How Chinese numbers work
Chinese numerals use a multiplicative system. Unlike Arabic numerals, where "23" means 2 × 10 + 3 by position, Chinese writes 二十三 (two-ten-three). The system groups numbers by ten-thousands (万) rather than thousands as in Western systems: 100,000 is 十万 (ten 万) and 100 million is 一亿.
| Number | Standard | Financial |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | 壹拾壹 |
| 20 | 二十 | 贰拾 |
| 99 | 九十九 | 玖拾玖 |
| 101 | 一百零一 | 壹佰零壹 |
| 110 | 一百一十 | 壹佰壹拾 |
| 1,001 | 一千零一 | 壹仟零壹 |
| 2,026 | 二千零二十六 | 贰仟零贰拾陆 |
| 10,000 | 一万 | 壹万 |
| 10,500 | 一万零五百 | 壹万零伍佰 |
| 100,000 | 十万 | 壹拾万 |
| 1,000,000 | 一百万 | 壹佰万 |
| 100,000,000 | 一亿 | 壹亿 |
Zeros and the word for two
A gap inside a number is read as one 零 (zero), however many zero digits it covers: 1001 is 一千零一 and 10500 is 一万零五百. Before measure words and before 百, 千, 万 and 亿, people usually say 两 (liǎng) instead of 二 for two: 两个 (two of something), 两千 (2,000). At the start of a number from 10 to 19 the 一 is dropped: 15 is 十五.
Financial numerals
The financial form (大写) uses complex characters that are harder to alter, which matters on checks, receipts and contracts. For example, 一 (1) can be changed to 二 (2) or 三 (3) with a stroke, but 壹 cannot. Chinese banks require the financial form for amounts written in words.