rì, day, written); in speech it is usually 号 (hào, day, spoken): 十五号 (shíwǔ hào, the 15th). You will see both, and either is understood. When you confirm a meeting by message, write the date in digits as well as words; session 5 does exactly that.
Say the deal: a quantity, a price, a number, a time
★ 22 min · everyone says itFour numbers make Lumen's first quote: 2,400 cartons, 38,500 yuan, the contact number, and the meeting on Thursday at 3 pm. For each one, write the digits, cut them the Chinese way, write the pinyin, then say it aloud and have a partner write down what they heard. A partner's digits are the only test that matters: if they match yours, the number arrived.
The quantity. Write 2,400, decide whether it needs a cut at four digits (it does not: it is under ten thousand), and say it with 两 (liǎng, two of) before 千 (qiān, thousand) and the measure word for cartons.
The price. Write 38,500, cut it at four digits from the right, 3 | 8500, and say the left part with 万 (wàn, ten thousand). Say it with 块 (kuài, yuan, spoken), then write it as it would appear on the quote, with 元 (yuán, yuan, written).
The phone number. Read it digit by digit in its three written groups, with a small pause between groups. Use yāo for 1 if you want to sound like a mainland caller; yī is also understood.
The meeting time. Write it biggest unit first, then say it. The short form is what you will say on the phone; the long form is what goes in the confirmation message.
Check the tones on the trainer. Calibrate with mā má mǎ mà, then say 价格 (jiàgé, price) and 开会 (kāihuì, have a meeting) from its list: the two words you will say just before a price and just before a time. The trainer's list holds session 1's twelve words and no numbers, so for the numbers themselves the partner's written digits are the check. Drill 十四 (shísì, fourteen) against 四十 (sìshí, forty) until your partner never confuses them.
Say it, then show it. In a real meeting, say the number in Chinese and write the digits on your notepad at the same moment, turned so the other side can read them. It costs two seconds and removes the one error that cannot be fixed later: a wrong number both sides believe.
Before session 5
30 min- Cut and say ten numbers from your own work, five under ten thousand and five over: write each in digits, cut at four from the right, write the pinyin, say it.
- Drill the misheard pair 十四 (shísì, fourteen) and 四十 (sìshí, forty) with a partner, in random order, until they write the right digits ten times in a row.
- Read your own phone number aloud digit by digit, with yāo for 1, three times a day for three days.
- Write next week's three meetings in Chinese order, each as 周 (zhōu, week) plus a number, then 上午 (shàngwǔ, morning) or 下午 (xiàwǔ, afternoon), then the hour. Session 5 books a meeting with them.
Three questions
Clear all three and session 4 gets stamped in your passport.
1 · The Shanghai side asks whether Lumen can move 十万箱 (shí wàn xiāng, ten ten-thousand cartons) a year. How many cartons is that, in digits?
十 (shí, ten) times 万 (wàn, ten thousand) is 10 followed by four zeros: 10 | 0000, which is 100,000. Chinese groups large numbers in fours, so the comma you expect after three digits is not where the unit falls.
2 · You want to say "two cartons". Which is right?
Before a measure word, two is 两 (liǎng, two of). 二 (èr, two) is the counting two, used inside numbers such as 十二 (shí'èr, twelve), in 第二 (dì èr, second) and for each 2 in a phone number.
3 · In what order does Chinese say a date and a time?
Biggest unit first, smallest last, and the order never changes. If you are unsure in a meeting, say the date in that order and write the digits as you say them.
What this session teaches, and where it came from
Every fact on this page, and its verification tier, is recorded in the course's source map.
Session 4 cheat sheet · pin this
You can now say when. Session 5 is meetings, calls and WeChat basics: asking politely, booking 周四下午三点 (zhōusì xiàwǔ sān diǎn, Thursday 3 pm) with the Shanghai side, confirming it the day before, and writing the short, titled messages that keep a partnership moving.