萬

Counting in Ten Thousands

Level 1Sounds Like maan6

In Cantonese, large numbers are grouped in units of ten thousand (萬, maan6) rather than thousands. For example, 10,000 is 一萬 (jat1 maan6), 100,000 is 十萬 (sap6 maan6), and 1,000,000 is 一百萬 (jat1 baak3 maan6).

How It Works

Cantonese uses a base-10,000 (myriadic) counting system. Once you pass 9,999 (九千九百九十九), the next unit is 萬 (maan6, 10,000) rather than 'ten thousand'.

Key Multipliers with 萬 (maan6):
• 10,000 = 一萬 (jat1 maan6)
• 100,000 = 十萬 (sap6 maan6, literally '10 ten-thousands')
• 1,000,000 = 一百萬 (jat1 baak3 maan6, literally '100 ten-thousands')
• 10,000,000 = 一千萬 (jat1 cin1 maan6, literally '1,000 ten-thousands')

Parsing Western Numbers into Cantonese:
To translate large numbers from English, regroup digits into sets of four from right to left:
• 50,000 $\rightarrow$ 5,0000 $\rightarrow$ 五萬 (ng5 maan6)
• 250,000 $\rightarrow$ 25,0000 $\rightarrow$ 二十五萬 (ji6 sap6 ng5 maan6)
• 3,500,000 $\rightarrow$ 350,0000 $\rightarrow$ 三百五十萬 (saam1 baak3 ng5 sap6 maan6)

The 'Two' Rule (二 vs 兩):
When expressing 20,000 as a quantity or price in spoken Cantonese, native speakers prefer 兩萬 (loeng5 maan6) over 二萬 (ji6 maan6).

Truncated Numbers vs Zero Placeholders:
In conversational Cantonese, 一萬五 (jat1 maan6 ng5) shortens '1 ten-thousand 5 thousand' (一萬五千, jat1 maan6 ng5 cin1) to mean 15,000 by dropping the unit 千 (cin1, thousand). The trailing digit defaults to the unit directly below 萬 (maan6). To express 10,500, you must explicitly use 零 (ling4, zero) to mark the missing thousands place: 一萬零五百 (jat1 maan6 ling4 ng5 baak3).

Examples (4)

  1. 四萬二千

    Forty-two thousand (42,000)

    Word by Word: 4萬 2千

    Parsed as 4 ten-thousands (四萬, sei3 maan6) plus 2 thousand (二千, ji6 cin1).

  2. 呢架車要二十萬。

    This car costs two hundred thousand dollars.

    Word by Word: This CL car costs 20萬.

    200,000 is expressed as 20 ten-thousands (二十萬, ji6 sap6 maan6).

  3. 香港有七百幾萬人。

    Hong Kong has over seven million people.

    Word by Word: Hong Kong have 7 hundred several 萬 people.

    7,000,000+ is expressed using 七百幾萬 (cat1 baak3 gei2 maan6, 700-something ten-thousands).

  4. 呢層樓要兩百萬蚊。

    This apartment costs two million dollars.

    Word by Word: This CL apartment costs 2 hundred 萬 dollars.

    1,000,000 is 一百萬 (jat1 baak3 maan6), so $2,000,000 uses 兩百萬 (loeng5 baak3 maan6). Note that 蚊 (man1) means dollars, distinct from 萬 (maan6).

Common Mistakes

  • Translating 10,000 directly from English as 'ten thousand' (*十千, sap6 cin1).

    我有十千蚊。
    我有一萬蚊。

    *十千 (sap6 cin1) is not used in Cantonese. Once you reach 10,000, you must switch to the unit 萬 (maan6).

  • Saying 一萬五 when you mean 10,500.

    Different Meaning一萬五
    一萬零五百 (10,500)

    一萬五 (jat1 maan6 ng5) is a good phrase, but it means 15,000: the last unit is understood to be 千 (cin1), short for 一萬五千. To say 10,500, include 零 (ling4, zero): 一萬零五百 (jat1 maan6 ling4 ng5 baak3).

  • Confusing 萬 (maan6, ten thousand) with 蚊 (man1, dollars) due to phonetic similarity.

    呢包餅要兩萬。
    呢包餅要兩蚊。

    萬 (maan6) is tone 6 low-level (10,000), whereas 蚊 (man1) is tone 1 high-flat (dollars). Pay attention to tones so you do not accidentally say a packet of cookies costs $20,000!

How It Connects

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萬Level 1Counting in Ten Thousands

Learn This First

To understand counting in ten thousands (萬), a learner must first be familiar with basic Cantonese numbers and how they are combined to form larger values.

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万