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How do you say the number 20 in Mandarin Chinese?

Èrshí (二十), literally 'two ten'.

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  1. shí'èr (十二)
  2. èrbǎi (二百)
  3. èrshí (二十) ✔

Why: Chinese builds numbers from one to ten: 20 is two ten, èrshí, and 12 is ten two, shí'èr. Èrbǎi is 200.

Huh, didn't know that: Once you know one to ten, you can say every number up to 99.

The dad joke
Chinese numbers are like building blocks: two, ten, done. That's twenty.
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References

Answer: èrshí (二十). Chinese builds numbers from one to ten: 20 is two ten, èrshí, and 12 is ten two, shí'èr. Èrbǎi is 200.

  1. Peace Corps China, Chinese Basic Lessons for Invitees (Mandarin) files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/thepeoplesrepublicofchina/CN_Mandarin_Language_Lessons.pdf
    so 20 is literally ‘two ten’
    Checked 2026-10-12.
  2. MDBG Chinese Dictionary (CC-CEDICT): 十 www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E5%8D%81
    ten / 10
    Checked 2026-10-12.

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