一千二 (yī qiān èr) — one thousand two hundred (1200, colloquial abbreviation of 一千二百)

Definition

Colloquial spoken number for 1200, used when speed-reading digits aloud (prices, year, count). In formal writing, say the full 一千二百.

numeral
one thousand two hundred (1200, colloquial abbreviation of 一千二百)

Examples

  • 一千二，。
    Zhè tái diàn nǎo yī qiān èr kuài qián, bú suàn guì.
    This computer is 1200 yuan, not too expensive.
  • 一千二，。
    Wǒ men xué xiào yǒu yī qiān èr duō míng xué shēng, qí zhōng yí bàn shì nǚ shēng.
    Our school has over 1200 students, half of whom are girls.
  • 一千二，。
    Tā qù nián cún le yī qiān èr kuài, jīn nián xiǎng cún gèng duō.
    He saved 1200 yuan last year and wants to save more this year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

一千one thousand
一yīone千qiānthousand
偏正Modifier + head
二èrtwo

The 一千 part gives the thousand, while 二 stands for the two hundred, making 1200.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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