<p>As far as I know, in Mainland China:</p>
<ul>
<li>廿 is only used in written lunar calendar. It is very rarely used in spoken Chinese. However, it may be used in some dialects such as Cantonese.</li>
<li>卅 is not used in spoken Chinese, except for representing the 30th day of a month in naming a few historical events and telegraph (popular in early 1900s but rarely used today).</li>
<li>卌 is nearly extinct and should be considered obsolete.</li>
</ul>
<p>In conclusion: 二十 (&quot;two tens&quot;), 三十 (&quot;three tens&quot;) and 四十 (&quot;four tens&quot;) are enough.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-29T15:47:21.243Z
I would suggest changing "rarely used in spoken Chinese" into "rarely used in spoken Mandarin". Also, 卅 is commonly used in Cantonese.
Daniel Cheung
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T01:44:03.137Z
2020-07-28T14:15:34.843Z
2020-07-28T14:15:34.843Z
Winfred Huang
<p>廿, 卅, 卌 are <strong>never</strong> used in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese except some idiomatic expressions.</p>

<p>They might be used in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, but never in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese, except some idiomatic expressions.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>五卅惨案 May 30th Massacre</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is the only term that I can think of using 卅 in Modern Standard Mandarin.</p>

<p>Sometimes you can see 廿一, 廿二, 廿三, ... 廿九 in Chinese calendar, but many people may pronounce them as 二十一, 二十二, 二十三, ...  二十九, because many native Chinese speakers do not even know the Mandarin pronunciation of 廿.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>20 to 29 are 二十 to 二十九</p>
  
  <p>30 to 39 are 三十 to 三十九</p>
  
  <p>40 to 49 are 四十 to 四十九</p>
</blockquote>

<p>These are how we use in Mandarin.</p>

<hr>

<p>However, they are pretty common in some non-Mandarin Chinese, such as Cantonese and Hokkien. For example, Hokkien uses 廿一 for 21 and 卌一 for 41.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T00:51:33.397Z
2019-01-17T04:49:07.920Z
2019-01-17T04:49:07.920Z
Victor
<p>bkrs:  廿 twenty (20), in a limited number of set expressions,e.g. 廿世纪 20th century,
also written using banker’s character 念</p>

<p>卅 30, thirtieth, used in telegrams<br>
五卅惨案   May 30, 1925  LINE dictionary: 马来西亚吉籣丹卅皇御前表演。我们会在十一月卅日前完成您的订单需求。</p>

<p>卌 outdated, suggested examples all seem uncommon, esp. 1,3, (not used for compound numbers)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T00:46:50.473Z
We never say 廿世纪. Only 二十世纪 is used.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T04:24:31.967Z
note reference to bkrs，also web search yields results with 廿世纪, and in fact also 廿一世纪
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-15T19:28:46.347Z
2019-01-15T19:28:46.347Z
user6065
<p>I think those appear mostly on calendars or newspapers in order to save space (especially in headlines). No one uses those in speech.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T13:42:34.630Z
2019-07-05T13:42:34.630Z
Chen Jesse
<p>They are seldom used in modern Mandarin.</p>

<p>However, you can see "廿" used on calendars for lunar dates, and "卅" used in some proper nouns (e.g. 五卅惨案).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T02:19:47.113Z
Thanks! Just to clarify: If 廿 is used in lunar calendars, why not 卅?
Zuriel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T02:26:08.623Z
There are at most 30 days in a lunar month, and all lunar dates are written using two characters in the calendar: "初一“ ... "初九", "初十", "十一” ... "十九", "二十", "廿一", ... "廿九", "三十".
fefe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T04:35:44.157Z
@fefe As for 廿一, 廿二, ..., 廿九 in Chinese calendar, they are usually pronounced as 二十一, 二十二, ..., 二十九, because many Chinese people do not know the pronunciation of 廿.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-11T02:06:39.600Z
@Zuriel There are 30 days at most in one month in Chinese lunar calendar, using 廿 but not 卅 ensure that exact two Chinese Characters for the name of each day, which is tidy.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-11T02:12:08.837Z
@Zuriel 廿 is still used in Shanghainese, for example, native Shanghainese said 廿二 (pronounced as **nie** **ni**) for 22, 廿七 for 27 (pronounced as **nie** **qi**), there are 3 different version for the number 2 in different cases.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T01:11:14.427Z
2019-01-16T01:11:14.427Z
fefe
<p>I am aware of a <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17749/how-to-pronounce-%E5%BB%BF%E5%8D%85%E5%8D%8C-in-chinese">related question</a> and I know that </p>

<ul>
<li>"廿" means 20.</li>
<li>"卅" means 30.</li>
<li>"卌" means 40.</li>
</ul>

<p>But I am wondering how to use them correctly. When and how do we use "廿", "卅" and "卌"? For example, are the following sentences gramatically correct?</p>

<ol>
<li>这里距离机场有卌八千米。</li>
<li>我今年卅岁。</li>
<li>今天是四月廿七日。</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-18T10:24:24.490Z
They are grammatically correct, but nobody understands if you say like that. 廿, 卅, 卌 are archaic, so don't use them.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-12T05:57:40.750Z
It is not archaic in Cantonese.
OmniBus
<usage><characters><number>
When do we use "廿", "卅" and "卌"?
# When do we use "廿", "卅" and "卌"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-15)

I am aware of a [related question](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17749/how-to-pronounce-%E5%BB%BF%E5%8D%85%E5%8D%8C-in-chinese) and I know that

* "廿" means 20.
* "卅" means 30.
* "卌" means 40.

But I am wondering how to use them correctly. When and how do we use "廿", "卅" and "卌"? For example, are the following sentences gramatically correct?

1. 这里距离机场有卌八千米。
2. 我今年卅岁。
3. 今天是四月廿七日。

**Tags:** usage, characters, number

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: They are grammatically correct, but nobody understands if you say like that. 廿, 卅, 卌 are archaic, so don't use them.  
> **username_2**: It is not archaic in Cantonese.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-01-16. Score: 7

As far as I know, in Mainland China:

* 廿 is only used in written lunar calendar. It is very rarely used in spoken Chinese. However, it may be used in some dialects such as Cantonese.
* 卅 is not used in spoken Chinese, except for representing the 30th day of a month in naming a few historical events and telegraph (popular in early 1900s but rarely used today).
* 卌 is nearly extinct and should be considered obsolete.

In conclusion: 二十 ("two tens"), 三十 ("three tens") and 四十 ("four tens") are enough.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I would suggest changing "rarely used in spoken Chinese" into "rarely used in spoken Mandarin". Also, 卅 is commonly used in Cantonese.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-01-17. Score: 5

廿, 卅, 卌 are **never** used in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese except some idiomatic expressions.

They might be used in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, but never in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese, except some idiomatic expressions.

> 五卅惨案 May 30th Massacre

This is the only term that I can think of using 卅 in Modern Standard Mandarin.

Sometimes you can see 廿一, 廿二, 廿三, ... 廿九 in Chinese calendar, but many people may pronounce them as 二十一, 二十二, 二十三, ... 二十九, because many native Chinese speakers do not even know the Mandarin pronunciation of 廿.

> 20 to 29 are 二十 to 二十九
>
> 30 to 39 are 三十 to 三十九
>
> 40 to 49 are 四十 to 四十九

These are how we use in Mandarin.

---

However, they are pretty common in some non-Mandarin Chinese, such as Cantonese and Hokkien. For example, Hokkien uses 廿一 for 21 and 卌一 for 41.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-01-15. Score: 1

bkrs: 廿 twenty (20), in a limited number of set expressions,e.g. 廿世纪 20th century,
also written using banker’s character 念

卅 30, thirtieth, used in telegrams  
五卅惨案 May 30, 1925 LINE dictionary: 马来西亚吉籣丹卅皇御前表演。我们会在十一月卅日前完成您的订单需求。

卌 outdated, suggested examples all seem uncommon, esp. 1,3, (not used for compound numbers)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: We never say 廿世纪. Only 二十世纪 is used.  
> **username_5**: note reference to bkrs，also web search yields results with 廿世纪, and in fact also 廿一世纪  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-07-05. Score: 0

I think those appear mostly on calendars or newspapers in order to save space (especially in headlines). No one uses those in speech.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-01-16. Score: 0

They are seldom used in modern Mandarin.

However, you can see "廿" used on calendars for lunar dates, and "卅" used in some proper nouns (e.g. 五卅惨案).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! Just to clarify: If 廿 is used in lunar calendars, why not 卅?  
> **username_7**: There are at most 30 days in a lunar month, and all lunar dates are written using two characters in the calendar: "初一“ ... "初九", "初十", "十一” ... "十九", "二十", "廿一", ... "廿九", "三十".  
> **username_1**: @username_7 As for 廿一, 廿二, ..., 廿九 in Chinese calendar, they are usually pronounced as 二十一, 二十二, ..., 二十九, because many Chinese people do not know the pronunciation of 廿.  
> **username_8**: @username_0 There are 30 days at most in one month in Chinese lunar calendar, using 廿 but not 卅 ensure that exact two Chinese Characters for the name of each day, which is tidy.  
> **username_8**: @username_0 廿 is still used in Shanghainese, for example, native Shanghainese said 廿二 (pronounced as **nie** **ni**) for 22, 廿七 for 27 (pronounced as **nie** **qi**), there are 3 different version for the number 2 in different cases.  

---

