Chinese Numbers Explained
The traditional Chinese measurement system for distances is known as the "market system":
.
The market system was originally based on measurement units dating back thousands of years, but in 20th century the Chinese government officially adopted the metric system and modified the market system to be based on metric units.
| Chinese Market System Units |
|---|
| 市厘 | shì lí | ⅓ mm | |
| 市分 | shì fēn | ⅓ cm | |
| 市寸 | shì cùn | 3⅓ cm | "Chinese inch" |
| 市尺 | shì chǐ | ⅓ m | "Chinese foot" |
| 市丈 | shì zhàng | 3⅓ m | "Chinese yard" |
| 市引 | shì yǐn | 33⅓ m | |
| 市里 | shì lǐ | 500 m | "Chinese mile" |
Metric Units
Since the metric system is now the standard system used in China, distances are based on the meter:
:
| Metric Units, Standard |
|---|
| 毫米 | háo mǐ | 0.001 m | millimeter |
| 厘米 | lí mǐ | 0.01 m | centimeter |
| 分米 | fēn mǐ | 0.1 m | decimeter |
| 米 | mǐ | 1 m | meter |
| 千米 | qiān mǐ | 1000 m | kilometer |
There is another set of terms for metric distances sometimes used in colloquial speech. These terms use the
prefix,
which literally means "common", and is used to refer to units that are standardized to the metric system.
| Metric Units, Colloquial |
|---|
| 公厘 | gōng lí | 0.001 m | millimeter |
| 公分 | gōng fēn | 0.01 m | centimeter |
| 公寸 | gōng cùn | 0.1 m | decimeter |
| 公尺 | gōng chǐ | 1 m | meter |
| 公里 | gōng lǐ | 1000 m | kilometer |
Notice there are 2 very similar characters in the table above,
kilometer is , and
millimeter is .
The Hanzi characters look similar but are different, and the sound is similar but the tones are different.
Also you may have noticed that some of the characters in the colloquial units are also used in the standard metric terms,
but their meanings are different. For example,
is a centimeter,
a 1/100th of a meter, even though the
prefix generally means 1/10th of something.
And
is a millimeter, a 1/1000th of a meter, even though the
prefix generally means 1/100th of something.
Finally, there are names for English/Imperial units:
| English / Imperial Units |
|---|
| 英寸 | yīng cùn | inch |
| 英尺 | yīng chǐ | foot |
| 码 | mǎ | yard |
| 英里 | yīng lǐ | mile |
For more on converting distances, this website has a convenient calculator for converting between Chinese, Metric and Imperial units: Chinese Weights and Measures
Expressing Distance
Simply stating a distance is straightforward, as in English simply put the number in front of the units. No extra measure word is needed because generally the distance words are themselves measure words. Some examples:
| 3 meters |
|---|
| three | meters |
| 三 | 米 |
| sān | mǐ |
| 5 market yards |
|---|
| five | market yards |
| 五 | 市丈 |
| wŭ | shì zhàng |
| 7½ meters |
|---|
| seven | meters | half |
| 七 | 米 | 半 |
| qī | mǐ | bàn |
| 10 feet |
|---|
| ten | feet |
| 十 | 英尺 |
| shí | yīng chǐ |
When the distance has a decimal portion there are two ways it could be expressed, formally using the word for decimal point
:
| 1.69 meters (formal) |
|---|
| one | point | six | nine | meter |
| 一 | 点 | 六 | 九 | 米 |
| yì | diǎn | liù | jiǔ | mǐ |
or informally without it:
| 1.69 meters (informal) |
|---|
| one | meter | six | nine |
| 一 | 米 | 六 | 九 |
| yì | mǐ | liù | jiǔ |
notice the fractional part comes after the unit word.
Distance Between Two Places
To express distances between two places the structure is different than English. First you need to know a new word which roughly means 'distance between': . This word is placed between two locations to indicate there is a distance between them. The general form is A (distance between) B (number) (units). You can also optionally add
at the end to emphasize the distance between them.
| Ten meters from here to there |
|---|
| there | to | here | ten | meters | (away) |
| 那里 | 离 | 这里 | 十 | 米 | (远) |
| nà li | lí | zhè lǐ | shí | mǐ | (yuǎn) |
| Thirty miles from train station to airport |
|---|
| train station | to | airport | thirty | miles | (away) |
| 火车站 | 离 | 飞机场 | 三十 | 英里 | (远) |
| huǒ chē zhàn | lí | fēi jī chǎng | sān shí | yīng lǐ | (yuǎn) |
| Bejing is 9,525 km from San Francisco |
|---|
| Beijing | to | San Francisco |
9,525 | kilometers | (away) |
| 北京 | 离 | 旧金山 |
九千五百二十五 | 公里 | (远) |
| běi jīng | lí | jiù jīn shān |
jiǔ qiān wǔ bǎi èr shí wǔ | gōng lǐ | (yuǎn) |
Height, Length, Width and Depth
As in English there are words in Chinese for height, length, width, and depth:
| Words for Distance |
|---|
| 高度 | gāo dù | height |
| 长度 | cháng dù | length |
| 宽度 | kuān dù | width |
| 深度 | shēn dù | depth |
The structure for asking and answering questions about these are straightforward, here are some examples:
| How tall is the skyscraper? |
|---|
| skyscraper | has | how much | high |
| 高楼 | 有 | 多 | 高 |
| gāo lóu | yǒu | duō | gāo |
| The skyscraper is 1000 feet tall |
|---|
| skyscraper | has | one thousand | feet | high |
| 高楼 | 有 | 一千 | 英尺 | 高 |
| gāo lóu | yǒu | yì qiān | yīng chǐ | gāo |
| How long is the dragon? |
|---|
| dragon | has | how much | long |
| 龙 | 有 | 多 | 长 |
| lóng | yǒu | duō | cháng |
| The dragon is 10 meters long |
|---|
| dragon | has | ten | meter | long |
| 龙 | 有 | 十 | 米 | 长 |
| lóng | yǒu | shí | mǐ | cháng |
| How wide is the river? |
|---|
| river | has | how much | wide |
| 河 | 有 | 多 | 宽 |
| hé | yǒu | duō | kuān |
| The river is 100 meters wide |
|---|
| river | has | hundred | meter | wide |
| 河 | 有 | 一百 | 米 | 宽 |
| hé | yǒu | yī bǎi | mǐ | kuān |
| How deep is the lake? |
|---|
| lake | has | how much | depth |
| 湖 | 有 | 多 | 深 |
| hú | yǒu | duō | shēn |
| The lake is 200 meters deep |
|---|
| lake | has | two hundred | meters | depth |
| 湖 | 有 | 两百 | 米 | 深 |
| hú | yǒu | liǎng bǎi | mǐ | shēn |
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