Learn Cantonese Numbers

How to say the numbers and count in Cantonese

Introduction

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

Foundational Numbers: 1 to 10

  • 0: (ling4)
  • 1: (yat1)
  • 2: (yi6)
  • 3: (saam1)
  • 4: (sei3)
  • 5: (m5)
  • 6: (luk6)
  • 7: (chat1)
  • 8: (baat3)
  • 9: (gau2)
  • 10: (sap6)

兩 (loeng5) as two

For general counting 'two' will be (yi6) . In some other contexts however (loeng5) is also used.

When counting objects

(loeng5) is commonly used when counting objects or quantities. For example:

  • 兩個人 (loeng5 go3 jan4) - two people
  • 兩日 (loeng5 jat6) - two days.
  • 兩個月 (loeng5 go3 jyut6) - two months.

When talking about money or measurements

  • 兩蚊 (loeng5 man1) - two dollars
  • 兩磅 (loeng5 bong6) - two pounds.

Some examples of when you would use 二 (ji6)

  • 二零二四年 (ji6 ling4 ji6 sei3 nin4) - the year 2024
  • 第二 (dai6 ji6) - second
  • 二樓 (ji6 lau2) - second floor
  • 二號 (ji6 hou6) - number two

Practice

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.

Beyond 10

11 to 19

The numbers 11 to 19 follow a simple pattern in Cantonese. The numbers can be constructed by combining the word for ten (sap6) with the word for the last digit.

  • 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 to 99

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) .

  • 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)
  • 30: 三十 (saam1 sap6)
  • 31: 三十一 (saam1 sap6 yat1)
  • 32: 三十二 (saam1 sap6 yi6)
  • 79: 七十九 (chat1 sap6 gau2)
  • 98: 九十八 (gau2 sap6 baat3)

Knowing this, you may want to do another round of practice to make sure you really got it down.

One hundred and beyond

Counting from 100 to 999 is just as easy. Just use the word 一百 (yat1 baak3) . For instance:

  • 100: 一百 (yat1 baak3)
  • 110: 一百一十 (yat1 baak3 yat1 sap6)
  • 120: 一百二十 (yat1 baak3 yi6 sap6)
  • 138: 一百三十八 (yat1 baak3 saam1 sap6 baat3)
  • 200: 二百 (yi6 baak3)
  • 300: 三百 (saam1 baak3)
  • 754: 七百五十四 (chat1 baak3 m5 sap6 sei3)

Adding 零 (ling4)

For the numbers 101 to 109, 201 to 209 etc. you must also add the word for zero (ling4) . So for example:

  • 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)
  • 201: 二百零一 (yi6 baak3 ling4 yat1)
  • 202: 二百零二 (yi6 baak3 ling4 yi6)

Again you can practice the numbers 0 to 1000.

Bigger numbers

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.

  • 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)

Since parsing numbers like this takes some getting used to it will be really beneficial to do some large number listening drills

More practice

To really enforce the numbers in Cantonese check out this classic song. Try your best keeping up singing along!

Reference table

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.

NumberWritingYaleAudio
0ling4
1yat1
2yi6
3saam1
4sei3
5m5
6luk6
7chat1
8baat3
9gau2
10sap6
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
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