Numbers, 几, and 岁
Mandarin numbers 0–10 are short, regular, and the foundation of every higher number you'll ever say. Once you know 一 through 十, you can build everything up to 99 by stacking them — but that's the next lesson. Today: the ten basics, the question word 几 ('how many', expecting a small number), and the age word 岁.
0 to 10
零 (0), 一 (1), 二 (2), 三 (3), 四 (4), 五 (5), 六 (6), 七 (7), 八 (8), 九 (9), 十 (10). Tones to memorize: yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí. 零 líng is the formal zero. In phone numbers and casual counting you'll also hear 〇 or just líng.
几 — 'how many', for small numbers
几 asks 'how many' when the answer is expected to be small (under ten or so). It's the natural choice for ages of children, family members, days of the week. 你几岁? = How old are you? (asked of a child). 你家有几个人? = How many people are in your family? For larger or open-ended quantities, Mandarin uses 多少 instead — but that's lesson 7 territory.
岁 — years old
Age is number + 岁. 我十岁。 = I'm ten years old. 她八岁。 = She's eight. Notice: no verb. 是 is NOT used with ages; the number stands as its own predicate. Asking a child: 你几岁? Asking an adult: 你多大? = literally 'you how big?' — politer, doesn't presume small numbers. (For elders you'd use 您多大年纪?)
Today, no measure words
Mandarin normally requires a measure word between a number and a noun: 三个学生 = three students (个 is the general measure word). We'll dig into measure words in lesson 6 and beyond. For today's age and counting practice you don't need them — 三岁 (three years old), 四岁, 十岁 all work without one, because 岁 itself is the unit. Just learn the ten numbers cleanly first.
