🇨🇳 CHINESE · HSK 1

Chinese – Batch 07

百 · 千 · 万 · 两 · 零  ·  Reading · Listening · Writing

What is Pinyin? Pinyin is the official romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese. Every syllable has a tone — the same syllable said in a different tone is a completely different word. There are four tones plus a neutral tone:
1st (ā) — high & level  |  2nd (á) — rising, like a question  |  3rd (ǎ) — dip then rise  |  4th (à) — sharp fall  |  Neutral (a) — light, unstressed
In exercises you may type tone marks (rén) or tone numbers (ren2) — both are accepted.

📋 Pinyin Quick Reference

Characters in this batch — type either form in exercises:

bai3 → bǎi
qian1 → qiān
wan4 → wàn
liang3 → liǎng
ling2 → líng

🔊 Hear all 5 tones — same syllable "bai", five different meanings:

bāi Tone 1 — level 掰 · to break off
bái Tone 2 — rising 白 · white
bǎi Tone 3 — dip-rise ★ 百 · hundred
bài Tone 4 — falling 拜 · to worship
baixing Neutral — unstressed 百姓 · common people

★ = used in this batch  |  Neutral: listen to how 姓 is lighter in natural rapid speech.

ToneNumberMark (a)Mark (e)Mark (i)Mark (u)
1st — high level1āēīū
2nd — rising2áéíú
3rd — dip-rise3ǎěǐǔ
4th — falling4àèìù
Neutral5 or 0aeiu

💡 On most keyboards, tone marks are hard to type — use the number form (bai3, qian1) in exercises. Both are always accepted.

Progress: 0 / 4 exercises completed

A — Flashcard Practice

Click the card to reveal pinyin, meaning, and stroke count. Use the audio button to hear the pronunciation.

百
HSK 1
Tap to flip
1 / 9

B — Listen & Identify

Press the speaker button to hear a character pronounced. Choose the correct character from the four options.

C — Meaning Match

Look at the character. Choose the correct English meaning.

D — Reading in Context

Pinyin is shown for each sentence — type the missing pinyin in the blank. Press the audio button to hear the sentence, then repeat aloud.

🔊 Tip: Press Hear sentence, listen carefully, then say the full sentence out loud. Type the missing pinyin (tone mark or number form).

E — Stroke Count

How many strokes does each character take to write? Type the number. Tip: close your eyes and trace each character in your head — count how many times your pen lifts off the paper. Each unbroken line = one stroke.

百 bǎi — hundred

百 = 一 on top + 白 (white) below. One pure white sheet = a blank slate of 100. Six strokes.
Tone 3 (上声 shǎngshēng) — the dip-and-rise.
  • 一百yī bǎione hundred (100)
  • 百分bǎifēnpercent
  • 百万bǎiwànmillion
Zhèlǐ yǒu yī bǎi rén.
这里有一百人。
There are 100 people here.
Bǎifēn zhī wǔshí.
百分之五十。
Fifty percent.

千 qiān — thousand

Three strokes: a slash, a horizontal, a vertical — like a simplified signpost. Deceptively simple for 'one thousand'. 千万 means both 'ten million' AND 'by all means / absolutely'.
Tone 1 (阴平 yīnpíng) — high and level.
  • 一千yī qiānone thousand (1,000)
  • 千万qiānwàn10 million / absolutely
  • 几千jǐ qiānseveral thousand
Yī qiān kuài qián gòu ma?
一千块钱够吗？
Is 1,000 yuan enough?
Qiānwàn bié wàng le.
千万别忘了。
Don't forget — absolutely!

万 wàn — ten thousand

Just 3 strokes, but represents TEN THOUSAND — the key unit where Chinese and English number systems diverge. English counts: thousand, million, billion. Chinese counts: 千 (1K), 万 (10K), 千万 (10M), 亿 (100M). ⚠️ One million in Chinese = 一百万 (100 × 10,000), NOT 一百千.
Tone 4 (去声 qùshēng) — sharp falling.
  • 一万yī wànten thousand (10,000)
  • 万事wànshìall things
  • 亿万yìwànhundreds of millions
Tā yǒu yī wàn kuài qián.
他有一万块钱。
He has 10,000 yuan.
Wànshì rúyì.
万事如意。
May everything go as you wish.

两 liǎng — two / both (before measure words)

⚠️ KEY RULE: 两 before measure words, 二 for counting/math.
✓ 两个 (two of them), 两天 (two days), 两百 (200)
✗ Never say 二个, 二天
But: 第二 (second), 二月 (February) → use 二.
Tone 3 (上声 shǎngshēng) — the dip-and-rise.
  • 两个liǎng gètwo (with MW)
  • 两百liǎng bǎitwo hundred (200)
  • 两天liǎng tiāntwo days
Wǒ yǒu liǎng gè mèimei.
我有两个妹妹。
I have two younger sisters.
Liǎng bǎi kuài qián.
两百块钱。
Two hundred yuan.

零 líng — zero

零 contains 雨 (rain) on top — imagine individual raindrops as scattered zeros. At 13 strokes, it's the most complex character here. In Chinese, 零 is inserted for internal zeros in numbers: 一百零五 = 105 (one hundred ZERO five).
Tone 2 (阳平 yángpíng) — rising, like asking "Really?"
  • 零度líng dùzero degrees
  • 零食língshísnacks
  • 一百零五yī bǎi líng wǔone hundred and five (105)
Wēndù shì líng dù.
温度是零度。
The temperature is zero degrees.
Jīntiān xià líng dù.
今天下零度。
It's below zero today.

Tone System

ToneMarkNumberChineseDescriptionBatch example
1stā1阴平High, flat, held steadyqiān (千)
2ndá2阳平Rising — like "Really?"líng (零)
3rdǎ3上声Dip then rise — lowest tonebǎi (百), liǎng (两)
4thà4去声Sharp falling — like "No!"wàn (万)
Neutrala5 / 0轻声Short, unstressed—

⚠️ Key Rule: 两 vs 二

Use 两 (liǎng) before measure words: 两个人 (two people), 两天 (two days), 两百 (200).
Use 二 (èr) for counting, ordinals, and dates: 第二 (second), 二月 (February), 一二三 (one two three).
⚠️ Never say 二个 or 二天 in natural Mandarin.

Chinese Number Scale

Chinese and English count differently above 1,000:
十 = 10  |  百 = 100  |  千 = 1,000  |  万 = 10,000  |  千万 = 10,000,000  |  亿 = 100,000,000
To say 1,000,000 in Chinese: 一百万 (100 × 万), not "一百千".

Stroke Order Principles

  1. Top → Bottom
  2. Left → Right
  3. Horizontal before vertical (when crossing)
  4. Left-falling before right-falling
  5. Centre before sides (vertical axis)
  6. Outside before inside (enclosures)
  7. Close the bottom last
  8. Minor strokes last (dots / small sweeps)

Batch 07 Summary — Numbers III

CharPinyinMeaningStrokesHSK
百bǎihundred6HSK 1
千qiānthousand3HSK 1
万wànten thousand3HSK 1
两liǎngtwo / both (before measure words)7HSK 1
零língzero13HSK 1

Pinyin Typing Guide

All exercises accept tone marks (bǎi, qiān) or tone numbers (bai3, qian1). Tone numbers are always easier — just type the syllable followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4. Both forms are equally correct.

🔊 Audio pronunciation powered by the Web Speech API (built into your browser, no external service).
For a comprehensive pinyin reference, visit Yabla Chinese Pinyin Chart.
Stroke order practice: Skritter · Character lookup: MDBG Dictionary.