Counting in Chinese on One Hand

The Chinese use one hand to indicate the numbers from one to ten, this is very useful when you cannot speak Chinese language or you are at a very noisy place, where body language may be more effective than shouting aloud … You will see this being used extensively in bars and restaurants. In bars, it’s common to see people playing “liar’s dice” games using 1 hand for calling numbers. Also VERY useful when shopping in a market and bargaining.

The basics of numbers:

0 Zero (零) [leeyng]

1 One (一) [ee]

2 Two (二) [aar]

3 Three (三) [san]

4 Four (四) [si]

5 Five (五) [wo]

6 Six (六) [leeyo]

7 Seven (七) [Chee]

8 Eight (八) [ba]

9 Nine (九) [jeeyo]

10 Ten (十) [shi]

100 (一百) [eeybay]

1,000 (一千) [eeyCheeyan]

10,000 (一万) [yeewan]

100,000 (十万) [shiwan]

1,000,000 (一百万) [eeybaywan]

More (than) (多于) [dwoyu]

Less (than) (少于) [shawyo]

Approximately (大概) [daagey]