Editing Chinese numerals (section)

===Usage===<!--This section is linked from [[Dates in Chinese]] -->
{{See also|Chinese classifier|Chinese calendar|label 1=Chinese measure words (classifiers)}}
[[Chinese grammar]] requires the use of [[classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]s (measure words) when a numeral is used together with a noun to express a quantity. For example, "three people" is expressed as {{Lang-zh|c=|s=三{{linktext|个|人}}|t=三{{linktext|個|人}}|labels=no|p=sān ge rén}}, "three ({{Lang-zh|c=|s=|t=|p=ge|labels=no}} particle) person", where {{Lang-zh|c=|s=个|labels=no}}/{{Lang-zh|c=|labels=no|t=個|p=}} ''{{Lang-zh|c=|s=|t=|p=ge|labels=no}}'' is a [[Classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]. There exist many [[List of Chinese classifiers|different classifiers]], for use with different sets of nouns, although {{Lang-zh|c=|s=个|labels=no}}/{{Lang-zh|c=|labels=no|t=個|p=}} is the most common, and may be used informally in place of other classifiers.

Chinese uses [[cardinal number]]s in certain situations in which English would use [[Ordinal number|ordinals]]. For example, {{Lang-zh|c=三楼/三樓|s=|t=|p=sān lóu|labels=no}} (literally "three [[Storey|story/storey]]") means "third floor" ("second floor" in British {{Section link|Storey|Numbering|nopage=y}}). Likewise, {{Lang-zh|p=èrshí yī shìjì|labels=no|c=二十一世纪/二十一世紀}} (literally "twenty-one century") is used for "21st century".<ref>Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don, ''Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar'', Routledge, 2004, p. 12.</ref>

Numbers of years are commonly spoken as a sequence of digits, as in {{Lang-zh|p=èr líng líng yī|labels=no|c=二零零一|s=|t=}} ("two zero zero one") for the year 2001.<ref>Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don, ''Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar'', Routledge, 2004, p. 13.</ref> Names of months and days (in the Western system) are also expressed using numbers: {{Lang-zh|p=yīyuè|labels=no|c=一{{linktext|月}}|s=|t=}} ("one month") for January, etc.; and {{Lang-zh|p=xīngqīyī|labels=no|c={{linktext|星期}}一|s=|t=}} ("week one") for Monday, etc. There is only one exception: Sunday is {{Lang-zh|p=xīngqīrì|labels=no|c={{linktext|星期日}}|s=|t=}}, or informally {{Lang-zh|p=xīngqītiān|labels=no|c={{linktext|星期天}}|s=|t=}}, both literally "week day". When meaning "week", "{{Lang-zh|labels=no|c=星期|s=|t=}}" {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=xīngqī}} and "{{Lang-zh|labels=no|c=|s=礼拜|t=禮拜|p=|first=t}}" {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=lǐbài|c=}} are interchangeable. "{{Lang-zh|labels=no|c=禮拜天|p=|s=|t=}}" {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=lǐbàitiān|c=}} or "{{Lang-zh|labels=no|c=禮拜日|p=|s=|t=}}" {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=lǐbàirì|c=}} means "day of worship". [[Chinese Catholics]] call Sunday "{{Lang-zh|labels=no|c={{linktext|主日}}|s=|t=}}" ''{{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=zhǔrì|c=}}'', "Lord's day".<ref>{{cite web |url-status=live |title=Days of the Week in Chinese: Three Different Words for 'Week' |website=Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Language Site |url=http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/dowchin.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306144613/http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/dowchin.html |archive-date=2016-03-06 }}</ref>

Full dates are usually written in the format 2001年1月20日 for January 20, 2001 (using {{Lang-zh|p=nián|labels=no|c={{linktext|年}}|s=|t=}} "year", {{Lang-zh|p=yuè|labels=no|c={{linktext|月}}|s=|t=}} "month", and {{Lang-zh|p=rì|labels=no|c={{linktext|日}}|s=|t=}} "day") – all the numbers are read as cardinals, not ordinals, with no leading zeroes, and the year is read as a sequence of digits. For brevity the {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=nián|c=}}, {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=yuè|c=}} and {{Lang-zh|labels=no|s=|t=|p=rì|c=}} may be dropped to give a date composed of just numbers. For example "6-4" in Chinese is "six-four", short for "month six, day four" i.e. June Fourth, a common Chinese shorthand for the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]] (because of the violence that occurred on June 4). For another example 67, in Chinese is sixty seven, short for year nineteen sixty seven, a common Chinese shorthand for the [[Hong Kong 1967 leftist riots]].