NUMBER PATTERNS · LESSON 4 OF 4
Ten thousand and beyond
Use 万 as a group of ten thousand.
One short session · about 5–10 minutes. See the four-lesson path
How the pattern works
- 万 (wàn) means 10,000. 一万 = ten thousand, not one thousand. 两万 or 二万 = 20,000; 十万 = 100,000.
- Chinese groups large numbers in units of 10,000. Think of 12,345 as 1 × 10,000 + 2,345: 一万两千三百四十五.
- If the part after 万 is smaller than 1,000, use a linking 零: 一万零五 = 10,005; 一万零五十 = 10,050; 一万零五百 = 10,500.
- Skip zeros at the end: 一万两千 = 12,000. Inside the lower group, apply the same zero rule: 一万两千零五 = 12,005.
Listen to the building blocks
Read the examples
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 一万 | yī wàn | |
| 10,005 | 一万零五 | yī wàn líng wǔ | |
| 10,050 | 一万零五十 | yī wàn líng wǔ shí | |
| 10,500 | 一万零五百 | yī wàn líng wǔ bǎi | |
| 12,000 | 一万两千 | yī wàn liǎng qiān | |
| 12,005 | 一万两千零五 | yī wàn liǎng qiān líng wǔ | |
| 12,345 | 一万两千三百四十五 | yī wàn liǎng qiān sān bǎi sì shí wǔ | |
| 20,000 | 两万 / 二万 | liǎng wàn / èr wàn | |
| 100,000 | 十万 | shí wàn |
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 10,000, 10,005 and 12,345 aloud. Then explain in your own words why 万 is ten thousand. You now have the patterns needed to read whole numbers through 99,999, plus the next milestone 十万.
Check your number patterns
Try all six questions. Each learner has separate progress.