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Lesson
9, Pattern 2: MoneyThe chart below shows a variety of ways
to express monetary amounts. One 元 (一塊錢)
can be used to express one Chinese "dollar" (yuan), one Hong Kong dollar, one
New Taiwan dollar, or one US dollar. Because 錢
is optional in all cases, it has only been noted in the first example.
Since the use of 二 and
兩 is the trickiest part, all examples
are presented showing combinations of "those pesky 2's." There are four
basic rules.
| 1. Before and after 十, always use 二 | |
| 20 dollars | 二十塊(錢) |
| 12 dollars | 十二塊 |
| 22 dollars | 二十二塊 |
| 2. Except for 20-29 dollars, (二十), if first digit is 2, use 兩 | |
| 222 dollars | 兩百二十二塊 |
| 2000 | 兩千塊 |
| 2.00 (2 dollars) | 兩塊 |
| .20 (20 cents) | 兩毛 |
| .02 (2 cents) | 兩分 |
| 3.
If last monetary unit (毛 or
分) is left off, use 二
Note that 塊 can never be dropped. The last unit cannot be dropped if 零 is used prior. |
|
| 22.20 | 二十二塊二 |
| 2.22 | 兩塊二毛二 (or 兩塊兩毛二 see below) |
| 222.22 | 兩百二十二塊二毛二 |
| 12.02 | 十二塊零二 |
| 4. In other cases, either 二 or 兩 may be used | |
| 222.22 | 兩百二十二塊二毛二分 兩百二十二塊二毛兩分 兩百二十二塊兩毛兩分 |
| 2222.20 | 兩千兩百二十二塊二毛 兩千二百二十二塊二毛 兩千二百二十二塊兩毛 |
Another way to think of it is to realize that, in Chinese, 萬 千 百 塊 毛 分 are all considered measure words and therefore usually take 兩, while 十 is an exception and must take 二.
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If you can't read the Chinese characters, install Microsoft traditional Chinese font, then set browser to view character set "Big 5 (traditional Chinese)."
This page
created by Mary Jacob 
