Maths in Chinese 🔢 Time to Tackle Those

Your Complete Guide to Maths in Chinese

Maths – a word that brought despair to so many of us back in our school days. So just to bring back those harrowing memories we thought we’d give numbers another chance and teach you about Maths in Chinese!

We’ll try not to get too technical but the fact is… some of us just loved the numbers at school (yes, I’m one of those I’m afraid – it was the only subject I was any good at)!

FIRST AND FOREMOST…

If you don’t know the numbers in Chinese, this is kind of crucial so let’s get you on refreshed…

SECONDLY – if you want to discover more about numbers, like the numbers up to 100, and how to apply numbers in everyday Chinese (think birthdays, phone numbers etc), go check out our numbers in Chinese guide.

It’s as thorough as any other guide on the net.

FINALLY – this is more a bonus, but if you want to get the big numbers in Chinese down… check this quick guide out.

OK – now you’re up to speed and ready to hit the ground running, let’s get started.

Maths in Chinese – Key Words & Basics

Maths in Chinese – Fractions

Maths in Chinese – Decimals

Maths in Chinese – Percentages

Maths in Chinese – Further Vocab

Maths in Chinese – FAQ’s

BONUS – Take our FREE Quiz

Maths in Chinese – Key Words & Basics

Firstly we should learn the word for Maths itself

Maths in Chinese is 数学 shùxué. Literally number study.

Now for some more useful Maths in Mandarin vocab!

So there’s 10 basic Maths words in Chinese alongside our actual word for Maths means we have… hold on… 11 nailed already (good maths)!

Now let’s apply these to some sentences:

• 1 + 1 = 2
  • 1 加 1 等于 2
  • 1 jiā 1 děng yú 2

• 2 + 6 = 8
  • 2 加 6 等于 8
  • 2 jiā 6 děng yú 8

• 4 x 5 = 20
  • 4 乘以 5 等于 20
  • 4 chéng yǐ 5 děng yú 20

• 10.5 – 3.5 = 7
  • 10点5 减 3点5 等于 7
  • 10 diǎn 5 jiǎn 3 diǎn 5 等于 7

Divide is an interesting example because it can be expressed in two ways:

Let’s take 28 ÷ 7 = 4…

• 28 除以 7 等于 4
  • 28 chú yǐ 7 děng yú 4
• 7 除 28 等于 4
  • 7 chú 28 děng yú 4

See the difference?

When expressing it as we would in English we use 除以 but we can also write the sum as 7 / 28 = 4. In this instance we then only use 除.

Maths in Chinese – Fractions

Time to move onto fractions in Chinese…

Fraction in Chinese is 分数 fēnshù. Literally seperate number.

NOTE – when speaking about fractions we read from top to bottom, in English we’d say:

One Third – but in Chinese we swap it round and read the denominator (thee bottom number) first – sānfēn zhīyī

Every fraction must include the 分之 to denote it is indeed a fraction.

Pretty simple, right?!

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Maths in Chinese – Decimals

This is nice and simple and doesn’t require too much of an explanation so we’ll keep it short and sweet.

In English for a decimal we say 1 POINT 5.

In Chinese we simply use the word we already learnt above for point – diǎn 点. Which means Decimal in Chinese is simply diǎn 点.

So some example of decimals in Chinese in action…

Notice we don’t say Zero point Twenty Five, but Zero Point Two Five – again, the same in English

Maths in Chinese – Percentages

Percentage in Chinese is 百分之 bǎi fēn zhī. Literally 100 separate.

Percentages work similarly to fractions – you have to think backwards.

So rather than say 80%, in Chinese we always say %80…

Example – 60 Percent in Chinese is 百分之六十

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Maths in Chinese – Further Vocabulary

Ready to level up?

Here’s some more complex words when it comes to Maths in Chinese, in a quick-fire list for you

Ready…? Let’s go!

• Arithmetic – 算术 suàn shù
• Algebra – 代数 dài shù
• Calculus – 微积分 wēi jī fēn
• Difference – 差 chā
• Geometry – 几何 jǐ hé
• Infinite – 无穷大 wú qióng dà
• Product – 积 jī
• Quantity – 量 liàng
• Quotient – 商 shāng
• Sum – 和 hé
• Term – 项 xiàng
• Trigonometry – 三角学 sān jiǎo xué

Want to pick up more related vocabulary? We made a list of Chinese School Vocabulary that are super useful!

Think of yourself as a guru in Maths AND Chinese – congratulations, you are blessed!

Tell us what we missed below, we are always up for improving and enhancing our content from the suggestions of our loyal readers!

Maths in Chinese – Quiz

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Maths in Chinese – FAQ’s

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