Counting in Chinese is very useful for both negotiating and understanding prices that you are given. The Romanized spelling for Chinese numbers, known as pinyin, is not always intuitive. Fortunately, China has worked out a system for finger counting to accompany each number to avoid confusion when talking about prices.
Knowing how to count in Chinese is not only fun, but will also save you a little money when negotiating prices.
- The tones are important; hear each of the Chinese numbers in Manarin.
2. Two - er
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Er is pronounced "arr" with a falling tone. When preceding a word for quantity such as "two tickets," er changes to liang.
4. Four - si
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Nothing like the Spanish for "yes," si is pronunced similar to "sz" with a falling tone.
5. Five - wu
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Wu is pronounced "woo" with a dipping tone that starts in the middle, falls, then returns to the middle.
9. Nine - jiu
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Jiu is pronounced "jeeoh" with a tone that dips low then returns to the middle.
10. Ten - shi
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Shi is pronounced "shur" with a tone that starts low and then rises.
