NUMBER PATTERNS · LESSON 3 OF 4
Thousands
Combine 千, 百, 十 and ones in order.
One short session · about 5–10 minutes. See the four-lesson path
How the pattern works
- 千 (qiān) means thousand. 一千 = 1,000; 两千 or 二千 = 2,000.
- Read from the largest place to the smallest: 三千四百五十六 = 3,000 + 400 + 50 + 6.
- Use one 零 for one or more empty places inside a number: 一千零五 = 1,005; 一千零五十 = 1,050.
- Do not read trailing zeros: 一千二百 = 1,200. Read the full place names while learning: 一千二百, rather than the shortened conversational 一千二.
Listen to the building blocks
Read the examples
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 一千 | yī qiān | |
| 1,005 | 一千零五 | yī qiān líng wǔ | |
| 1,050 | 一千零五十 | yī qiān líng wǔ shí | |
| 1,100 | 一千一百 | yī qiān yī bǎi | |
| 1,200 | 一千二百 | yī qiān èr bǎi | |
| 2,000 | 两千 / 二千 | liǎng qiān / èr qiān | |
| 2,026 | 两千零二十六 | liǎng qiān líng èr shí liù | |
| 3,456 | 三千四百五十六 | sān qiān sì bǎi wǔ shí liù | |
| 9,999 | 九千九百九十九 | jiǔ qiān jiǔ bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ |
Pinyin here shows the dictionary tone yī for 一. In natural speech, 一 usually becomes yì before a first, second or third tone, and yí before a fourth tone: 一百 yì bǎi; 一千 yì qiān; 一万 yí wàn. At the end of a number it stays yī, as in 十一 shí yī.
Say it and use it
Read 1,005, 1,050 and 1,500 aloud. Notice how moving the 5 changes the place word. For a calendar year, digits are usually read separately: 2026 is 二零二六年, not the whole-number pattern here.
Check your number patterns
Try all six questions. Each learner has separate progress.