Counting: 兩 and 二

01

兩 — Counting Things

兩 (nn̄gnn̄gnng7) is the one used with a classifier, whenever you are counting actual objects or people. This is the form you will need most often.

• 你有兩个誠媠的囡仔。

  lí ū nn̄g ê tsiânn suí ê gín-álí ū nn̄g ê chiâⁿ súi ê gín-áli2 u7 nng7 e5 tsiann5 sui2 e5 gin2-a2

  You have two beautiful children.

• 恁兩个攏毋著。

  lín nn̄g ê lóng m̄-tio̍hlín nn̄g ê lóng m̄-tio̍hlin2 nng7 e5 long2 m7-tioh8

  You two are both wrong.

02

二 — Inside Numbers

二 (jījīji7) is the digit, used when a number is being read out rather than used to count objects. Note that the two can meet inside one figure: in 2002 the thousands take 兩 (nn̄gnn̄gnng7) and the final digit takes 二 (jījīji7).

• 伊兩千空二年出世。

  i nn̄g-tshian khòng jī nî tshut-sìi nn̄g-chhian khòng jī nî chhut-sìi1 nng7-tshian1 khong3 ji7 ni5 tshut4-si3

  He was born in 2002.

03

Reciting

When simply running through the numbers aloud, the everyday colloquial series is used, so two here is 兩 (nn̄gnn̄gnng7).

• 咱來算：一，兩，三，四，五

  lán lâi sǹg tsi̍t nn̄g sann sì gōolán lâi sǹg chi̍t nn̄g saⁿ sì gō͘lan2 lai5 sng3 tsit8 nng7 sann1 si3 goo7

  Let's count: one, two, three, four, five.

04

Zero, and Reading Years

Years are read digit by digit rather than as a whole number, and zero inside them is 空 (khòngkhòngkhong3) — so 2002 comes out as two-thousand zero two rather than as a single figure.

05

One and A

一 (tsi̍tchi̍ttsit8) is both one and the indefinite article a — with a classifier it does the work of both, so a man and one man come out identical. Speakers of Mandarin will recognise this whole arrangement, since Mandarin splits 兩 and 二 the same way.