Mandarin Minutes

Saying numbers in Mandarin is fairly simple. Eleven is ten plus one, so say “ten one”. Twelve is “ten two” and so on. Note how twenty is the opposite of twelve, say “two ten”.

shí yī     十一    eleven

shí èr   十二   twelve

shí sān  十三  thirteen

shí sì  十四  fourteen

shí wǔ  十五  fifteen

shí liù  十六  sixteen

shí qī  十七  seventeen

shí bā  十八  eighteen

shí jiǔ   十九  nineteen

èr shí  二十  twenty

More: 

sān shí  三十  thirty

sì shí  四十  forty

and so on… see “Tens” for more on numbers.