There are two ways to say “two” in Mandarin Chinese:
èr - 二
liǎng - 兩 (trad) 两 (simp)
Liang
Liǎng is used with measure words such as ge 個/个 or běn 本:
liǎng ge rén – two people
liǎng běn shū – two books
Some numbers are also measure words:
bǎi - hundred
qiān - thousand
wàn - ten thousand
Numbers such as two-hundred, two-thousand, and twenty-thousand take the liǎng form:
liǎng bǎi - 200
liǎng qiān - 2,000
liǎng wàn - 20,000
Er
Èr is used when counting without measure words:
yī, èr, sān – one, two, three
When a measure word is used for number ending in two (22, 102, 542 etc), the èr form of two is used:
èr shí èr ge rén – twenty-two people
yī bǎi líng èr běn shū – one-hundred and two books
liǎng qiān wǔ bǎi sì shí èr kuài qián – two-thousand, five-hundred and fourty-two dollars
Er Liang Quiz
Have you mastered the Mandarin number two? Take the Liang Er quiz to test your knowledge:
