Counting money in Chinese
Here we will speak about how to express the amounts in Chinese currency and how to ask for a price.
The official name for Chinese currency
The official name for Chinese currency is RMB 人民币 
.
The units of RMB include:
元 ;
角 , a coin of 10 fens or a dime. It is 0.1 yuan;
分 — fen, it is 0.01 yuan.
In colloquial speech, the yuan is called 块 and the jiao is called 毛 . These are the most commonly used designations in everyday speech.
.
The units of RMB include:
元 ;
角 , a coin of 10 fens or a dime. It is 0.1 yuan;
分 — fen, it is 0.01 yuan.
In colloquial speech, the yuan is called 块 and the jiao is called 毛 . These are the most commonly used designations in everyday speech.
How to state an amount in yuan
To express an amount in yuan, put the word 元 or 块 after the number.
Examples
3元
3 yuan
sān yuán
四元
4 yuan
sì yuán
Pay attention
After the word 块, we usually add the word 钱 :
四块钱
:
四块钱 The number “2” can be pronounced either 两 or 二 .
or 二 .Examples
两元
two yuan
liǎng yuán
二块钱
two yuan
èr kuài qián
How to state a fractional amount
To express an amount like 3.50元, we say:
Scheme
number
元/块
number
角/毛
In English we say “cent” as the smallest monetary unit and it can be counted from 1 to 99.
However 角/毛 indicates the number of tenths, so in Chinese we say 5角/毛, but not 50角/毛.
Pay attention
With 角/毛, you can only use numbers from 1 to 9.
Examples
3元5角 (3块5毛)
3.5 yuan
sān yuán wǔ jiǎo (sān kuài wǔ máo)
Pay attention
The word 元 combines only with 角, and 块 combines only with 毛.
If you say, for example, 3元5毛 or 3块5角, it would be a syntactical error.
If the last digit is 角 or 毛, it may be omitted in colloquial speech.
The number “2” in that case can only be read as 二.
Examples
3元5 (3块5)
3.5 yuan
sān yuán wǔ (sān kuài wǔ)
To express a sum like 3.52元, say:
Scheme
number
元/块
number
角/毛
number
分
Examples
3元5角2分 (3元5毛二分)
3.52 yuan
sān yuán wǔjiǎo èr fēn (sān kuài wǔ máo èr fēn)
So here the word 分 can be left out.
The number 2 in this case reads only as 二.
Examples
3元5角2 (3元5毛二)
3.52 yuan
sān yuán wǔjiǎo èr (sān kuài wǔ máo èr)
分 is such a small unit that you seldom see it in daily life. It is usually used to show the price of a small good or used for calculating money.
Using the word 点 to indicate amounts of money
We simply express the number by saying 点 and adding “yuan” at the end.
In these cases we don’t need to use 角/毛 and 分.
and adding “yuan” at the end.
In these cases we don’t need to use 角/毛 and 分.
Scheme
number
点
number
元/块
Examples
三点五块
3.5 yuan
sān diǎn wǔ kuài
If the number after the decimal point is two-digits, it is pronounced separately by digits.
Examples
三点五二块
3.52 yuan
sān diǎn wǔ èr kuài
How to read numbers with zeros
We don’t say the missing digits in such cases:
- The number 0.9 元 reads as 9角 or 9毛;
- The number 0.06 元 reads as 6分;
- The number 0.38 元 reads as 3角8分 or 3毛8分.
If the digit 角/毛 is missing but there is the digit 分, you can say the number with or without saying “zero”.
Examples
7块(零)5分
7.05 yuan
qī kuài (líng) wǔ fēn
7元(零)5分
7.05 yuan
qī yuán (líng) wǔ fēn
How to read an amount in a foreign currency
Amounts in foreign currencies are read according to their accepted digits.
Examples
一美元二分
1 dollar 2 cents
yī měiyuán èr fēn
十卢布二十五戈比
10 рублей 25 копеек
10 rubles 25 kopecks
How to ask about price
To ask how much an item costs, use the following phrases:
Scheme
subject
多少钱?
Examples
苹果多少钱？
How much are the apples?
píngguǒ duōshao qián
Scheme
subject
多少钱买的?
Examples
苹果多少钱买的？
How much are the apples?
píngguǒ duōshao qián mǎi de
Scheme
numeral
counting word
subject
多少钱?
Examples
一斤苹果多少钱？
How much is a pound of apples?
yì jīn píngguǒ duōshǎo qián
Scheme
subject
多少钱
numeral
counting word?
Examples
苹果多少钱一斤？
How much is a pound of apples?
píngguǒ duōshǎo qián yì jīn
Scheme
subject
怎么卖?
Examples
苹果怎么卖？
How much are the apples?
píngguǒ zěnme mài
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