Large Numbers: 千、万、亿 and Approximate Numbers

Chinese grammar · HSK 2 · 大数词 · By Carson 木林森

| 数字 | 汉字 | 拼音 | |------|------|------| | 1,000 | 千 | qiān | | 10,000 | 万 | wàn | | 100,000,000 | 亿 | yì |

千 qiān thousand 万 wàn ten thousand; a great number 亿 yì 100 million 亿和概数 yì hé gài shù

规则： 中文用万进位，不说”十千”，说一万。12,000 = 一万二千。

近似数： 用相邻数字表示，如三四个 (3 or 4)。也可用 X多表示超过 X，如三十多 (more than 30)。

✅ 五千人 (5,000 people)
✅ 两万三千 (23,000)
✅ 一百多块钱 (more than 100 yuan)
❌ 十千 (wrong — use 一万)

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
这个城市有五千万人口。	Zhège chéngshì yǒu wǔqiān wàn rénkǒu.	This city has a population of 50 million.	五千万 = 5,000 × 万 = 50,000,000. 万 is the key unit — multiply: 五千 × 万.
这本书要一万二千块钱。	Zhè běn shū yào yī wàn èr qiān kuài qián.	This book costs 12,000 yuan.	一万二千 = 10,000 + 2,000 = 12,000. No need for an 'and' connector in Chinese.
我们班有三十多个学生。	Wǒmen bān yǒu sānshí duō gè xuésheng.	Our class has more than 30 students (around 30-something).	三十多 = 30+. 多 after a round number means 'some more beyond that number'.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Large Numbers across 13 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

What you need first

Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.

Number-Measure Phrases

What this opens up

These patterns list Large Numbers among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

Quantity Complements

Large Numbers is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.

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