Talking About Money

Chinese money has a quirk that trips everyone up on day one: the word you read and the word you say out loud aren't the same. Once you know that, prices get easy fast.

The unit you write and the unit you say

The official currency is 人民币 (rénmínbì), often shortened to RMB. The basic unit is the 元 (yuán). But in everyday speech, almost nobody says 元. They say 块 (kuài) instead.

So you'll see 元 on price tags and receipts, but you'll hear 块 in shops and conversation.

• 五元 (written, formal)
• 五块 (spoken, normal) — "five kuai"

Both mean the same amount. Think of 块 as the casual version, the way English speakers say "bucks" instead of "dollars."

The smaller units

A 元 splits into ten 角 (jiǎo), and a 角 splits into ten 分 (fēn). But just like above, spoken Chinese swaps these out:

Written (formal)	Spoken (normal)	Value
元 yuán	块 kuài	1
角 jiǎo	毛 máo	1/10
分 fēn	分 fēn	1/100

So 毛 is the spoken word for the dime-sized unit, and 分 stays the same (though 分 barely shows up anymore since prices rarely go that small).

• 三毛 — three jiao (0.3 yuan)
• 五分 — five fen (0.05 yuan)

Saying a full price

This is the part to practice. You stack the units in order, big to small:

块 + 毛 + 分

For example, 25.50 yuan:

• 二十五块五毛 (èrshíwǔ kuài wǔ máo)

And 8.75 yuan:

• 八块七毛五分 (bā kuài qī máo wǔ fēn)

Notice how it reads almost like spelling out each digit by its unit. Once you hear the rhythm a few times it clicks.

Dropping the last unit

Here's a shortcut native speakers use all the time. If the price ends after 块 or 毛, you can just drop the final unit word. The listener fills it in.

• 八块五 means 8.50 (you don't need to say 毛)
• 十块二 means 10.20

You only keep the last unit word when there's nothing after it that would make it obvious. So 八块五 is clear, but if you wanted to say a flat 8 yuan, you'd say 八块 and keep 块.

A handy filler word: 钱

钱 (qián) just means "money" in general. You'll often hear it tacked onto the end of a price as a kind of rounding-off word:

• 十块钱 — ten kuai (of money)
• 多少钱? (duōshao qián) — How much? (literally "how much money?")

多少钱 is the single most useful money phrase you'll learn. Use it for anything.

• 这个多少钱? — How much is this one?
• 一共多少钱? — How much altogether?

Asking and answering in a shop

A typical little exchange:

A: 这个多少钱? — How much is this?
B: 三十五块。 — Thirty-five kuai.
A: 太贵了! — Too expensive!
B: 那三十块吧。 — Then thirty, okay.

Useful words to have ready: 贵 (guì, expensive), 便宜 (piányi, cheap), 一共 (yígòng, in total).

• 这个太贵了。 — This is too expensive.
• 有没有便宜一点的? — Is there a cheaper one?

Big numbers and prices

For pricier things, the same number rules you already know apply. Just remember 百 (hundred), 千 (thousand), and 万 (ten thousand).

• 一百块 — 100 kuai
• 两千块 — 2,000 kuai
• 一万块 — 10,000 kuai

One thing to watch: for "two" of something, you use 两 (liǎng), not 二 (èr), before 块. So it's 两块 for two kuai, never 二块.

• 两块五 — 2.50
• 两百块 — 200 kuai

A quick recap

Read 元/角/分, but say 块/毛/分. Stack them big to small, and feel free to drop the last unit word when the meaning's clear. Ask 多少钱 for the price, use 两块 not 二块, and you're ready to shop.