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: 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)

兩 (loeng5) as two

For general counting 'two' will be 二 (yi6) . In some other contexts however 兩 (loeng5) is also used.

When counting objects

兩 (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 十 (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 零 (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.