Even though Cantonese is not an easy language to master, the counting system in Cantonese is actually relatively simple! It is very consistent and does not contain any irregularities. After learning just 14 words you will have the ability to count up to 10 million. This will definitely be of great use to you next time you are traveling to Hong Kong or any of the other Cantonese speaking regions in the world.
In this guide next to the Chinese character you will see the Yale romanisation and the tone number. The tone number tell us which tone to use when pronouncing the words. To learn more about the six tones in Cantonese see this guide done by Open Cantonese
For general counting 'two' will be 二 (yi6) . In some other contexts however 兩 (loeng5) is also used.
兩 (loeng5) is commonly used when counting objects or quantities. For example:
To make sure you really get familiar with the numbers give our listening practice application a try. This will drill you on the numbers 0 to 10. You can keep playing until you are quick and don't mistakes anymore.
The numbers 11 to 19 follow a simple pattern in Cantonese. The numbers can be constructed by combining the word for ten 十 (sap6) with the word for the last digit.
Expressing the numbers 20 to 99 also follows a very logical system. To say the number 20 simply say "two ten", i.e. 二十 (yi6 sap6) . Thirty is "three ten" 三十 (saam1 sap6) etc. For numbers like 23 or 38 simply add the unit number at the end. For example 23 would be "two ten three" 二十三 (yi6 sap6 saam1) and 38 would be "three ten eight" 三十八 (saam1 sap6 baat3) .
Knowing this, you may want to do another round of practice to make sure you really got it down.
Counting from 100 to 999 is just as easy. Just use the word 一百 (yat1 baak3) . For instance:
For the numbers 101 to 109, 201 to 209 etc. you must also add the word for zero 零 (ling4) . So for example:
Again you can practice the numbers 0 to 1000.
For numbers bigger than 999 you can use the word for 1 000 which is 一千 (yat1 chin1) . By now you probably got the pattern down and know how to use it.
After 9 999 however the numbers can get tricky in Cantonese. You might think that the word for 10 000 might be 十千 (sap6 cin1) but it is actually 一萬 (yat1 maan6) . So for example, 16 000 would be 一萬六千 (jat1 maan6 luk6 cin1) which is more like ten thousand plus 6 thousand.
Since parsing numbers like this takes some getting used to it will be really beneficial to do some large number listening drills
To really enforce the numbers in Cantonese check out this classic song. Try your best keeping up singing along!
Below is a table with all the numbers in Cantonese that you can use as a reference. Every number also has audio attached which you can listen to by pressing the button.
Number | Writing | Yale | Audio |
---|---|---|---|
0 | 零 | ling4 | |
1 | 一 | yat1 | |
2 | 二 | yi6 | |
3 | 三 | saam1 | |
4 | 四 | sei3 | |
5 | 五 | m5 | |
6 | 六 | luk6 | |
7 | 七 | chat1 | |
8 | 八 | baat3 | |
9 | 九 | gau2 | |
10 | 十 | sap6 | |
11 | 十一 | sap6 yat1 | |
12 | 十二 | sap6 yi6 | |
13 | 十三 | sap6 saam1 | |
14 | 十四 | sap6 sei3 | |
15 | 十五 | sap6 m5 | |
16 | 十六 | sap6 luk6 | |
17 | 十七 | sap6 chat1 | |
18 | 十八 | sap6 baat3 | |
19 | 十九 | sap6 gau2 | |
20 | 二十 | yi6 sap6 | |
21 | 二十一 | yi6 sap6 yat1 | |
22 | 二十二 | yi6 sap6 yi6 | |
23 | 二十三 | yi6 sap6 saam1 | |
24 | 二十四 | yi6 sap6 sei3 | |
25 | 二十五 | yi6 sap6 m5 | |
26 | 二十六 | yi6 sap6 luk6 | |
27 | 二十七 | yi6 sap6 chat1 | |
28 | 二十八 | yi6 sap6 baat3 | |
29 | 二十九 | yi6 sap6 gau2 | |
30 | 三十 | saam1 sap6 | |
31 | 三十一 | saam1 sap6 yat1 | |
32 | 三十二 | saam1 sap6 yi6 | |
33 | 三十三 | saam1 sap6 saam1 | |
34 | 三十四 | saam1 sap6 sei3 | |
35 | 三十五 | saam1 sap6 m5 | |
36 | 三十六 | saam1 sap6 luk6 | |
37 | 三十七 | saam1 sap6 chat1 | |
38 | 三十八 | saam1 sap6 baat3 | |
39 | 三十九 | saam1 sap6 gau2 | |
40 | 四十 | sei3 sap6 | |
41 | 四十一 | sei3 sap6 yat1 | |
42 | 四十二 | sei3 sap6 yi6 | |
43 | 四十三 | sei3 sap6 saam1 | |
44 | 四十四 | sei3 sap6 sei3 | |
45 | 四十五 | sei3 sap6 m5 | |
46 | 四十六 | sei3 sap6 luk6 | |
47 | 四十七 | sei3 sap6 chat1 | |
48 | 四十八 | sei3 sap6 baat3 | |
49 | 四十九 | sei3 sap6 gau2 | |
50 | 五十 | m5 sap6 | |
51 | 五十一 | m5 sap6 yat1 | |
52 | 五十二 | m5 sap6 yi6 | |
53 | 五十三 | m5 sap6 saam1 | |
54 | 五十四 | m5 sap6 sei3 | |
55 | 五十五 | m5 sap6 m5 | |
56 | 五十六 | m5 sap6 luk6 | |
57 | 五十七 | m5 sap6 chat1 | |
58 | 五十八 | m5 sap6 baat3 | |
59 | 五十九 | m5 sap6 gau2 | |
60 | 六十 | luk6 sap6 | |
61 | 六十一 | luk6 sap6 yat1 | |
62 | 六十二 | luk6 sap6 yi6 | |
63 | 六十三 | luk6 sap6 saam1 | |
64 | 六十四 | luk6 sap6 sei3 | |
65 | 六十五 | luk6 sap6 m5 | |
66 | 六十六 | luk6 sap6 luk6 | |
67 | 六十七 | luk6 sap6 chat1 | |
68 | 六十八 | luk6 sap6 baat3 | |
69 | 六十九 | luk6 sap6 gau2 | |
70 | 七十 | chat1 sap6 | |
71 | 七十一 | chat1 sap6 yat1 | |
72 | 七十二 | chat1 sap6 yi6 | |
73 | 七十三 | chat1 sap6 saam1 | |
74 | 七十四 | chat1 sap6 sei3 | |
75 | 七十五 | chat1 sap6 m5 | |
76 | 七十六 | chat1 sap6 luk6 | |
77 | 七十七 | chat1 sap6 chat1 | |
78 | 七十八 | chat1 sap6 baat3 | |
79 | 七十九 | chat1 sap6 gau2 | |
80 | 八十 | baat3 sap6 | |
81 | 八十一 | baat3 sap6 yat1 | |
82 | 八十二 | baat3 sap6 yi6 | |
83 | 八十三 | baat3 sap6 saam1 | |
84 | 八十四 | baat3 sap6 sei3 | |
85 | 八十五 | baat3 sap6 m5 | |
86 | 八十六 | baat3 sap6 luk6 | |
87 | 八十七 | baat3 sap6 chat1 | |
88 | 八十八 | baat3 sap6 baat3 | |
89 | 八十九 | baat3 sap6 gau2 | |
90 | 九十 | gau2 sap6 | |
91 | 九十一 | gau2 sap6 yat1 | |
92 | 九十二 | gau2 sap6 yi6 | |
93 | 九十三 | gau2 sap6 saam1 | |
94 | 九十四 | gau2 sap6 sei3 | |
95 | 九十五 | gau2 sap6 m5 | |
96 | 九十六 | gau2 sap6 luk6 | |
97 | 九十七 | gau2 sap6 chat1 | |
98 | 九十八 | gau2 sap6 baat3 | |
99 | 九十九 | gau2 sap6 gau2 | |
100 | 一百 | yat1 baak3 | |
101 | 一百零一 | yat1 baak3 ling4 yat1 | |
102 | 一百零二 | yat1 baak3 ling4 yi6 | |
103 | 一百零三 | yat1 baak3 ling4 saam1 | |
104 | 一百零四 | yat1 baak3 ling4 sei3 | |
110 | 一百一十 | yat1 baak3 yat1 sap6 | |
120 | 一百二十 | yat1 baak3 yi6 sap6 | |
130 | 一百三十 | yat1 baak3 saam1 sap6 | |
138 | 一百三十八 | yat1 baak3 saam1 sap6 baat3 | |
200 | 二百 | yi6 baak3 | |
201 | 二百零一 | yi6 baak3 ling4 yat1 | |
202 | 二百零二 | yi6 baak3 ling4 yi6 | |
300 | 三百 | saam1 baak3 | |
754 | 七百五十四 | chat1 baak3 m5 sap6 sei3 | |
1,000 | 一千 | yat1 chin1 | |
2,000 | 二千 | yi6 chin1 | |
2,238 | 二千二百三十八 | yi6 chin1 yi6 baak3 saam1 sap6 baat3 | |
3,000 | 三千 | saam1 chin1 | |
9,000 | 九千 | gau2 chin1 | |
10,000 | 一萬 | yat1 maan6 | |
100,000 | 十萬 | sap6 maan6 | |
1,000,000 | 一百萬 | yat1 baak3 maan6 | |
10,000,000 | 一千萬 | yat1 chin1 maan6 | |
100,000,000 | 一億 | yat1 yik1 |