{"id":6161,"date":"2015-11-03T15:38:32","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?p=6161"},"modified":"2023-03-30T03:40:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T03:40:35","slug":"the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html","title":{"rendered":"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you learning Chinese and struggling to differentiate between the two words for &#8220;two&#8221; &#8211; \u4e8c and \u4e24? Don&#8217;t worry, you&#8217;re not alone! Many Chinese learners find it difficult to know when to use each of these characters. But fear not &#8211; in this article, we&#8217;ll clear up the confusion and show you the correct ways to use \u4e8c and \u4e24. So let&#8217;s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main difference is that you use \u201c\u4e8c\u201d (\u00e8r) when counting or doing math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, when you want to say \u201ctwo of\u201d something, \u4e24(li\u01ceng) is used in front of the measure word instead of \u4e8c. This is similar to \u201ca pair\u201d in English and can be used when describing two of almost anything. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u4e24\u4e2a\u5c0f\u65f6 (li\u01ceng g\u00e8 xi\u01ceo sh\u00ed) two hours;<\/li><li>\u4e24\u5929 (li\u01ceng ti\u0101n) two days;<\/li><li>\u4e24\u4e2a\u661f\u671f (li\u01ceng g\u00e8 x\u012bng q\u012b) two weeks;<\/li><li>\u4e24\u4e2a\u6708 (li\u01ceng g\u00e8 yu\u00e8) two months.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One example that might be confusing is the expression for 2 o&#8217;clock. Rather than using &#8220;\u4e8c\u70b9&#8221; (\u00e8r di\u01cen), the correct way to say this is actually &#8220;\u4e24\u70b9&#8221; (li\u01ceng di\u01cen), which literally means &#8220;two points on the clock.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s see some other differences worth exploring:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1)<\/strong> \u4e8c (\u00e8r) can be used as an ordinal number, as in \u7b2c\u4e8c(d\u00ec \u00e8r) for the second in a series, \u4e8c\u697c(\u00e8r l\u00f3u) for the second floor, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2)<\/strong> To indicate a numeral, fraction, or decimal in math, \u201c\u4e8c\u201d should be used instead of \u201c\u4e24\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>1\/2(\u00e8r f\u0113n zh\u012b y\u012b) \u4e8c\u5206\u4e4b\u4e00; 1\/3(s\u0101n f\u0113n zh\u012b \u00e8r) \u4e09\u5206\u4e4b\u4e8c<\/li><li>0.2(l\u00edng di\u01cen \u00e8r) \u96f6\u70b9\u4e8c\uff1b 2.4(\u00e8r di\u01cen s\u00ec) \u4e8c\u70b9\u56db <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3)<\/strong> Use &#8220;\u4e8c&#8221; in the tens and ones place for multi-digit numbers, such as 22 (\u4e8c\u5341\u4e8c). For the hundreds place, either &#8220;\u4e24&#8221; or &#8220;\u4e8c&#8221; can be used, such as in 200 (\u4e8c\u767e\/\u4e24\u767e). In the case of&#8221;\u5343&#8221; (qi\u0101n, thousand), &#8220;\u4e07&#8221; (w\u00e0n, ten thousand), or &#8220;\u4ebf&#8221; (y\u00ec, hundred million), &#8220;\u4e24&#8221; is more commonly used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li> <span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">2000(\u4e24\u5343); <\/span><\/li><li>22222(\u4e24\u4e07\u4e24\u5343\u4e8c\u767e\u4e8c\u5341\u4e8c); <\/li><li>200000000(\u4e24\u4ebf) <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4)<\/strong> You can usually use either &#8220;\u4e24&#8221; or \u201c\u4e8c\u201d before &#8220;traditional&#8221; units for capacity or weight (\u5c3a(ch\u01d0) \/ \u4ea9(m\u01d4) \/ \u5347(sh\u0113ng)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u4e8c\u5c3a\/\u4e24\u5c3a (\u00e8r ch\u01d0 \/li\u01ceng ch\u01d0) two Chinese feet (a traditional unit of length equivalent to 1\/3 meter)\uff1b<\/li><li>\u4e8c\u4ea9\/\u4e24\u4ea9 (\u00e8r m\u01d4 \/li\u01ceng m\u01d4) two Chinese acres (a traditional unit of land area equivalent to 1\/6 hectare)\uff1b<\/li><li>\u4e8c\u5347\/\u4e24\u5347 (\u00e8r sh\u0113ng \/li\u01ceng sh\u0113ng) two liters (a metric unit of liquid volume).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, &#8220;new&#8221; units for capacity and weight typically use \u4e24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u4e24\u5428 (li\u01ceng d\u016bn) two metric tons\uff1b<\/li><li>\u4e24\u516c\u91cc (li\u01ceng g\u014dngl\u01d0) two kilometers.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind that \u4e24 also means 1\/20 of a kilogram. To make this distinction clear, two twentieths of a kilogram is written as \u4e8c\u4e24 (\u00e8r li\u01ceng), not \u4e24\u4e24 (li\u01ceng li\u01ceng).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5)<\/strong> To approximate a number, use &#8220;\u4e24&#8221; with either &#8220;\u4e00&#8221; or &#8220;\u4e09&#8221; in succession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"custom_example_style\">\u4e00\u4e24\u5929(y\u012b li\u01ceng ti\u0101n) One or two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"custom_example_style\">\u8fd9\u4e2a\u8bcd\u6211\u4eec\u5b66\u4e86\u4e24\u4e09\u6b21\u4e86\u3002 (Zh\u00e8 ge c\u00ed w\u01d2 men xu\u00e9 le\u00a0li\u01ceng s\u0101n\u00a0c\u00ec le.)<br>We&#8217;ve studied this word two or three times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"custom_example_style\">\u6bcf\u4e2a\u4eba\u8981\u82b1\u4e24\u4e09\u767e\u5757\u94b1\u3002 (M\u011bi g\u00e8 r\u00e9n y\u00e0o hu\u0101 li\u01ceng s\u0101n b\u01cei ku\u00e0i qi\u00e1n.) Every one needs to spend two to three hundred RMB. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6)<\/strong> &#8220;\u4e24&#8221; is also used alone to represent a small quantity, which &#8220;\u4e8c&#8221; cannot do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"custom_example_style\"> \u600e\u4e48\u5c31\u6765\u4e86\u8fd9\u4e48\u4e24\u4e2a\u4eba?(Z\u011bnme ji\u00f9 l\u00e1i le zh\u00e8me li\u01ceng g\u00e8 r\u00e9n ?)<br> How come so few people came?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In northern China, &#8220;\u4fe9&#8221; is commonly used instead of &#8220;\u4e24\u4e2a&#8221; to mean &#8220;the two of something or someone.&#8221; For example, &#8220;\u6211\u4eec\u4fe9&#8221; means &#8220;the two of us.&#8221; It can also be used to indicate a small quantity, such as &#8220;\u4fe9\u82f9\u679c&#8221; meaning &#8220;two apples.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that \u8d30, also pronounced &#8220;\u00e8r,&#8221; is used to represent the number 2 on items like cheques to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/Written_Chinese\/Numbers#The_use_of_.E5.A4.A7.E5.AF.AB_numbers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prevent forgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Understanding the differences between \u4e8c and \u4e24 is an essential part of basic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/chinese-language-courses\/chinese-grammar-courses\">Chinese grammar<\/a>. While both characters can represent the number &#8220;two,&#8221; they are used in different contexts and have distinct nuances. Remember that \u4e8c is used for ordinal numbers and math, while \u4e24 is used for approximate quantities and traditional units of measurement. By keeping these differences in mind, you can improve your Chinese language skills and avoid confusion in your conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you learning Chinese and struggling to differentiate between the two words for &#8220;two&#8221; &#8211; \u4e8c and \u4e24? Don&#8217;t worry, you&#8217;re not alone! Many Chinese learners find it difficult to know when to use each of these characters. But fear not &#8211; in this article, we&#8217;ll clear up the confusion and show you the correct&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":6164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,176],"tags":[77,7,93,78,80,84],"post_series":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-03T15:38:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-30T03:40:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/er-and-liang.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"845\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rita Zhang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@digmandarin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@digmandarin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rita Zhang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html\",\"name\":\"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-03T15:38:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-30T03:40:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/05d78cfb3c89cc407106ab6590c195be\"},\"description\":\"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/05d78cfb3c89cc407106ab6590c195be\",\"name\":\"Rita Zhang\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/rita.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/rita.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rita Zhang\"},\"description\":\"Rita is a professional Mandarin teacher, has been teaching more than 8 years. She enjoys digging more about Chinese grammar and culture work and helping more learners. Now she is working at the one-on-one online Chinese school TouchChinese.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/author\/ritazhang\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)","description":"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)","og_description":"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html","article_published_time":"2015-11-03T15:38:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-30T03:40:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":845,"height":449,"url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/er-and-liang.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rita Zhang","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@digmandarin","twitter_site":"@digmandarin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rita Zhang","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html","url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html","name":"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-03T15:38:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-30T03:40:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/05d78cfb3c89cc407106ab6590c195be"},"description":"There are two words for \u201ctwo\u201d in Chinese: liang vs er. Many learners are often confused by which one they should use. We will illustrate the correct ways to use each of them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/the-major-differences-between-er-and-liang.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Major Differences Between \u4e24(li\u01ceng) and \u4e8c(\u00e8r)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/05d78cfb3c89cc407106ab6590c195be","name":"Rita Zhang","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/rita.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/rita.jpg","caption":"Rita Zhang"},"description":"Rita is a professional Mandarin teacher, has been teaching more than 8 years. She enjoys digging more about Chinese grammar and culture work and helping more learners. Now she is working at the one-on-one online Chinese school TouchChinese.","url":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/author\/ritazhang"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16140,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6161\/revisions\/16140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6161"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=6161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}