How to use 元、块、角、毛
Number + 块 / 元 (+ Number + 毛 / 角) (+ 钱)
多少钱 asks for a price or amount of money. A named item can precede it to identify what is being priced. To state an amount, put each number before its currency unit and move from larger units to smaller ones. This keeps the monetary structure clear even when several denominations are involved.
元 is the standard major unit for renminbi, while 块 is very common in conversation. For tenths of a yuan, 角 is the standard name and 毛 is the familiar spoken alternative. 钱 may follow an amount in everyday phrasing. Colloquial speech sometimes shortens the smaller-unit part, so use context carefully when precision matters rather than treating every omitted unit as interchangeable.
Examples with pinyin and English
这本书多少钱？
How much is this book?
十二元五角
12.50 yuan (standard currency units)
十二块五毛
12.50 yuan (everyday speech)
两块钱
two yuan
What to remember
- Ask the price with 多少钱.
- Use 块 naturally in everyday speech.
- Give larger currency units before smaller ones.
Practise the pattern
Practise this topic with the app’s grammar exercises. Your answers and review dates are saved separately from vocabulary practice.
Practise this grammar topic ↗Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation and examples written for Laowai using the grammar curriculum as a topic reference. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.