Chinese counting is the most regular system on Earth - digits plus place-value words, no teens, no irregulars. One lesson covers 1 to 9,999.
The table
| 零 líng 0 | 一 yī 1 | 二 èr 2 | 三 sān 3 | 四 sì 4 |
| 五 wǔ 5 | 六 liù 6 | 七 qī 7 | 八 bā 8 | 九 jiǔ 9 |
| 十 shí 10 | 百 bǎi 100 | 千 qiān 1,000 | 万 wàn 10,000 | 亿 yì 100M |
Build numbers exactly as digits: 11 = 十一 (ten-one), 20 = 二十 (two-ten), 35 = 三十五， 99 = 九十九， 101 = 一百零一 (the 零 fills the empty tens place), 365 = 三百六十五.
The 万 cliff
Chinese groups by ten-thousands, not thousands: 10,000 = 一万 (one wàn), 1,000,000 = 一百万 (hundred wàn), 100,000,000 = 一亿. Translate English "thousand" numbers by splitting at the comma: 25,000 = 两万五千. Prices, populations and view counts all ride 万 - internalize it once.
Two traps
- 两 vs 二 - both mean two; 两 before measure words (两个人, 两本书）, 二 in counting, math and ordinals （第二， 二月）. 二十 stays 二.
- The telephone zero - digits are read one-by-one: 158… is 一五八. No "fifteen fifty-eight".
And the hand gestures: one-hand signs exist for 1-10, handy when haggling across a noisy market. The measure-word guide continues from here - numbers never sit next to a bare noun.
Common questions
How do you count to 10 in Chinese?
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 (yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí). Teens are ten+digit, tens are digit+ten - perfectly regular to 99.
What is the difference between 二 and 两?
Both mean 2: 两 (liǎng) precedes measure words (两个人); 二 (èr) is for counting, math, ordinals and the number itself (第二, 二十二).
How does Chinese say 10,000?
一万 - Chinese groups large numbers by ten-thousands, not thousands: 100,000 = 十万， 1,000,000 = 一百万， 100,000,000 = 一亿.