<blockquote>
  <p>Numbers that are larger than 100, e.g. 两百, 两千三百六十二. 百, 千, and 万 can be seen as a sort of measure word.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So the measure word here is 万 rather than 十万. </p>

<p>二十万 is parsed as "twenty wan" rather than "two shiwan", and for "twenty", it's always 二十, not 两十.</p>

<p>两十 is just never correct, no matter what position it is in a numeral.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T05:11:22.613Z
2018-04-18T05:11:22.613Z
Jason Swift
<p>「兩」didn't originally mean <em>two</em>. The character was first used for what is now written「輛」, the unit of measure for vehicles, being differentiated from「丙」and composed of two「丙」side-by-side:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/wvMDM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wvMDM.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>The mark「一」was a decorative stroke added on top later to produce「兩」(note, a similar process occurred with the character「雨」).</p>

<p>The etymology of <em>liǎng</em> is ultimately not known, but very early on,「兩」was used as a phonetic loan for several meanings. The relevant ones to the modern language are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Comparing and contrasting, or describing, two objects/people/situations.

<ul>
<li>《詩・齊風・還》： “並驅從兩肩兮， 揖我謂我儇兮。” </li>
<li>《莊子・人間世》： “吾未至乎事之情， 而既有陰陽之患矣；事若不成， 必有人道之患。 是兩也， 為人臣者不足以任之， 子其有以語我來。” </li>
</ul></li>
<li>Unit of measurement of weight or objects.

<ul>
<li>《詩・齊風・南山》： “葛屨五兩， 冠緌雙止。”</li>
<li>《禮記・雜記下》： “納幣一束， 束五兩， 兩五尋。” </li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>From traditional usage,「兩」(1) first of all refers to <em>one or several units of something</em>, then by extension (2) refers to a comparison or description of <em>several/some/a small number of</em> or <em>two</em> units/things. This is not the same usage as the abstract number「二」, and is why you <strong>never</strong> say abstract numbers with「兩」(e.g. when talking about telephone numbers, decimal numbers, etc.), and <strong>never</strong> use「兩」when counting objects which use「兩」as a measure word (e.g. for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael" rel="nofollow noreferrer">taels</a>).</p>

<p>It is this differential usage which also precludes「兩十」from being a clear expression; 「十」is homophonous with too many other words, unlike「百」,「千」,「萬」.</p>

<p>To answer the question directly,</p>

<ul>
<li>「兩十」also turns up Baidu hits; it is just as valid or invalid as「兩十萬」</li>
<li>Some of the Baidu hits are actually using「兩」as「輛」</li>
<li>The other ones may be regional colloquialisms; from a discussion <a href="https://bbs.hupu.com/14491669.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
  <p>我們老家還眞有，兩個，一十兩，兩十，兩百零兩，都是50歲以上的人，現在已經不怎麽能聽到這種數字了，方言被普通話漸漸消滅了。。。</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>Finally, note that</p>

<ul>
<li>In formal currency numerals, there is only the alternative character「貳」, and none corresponding for「兩」. This is related to「兩」being invalid for use as a number in traditional currency systems.</li>
<li>It is exceedingly rare to use「兩」for the meaning <em>two</em> in the Sinoxenic languages (Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese), indicating that using it this way freely is a rather recent colloquial Chinese invention</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T09:47:29.977Z
2018-04-18T10:37:48.027Z
2018-04-18T10:37:48.027Z
dROOOze
<p>I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say 兩十萬 is wrong. For what it’s worth, my family is from Taiwan and we’ve been out of Taiwan for a couple of decades, so, southern and not very modern colloquial Mandarin. </p>

<p>As per <a href="https://www.chiculture.net/0615/html/d12/0615d12.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this link</a> , and what may be missing in the old post you referenced, a minor point that bears revisiting is this: the placement of 二、兩 in a numeric value dictates which is used. In front of 十，it should always be 二, whether you’re saying 二十 or 二十萬. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T03:05:38.263Z
2018-04-18T03:05:38.263Z
judester
<blockquote>
  <p>On Baidu 二十万 gets 19.4 million hits, whereas 两十万 gets 6.2 million</p>
</blockquote>

<p>judging from hits only is, well, not enough. e.g.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>想買一兩十萬左右的車</p>
</blockquote>

<p>it should interpret as 想買 (want to buy) 一兩 (a, 兩 is an identifier) 十萬左右 (about $100,000) 的車 (car).</p>

<p>this error would occur in simplifed chinese only, cause in traditional chinese, we use 輛 (u+8f1b) as identifier.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>1兩十萬杵油煙墨</p>
</blockquote>

<p>this one should be 1 (one) 兩 (unit of weight) of 十萬杵 (brand name) 油煙墨 (oil smoke ink?)</p>

<p>these two examples shown that 兩 can be identifier or noun. insisting 兩 as "two" only in "兩十萬" is, wrong.</p>

<p>so, one need to know the preceding and following text of "兩十萬", before making judgement.</p>

<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T06:42:22.347Z
AFAIK only Japanese merges 輛 and 兩 (両).
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T10:00:04.993Z
unfortunately, there're usage of "一兩車" in simplified chinese. in baidu: https://zhidao.baidu.com/search?lm=0&rn=10&pn=0&fr=search&ie=gbk&word=%D2%BB%C1%BD%B3%B5 ; or google: https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=-BbXWvbzDobd0ASM17TQDA&q=%22%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%A4%E8%BD%A6%22&oq=%22%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%A4%E8%BD%A6%22&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.1.3636.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.0GRWHvomZxo
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T05:30:47.320Z
2018-04-18T06:33:33.470Z
2018-04-18T06:33:33.470Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>The <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/767/8099">accepted answer</a> to <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/755/number-two-in-chinese-%E4%BA%8C-vs-%E4%B8%A4">Number two in chinese: 二 vs 两</a> writes:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Numbers that are larger than 100, e.g. 两百, 两千三百六十二. 百, 千, and 万 can be seen as a sort of measure word.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Now, <a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%87" rel="nofollow noreferrer">十万</a> (shí wàn) means "hundred thousand" in Chinese.  So the above sentence implies 两十万 (liǎng shí wàn) is correct and means "two hundred thousand".</p>

<p>On Baidu 二十万 gets 19.4 million hits, whereas 两十万 gets 6.2 million, so while it looks like 二十万 is more frequently used, it also indicates that 两十万 is indeed valid.</p>

<p>However, I'm curious about how 两十 is incorrect, yet 两十万 (which contains the incorrect 两十) is okay.</p>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: Why is 两十万 okay when it contains 两十 which is incorrect?</p>

<p>I guess it's because 两十万 means "两 of 十万" rather than the incorrect "两十 of 万"; I don't really see why it's parsed this way though.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T02:50:53.563Z
No, 两十万 is so grating to the ears.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T02:59:45.050Z
It feels so wrong, it hurts. I think because it precedes the 十，it should be 二 and not 兩。
judester
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T14:12:02.807Z
The sentence does not imply anything other than the listed words. Maybe only 亿 can be added to the list.
fefe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-19T02:05:21.433Z
just try to compare pronunciations of equivalent Chinese characters, to find out how to 'save efforts', 'pronouncing it easily' in daily oral practice. Tune of characters is a factor for getting a favorite, of course for most people. Saying multiple adjacent 3rd tunes like 两百两十两两（202两), your pronunciation speed is decreased, whereas if you just want to say it easily, you can say 两个 other than 二个, saying it easily can save your efforts, especially in a long lecture, if you want to say it loudly, use 4th tune version instead; In writing we don't need consider such differences。
Daniel Yang
<number>
Why is 两十万 (liǎng shí wàn) okay when it contains 两十 (liǎng shí) which is incorrect?
# Why is 两十万 (liǎng shí wàn) okay when it contains 两十 (liǎng shí) which is incorrect?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-18)

The [accepted answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/767/8099) to [Number two in chinese: 二 vs 两](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/755/number-two-in-chinese-%E4%BA%8C-vs-%E4%B8%A4) writes:

> Numbers that are larger than 100, e.g. 两百, 两千三百六十二. 百, 千, and 万 can be seen as a sort of measure word.

Now, [十万](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%87) (shí wàn) means "hundred thousand" in Chinese. So the above sentence implies 两十万 (liǎng shí wàn) is correct and means "two hundred thousand".

On Baidu 二十万 gets 19.4 million hits, whereas 两十万 gets 6.2 million, so while it looks like 二十万 is more frequently used, it also indicates that 两十万 is indeed valid.

However, I'm curious about how 两十 is incorrect, yet 两十万 (which contains the incorrect 两十) is okay.

**Question**: Why is 两十万 okay when it contains 两十 which is incorrect?

I guess it's because 两十万 means "两 of 十万" rather than the incorrect "两十 of 万"; I don't really see why it's parsed this way though.

**Tags:** number

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: No, 两十万 is so grating to the ears.  
> **username_2**: It feels so wrong, it hurts. I think because it precedes the 十，it should be 二 and not 兩。  
> **username_3**: The sentence does not imply anything other than the listed words. Maybe only 亿 can be added to the list.  
> **username_4**: just try to compare pronunciations of equivalent Chinese characters, to find out how to 'save efforts', 'pronouncing it easily' in daily oral practice. Tune of characters is a factor for getting a favorite, of course for most people. Saying multiple adjacent 3rd tunes like 两百两十两两（202两), your pronunciation speed is decreased, whereas if you just want to say it easily, you can say 两个 other than 二个, saying it easily can save your efforts, especially in a long lecture, if you want to say it loudly, use 4th tune version instead; In writing we don't need consider such differences。  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-04-18. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> Numbers that are larger than 100, e.g. 两百, 两千三百六十二. 百, 千, and 万 can be seen as a sort of measure word.

So the measure word here is 万 rather than 十万.

二十万 is parsed as "twenty wan" rather than "two shiwan", and for "twenty", it's always 二十, not 两十.

两十 is just never correct, no matter what position it is in a numeral.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2018-04-18. Score: 3

「兩」didn't originally mean *two*. The character was first used for what is now written「輛」, the unit of measure for vehicles, being differentiated from「丙」and composed of two「丙」side-by-side:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/wvMDM.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/wvMDM.png)

The mark「一」was a decorative stroke added on top later to produce「兩」(note, a similar process occurred with the character「雨」).

The etymology of *liǎng* is ultimately not known, but very early on,「兩」was used as a phonetic loan for several meanings. The relevant ones to the modern language are:

* Comparing and contrasting, or describing, two objects/people/situations.
  + 《詩・齊風・還》： “並驅從兩肩兮， 揖我謂我儇兮。”
  + 《莊子・人間世》： “吾未至乎事之情， 而既有陰陽之患矣；事若不成， 必有人道之患。 是兩也， 為人臣者不足以任之， 子其有以語我來。”
* Unit of measurement of weight or objects.
  + 《詩・齊風・南山》： “葛屨五兩， 冠緌雙止。”
  + 《禮記・雜記下》： “納幣一束， 束五兩， 兩五尋。”

From traditional usage,「兩」(1) first of all refers to *one or several units of something*, then by extension (2) refers to a comparison or description of *several/some/a small number of* or *two* units/things. This is not the same usage as the abstract number「二」, and is why you **never** say abstract numbers with「兩」(e.g. when talking about telephone numbers, decimal numbers, etc.), and **never** use「兩」when counting objects which use「兩」as a measure word (e.g. for [taels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael)).

It is this differential usage which also precludes「兩十」from being a clear expression; 「十」is homophonous with too many other words, unlike「百」,「千」,「萬」.

To answer the question directly,

* 「兩十」also turns up Baidu hits; it is just as valid or invalid as「兩十萬」
* Some of the Baidu hits are actually using「兩」as「輛」
* The other ones may be regional colloquialisms; from a discussion [here](https://bbs.hupu.com/14491669.html):

> 我們老家還眞有，兩個，一十兩，兩十，兩百零兩，都是50歲以上的人，現在已經不怎麽能聽到這種數字了，方言被普通話漸漸消滅了。。。

---

Finally, note that

* In formal currency numerals, there is only the alternative character「貳」, and none corresponding for「兩」. This is related to「兩」being invalid for use as a number in traditional currency systems.
* It is exceedingly rare to use「兩」for the meaning *two* in the Sinoxenic languages (Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese), indicating that using it this way freely is a rather recent colloquial Chinese invention


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-18. Score: 1

I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say 兩十萬 is wrong. For what it’s worth, my family is from Taiwan and we’ve been out of Taiwan for a couple of decades, so, southern and not very modern colloquial Mandarin.

As per [this link](https://www.chiculture.net/0615/html/d12/0615d12.html) , and what may be missing in the old post you referenced, a minor point that bears revisiting is this: the placement of 二、兩 in a numeric value dictates which is used. In front of 十，it should always be 二, whether you’re saying 二十 or 二十萬.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-04-18. Score: 1

> On Baidu 二十万 gets 19.4 million hits, whereas 两十万 gets 6.2 million

judging from hits only is, well, not enough. e.g.

> 想買一兩十萬左右的車

it should interpret as 想買 (want to buy) 一兩 (a, 兩 is an identifier) 十萬左右 (about $100,000) 的車 (car).

this error would occur in simplifed chinese only, cause in traditional chinese, we use 輛 (u+8f1b) as identifier.

> 1兩十萬杵油煙墨

this one should be 1 (one) 兩 (unit of weight) of 十萬杵 (brand name) 油煙墨 (oil smoke ink?)

these two examples shown that 兩 can be identifier or noun. insisting 兩 as "two" only in "兩十萬" is, wrong.

so, one need to know the preceding and following text of "兩十萬", before making judgement.

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: AFAIK only Japanese merges 輛 and 兩 (両).  
> **username_7**: unfortunately, there're usage of "一兩車" in simplified chinese. in baidu: https://zhidao.baidu.com/search?lm=0&rn=10&pn=0&fr=search&ie=gbk&word=%D2%BB%C1%BD%B3%B5 ; or google: https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=-BbXWvbzDobd0ASM17TQDA&q=%22%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%A4%E8%BD%A6%22&oq=%22%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%A4%E8%BD%A6%22&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.1.3636.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.0GRWHvomZxo  

---

