TongTong
Sign in

两万五千 (liǎng wàn wǔ qiān) — 25,000 (twenty-five thousand)

Definition

Compound numeral meaning 25,000. Read 两 as liǎng (not èr) before a measure word or another number, per standard number-reading rules.

numeral
25,000 (twenty-five thousand)

Examples

  • 两万五千。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì dà yuē yǒu liǎng wàn wǔ qiān rén kǒu.
    This city has a population of about 25,000.
  • 两万五千。
    Tā měi yuè gōng zī liǎng wàn wǔ qiān yuán.
    His monthly salary is 25,000 yuan.
  • 两万五千。
    Cóng běi jīng dào shàng hǎi de jù lí yuē liǎng wàn wǔ qiān gōng lǐ.
    The distance from Beijing to Shanghai is about 25,000 kilometers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

两万twenty thousand
两liǎngtwo万wànten thousand
偏正Modifier + head
五千five thousand
五wǔfive千qiānthousand
偏正Modifier + head

两万 gives twenty thousand and 五千 gives five thousand, meaning 25,000.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.