Category: AP Exam

When to use 二 or 两？

This is another often asked question from students of Chinese. “Both 二 and 两 mean two, but when should I use which?” I made this infographic to answer this question.

You should read “2” as “二 èr” when:

• Giving a phone number. For instance, If your number is 432-722-1272, we read as 四三二  七二二 一二七二
• Talking about “second.” For instance,

          Second one, we read as 第二个

          Second time, we read as 第二次

          Second floor, we read as 二楼

          February (Second month of the year), we read as 二月

          May 2 (second day of May), we read as 五月二日

You should read “2” as “两 liǎng” when:

• Talking about “Two of something” or “both”

          The structure will be “两” + measure word

          E.g.,

          Two cups of tea, we say 两杯茶

          Two years, we say 两年

          Two dollars, we say 两块钱

          I like both of them, we say 我两个都喜欢

When counting numbers, it becomes a bit tricky…but don’t worry! Check out the infographic for more details.

Simplified Chinese Version

Traditional Chinese Version

Numbers can be easy or difficult in Chinese. Easy for smaller numbers. Difficult for big numbers. Not to mention a big number with a bunch “zeros” in it!

So….how do you say 10001? 20500? 6401001? Don’t worry, we show you how.

There are 5 sections in the infographic,

1. How to say the “First 9 numbers in hundreds” with zeros.
2. How to say the “Rest of the numbers with zero in hundreds.”
3. How to say a number with zeros “After one thousand.”
4. When you hear a big number in Chinese with zeros, how to write it down in Chinese characters? We teach a step by step method!
5. We’ve also included 4 self-quizzing questions (with answers).

A friendly note for dear readers, if you are not familiar with “big numbers in Chinese,” check out the infographic here.   

Also, see this post to learn basic numbers in Chinese.

Simplified Chinese Version

Video Credit to Carol from Growmommy.com

Voice over: Carol

Traditional Chinese Version