Numbers in Taiwanese Hokkien | Complete Guide
Taiwanese (Hokkien)

Numbers in Taiwanese Hokkien | Complete Guide

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Learning how to count in Taiwanese Hokkien is a little trickier than in Mandarin Chinese.

First of all, Taiwanese isnโ€™t as standardized as Mandarin, meaning that some words, including numbers, can be pronounced differently depending on whether you are in the north or south of Taiwan, for example. Here, we will learn the most standardized version, promoted by the central government.

Finally, most numbers have at least two distinct pronunciations: one is “Literary,” based on Classical Chinese pronunciation, and the other is “Colloquial,” native to the Hokkien language. The tricky part here is that there isnโ€™t a specific rule on which pronunciation to use, and people will naturally use a mix of both.

Numbers from 0 to 10 in Taiwanese Hokkien

Letโ€™s start by learning how to count to 10. Note that while there isnโ€™t any strict rule about it, when counting something, the literary pronunciation tends to be used, while the colloquial pronunciation is used when reading a series of numbers.

0 – ้›ถ | ็ฉบ

  • ้›ถ (Literary): ใ„Œใ„งใ„ฅหŠ
  • ็ฉบ (Colloquial): ใ„Žใ†ฒหช

1 – ไธ€

  • ไธ€ (Literary): ใ„งใ†ต
  • ไธ€ (Colloquial): ใ„ใ„งใ†ตห™

2 – ไบŒ | ๅ…ฉ

  • ไบŒ (Literary): ใ†ขใ„งหซ
  • ๅ…ฉ (Colloquial): ใ„‹ใ†ญหซ

3 – ไธ‰

  • ไธ‰ (Literary): ใ„™ใ†ฐ
  • ไธ‰ (Colloquial): ใ„™ใ†ฉ

4 – ๅ››

  • ๅ›› (Literary): ใ„™ใ„จหช
  • ๅ›› (Colloquial): ใ„’ใ„งหช

5 – ไบ”

  • ไบ” (Literary): ใ„ซใ†ฆห‹
  • ไบ” (Colloquial): ใ†ฃใ†ฆหซ

6 – ๅ…ญ

  • ๅ…ญ (Literary): ใ„Œใ„งใ†ฆใ†ถห™
  • ๅ…ญ (Colloquial): ใ„Œใ„šใ†ถห™

7 – ไธƒ

  • ไธƒ (Literary & Colloquial): ใ„‘ใ„งใ†ต

8 – ๅ…ซ

  • ๅ…ซ (Literary): ใ„…ใ„šใ†ต
  • ๅ…ซ (Colloquial): ใ„…ใ†คใ†ท

9 – ไน

  • ไน (Literary): ใ„ใ„งใ„จห‹
  • ไน (Colloquial): ใ„ใ„ ห‹

10 – ๅ

  • ๅ (Literary): ใ„’ใ„งใ†ดห™
  • ๅ (Colloquial): ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™

Numbers from 11 to 19 in Taiwanese Hokkien

The following numbers follows the same logic as in Mandarin: ‘eleven’ is ‘ten + one,’ ‘twelve’ is ‘ten + two,’ etc. However, here you have a mix of colloquial and literary pronunciations without a particular rule; you simply have to memorize it.

CharacterTaiwanese Bopomo
11ๅไธ€ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„งใ†ต
12ๅไบŒใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ†ขใ„งหซ
13ๅไธ‰ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„™ใ†ฉ
14ๅๅ››ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„’ใ„งหช
15ๅไบ”ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ†ฃใ†ฆหซ
16ๅๅ…ญใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„Œใ„šใ†ถห™
17ๅไธƒใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„‘ใ„งใ†ต
18ๅๅ…ซใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„…ใ†คใ†ท
19ๅไนใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„ใ„ ห‹

Numbers from 20 to 99 in Taiwanese Hokkien

Again, a logic very similar to that of Mandarin. Find the tens below:

CharacterTaiwanese Bopomo
20ไบŒๅใ†ขใ„งหซ ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
30ไธ‰ๅใ„™ใ†ฉ ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
40ๅ››ๅใ„’ใ„งหช ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
50ไบ”ๅใ„ซใ†ฆห‹ ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
60ๅ…ญๅใ„Œใ„šใ†ถห™  ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
70ไธƒๅใ„‘ใ„งใ†ต ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
80ๅ…ซๅใ„…ใ„šใ†ต ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™
90ไนๅใ„ใ„ ห‹ ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™

To include the numbers in between, simply apply the same logic as for the numbers 11 to 19. For example, 47 would be ‘ใ„’ใ„งหช ใ„—ใ„šใ†ดห™ ใ„‘ใ„งใ†ต’.

Big Numbers in Taiwanese Hokkien

CharacterTaiwanese Bopomo (Literary)Taiwanese Bopomo (Colloquial)
100็™พใ„…ใ„šใ†ทใ„…ใ„šใ†ท
1,000ๅƒใ„‘ใ„งใ„ขใ„‘ใ„งใ„ฅ
10,000่ฌใ† ใ„ขหซใ† ใ„ขหซ
100 millionๅ„„ใ„งใ†ถใ„งใ†ถ

Here is all you need to know to be perfectly able to count in Taiwanese Hokkien!

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