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HSK 2.0 Level 2+ HSK 3.0 Level 2+ 6 min read

Big and Rough Numbers with 万, 好多 and 多

Count in ten-thousands with 万, say “lots of” with 好多, and say “twenty-something” or “over an hour” with 多.

Pattern

number + 万; 好多 + noun; round number + 多 + measure word; 1–9 + measure word + 多

Chinese counts big numbers in 万 (10,000), so a million is 一百万, “a hundred ten-thousands”.

我们学校有一万多个学生。

When to use Big and Rough Numbers with 万, 好多 and 多

万 means ten thousand, and Chinese groups big numbers by 万, not by thousands: 10,000 is 一万, 50,000 is 五万, 1,000,000 is 一百万. 好多 means “a lot of” and goes straight before a noun: 好多人. 多 after a number means “more than, -something”: 二十多个人 “twenty-something people”, 一个多小时 “over an hour”.

这个手机五千块。

This phone costs 5,000 yuan.

他有好多朋友。

He has lots of friends.

我等了二十多分钟。

I waited twenty-something minutes.

这个城市有八百万人。

This city has eight million people.

Common traps

  • Say 一万 for 10,000, not 十千: once you reach ten thousand, switch to 万.
  • Say 二十多个人, not 二十个多人: after a round number, 多 comes before the measure word.
  • Say 一个多小时, not 一多个小时: after 1–9, 多 comes after the measure word.

Targeted drill

Practice this exact pattern before moving on.

我买了 本书

I bought two books
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