How to use 十、百、千、零
Number + Unit
Chinese whole numbers name their place values in descending order. The tens use 十, hundreds use 百, and thousands use 千. In the teens, 十 comes before the final digit; higher tens place a digit before 十. Once you understand that structure, longer numbers become combinations of the same units.
Use 零 to signal a gap inside a number when a lower place value is missing. Several consecutive empty positions normally need only one 零. Phone numbers follow a different convention: speakers read the digits individually, and one is often pronounced yāo for clarity. Some conversational number forms shorten final units, so context matters when listening.
Examples with pinyin and English
三十六
thirty-six
An original editorial example: a tens digit, 十, then a units digit.
一百零六
one hundred and six
An original editorial example: 零 marks the missing tens place.
四千二百一十八
four thousand two hundred and eighteen
An original editorial example: read the place values from thousands down to units.
What to remember
- Build whole numbers by place value.
- Use 零 for internal gaps.
- Read phone numbers digit by digit.
Practise the pattern
Use one example as a model. Change the people, objects or situation, keeping the grammar pattern in the same order. Read the explanation again to check how your sentence uses the construction.
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.