<p>Tang Ho makes a clear explanation on the difference between 成/乘, but I would like to elaborate a bit more on the 2nd question. </p>

<p>Chinese people feel that odd numbers are “lucky numbers”, and tend to use them more when they assign numbers to certain cultural constructs. For example, Chinese emperors made their subjects build palaces with constant references to numbers like 5 and 9, and they were also referred to as 九五至尊. So this preference probably carried on to modern times.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-11T06:26:00.780Z
Is this the similar story of Kowloon (九龍) having 9 dragons?
udidosa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-11T06:26:51.277Z
@udidosa what story are you referring to?
Axel Tong
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-26T09:44:33.480Z
not a story, but maybe a fable, that the 九龍 or '9 dragons' represents the 9 hills of Hong Kong (one dragon passes through one hill). So I am wondering why they used '9 dragons' instead of say '8' or '6'. Are there really 9 hills or was it just because it's a lucky number?
udidosa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T09:19:21.163Z
2020-01-21T09:19:21.163Z
Axel Tong
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/746/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">成</a>: one tenth; 10 per cent</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1320/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">乘</a>: multiply; multiplication</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>一成熟：rare (10% cooked) 三成熟：medium rare (30% cooked) 五成熟：medium (50% cooked) 七成熟：medium well (70% cooked) 全熟：Well done (100% cooked</em>)</p>
<p>It is always &quot;(X)成&quot;  for &quot;(X)/10&quot;</p>
<p>一成 = 1/10</p>
<p>三成 = 3/10</p>
<p>五成 = 5/10</p>
<p>七成 = 7/10</p>
<p>十成 = 10/10</p>
<p>十二成 = 12/10 (overdrive)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T08:35:46.543Z
2020-01-21T08:35:46.543Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>I learned in Cantonese class that adding 成 to a Number can imply a degree of something. For example, 七成 means 70%.</p>

<p>I explored further and it seems that it can be used to describe the rarity of your steak. Such that:</p>

<p>一成熟：rare (10% cooked)
三乘熟：medium rare (30% cooked)
五乘熟：medium (50% cooked)
七乘熟：medium well (70% cooked)
全熟：Well done (100% cooked)</p>

<p>I had 2 questions here:</p>

<ol>
<li>When to use 成 VS 乘 ?</li>
<li>Why is this particular set of numbers (10%, 30%, 50%) chosen? 
I have seen something similar when choosing amount of sugar in bubble tea (i.e. 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 100%). Why not choose 25%, 50%, 75% instead?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-19T03:47:00.530Z
I changed the tag [quantifiers] to [measure-word]; I feel these concepts are too similar to have meaningful separate tags.  (See also the [meta post](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1630/whats-the-difference-between-classifiers-and-measure-word).)
Becky 李蓓
<cantonese><measure-word>
Use of 成 / 乘 number quantifiers in Cantonese
# Use of 成 / 乘 number quantifiers in Cantonese

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-21)

I learned in Cantonese class that adding 成 to a Number can imply a degree of something. For example, 七成 means 70%.

I explored further and it seems that it can be used to describe the rarity of your steak. Such that:

一成熟：rare (10% cooked)
三乘熟：medium rare (30% cooked)
五乘熟：medium (50% cooked)
七乘熟：medium well (70% cooked)
全熟：Well done (100% cooked)

I had 2 questions here:

1. When to use 成 VS 乘 ?
2. Why is this particular set of numbers (10%, 30%, 50%) chosen?
   I have seen something similar when choosing amount of sugar in bubble tea (i.e. 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 100%). Why not choose 25%, 50%, 75% instead?

**Tags:** cantonese, measure-word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I changed the tag [quantifiers] to [measure-word]; I feel these concepts are too similar to have meaningful separate tags.  (See also the [meta post](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1630/whats-the-difference-between-classifiers-and-measure-word).)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-01-21. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

> [成](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/746/): one tenth; 10 per cent
>
> [乘](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1320/): multiply; multiplication

*一成熟：rare (10% cooked) 三成熟：medium rare (30% cooked) 五成熟：medium (50% cooked) 七成熟：medium well (70% cooked) 全熟：Well done (100% cooked*)

It is always "(X)成" for "(X)/10"

一成 = 1/10

三成 = 3/10

五成 = 5/10

七成 = 7/10

十成 = 10/10

十二成 = 12/10 (overdrive)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-01-21. Score: 4

username_3 Ho makes a clear explanation on the difference between 成/乘, but I would like to elaborate a bit more on the 2nd question.

Chinese people feel that odd numbers are “lucky numbers”, and tend to use them more when they assign numbers to certain cultural constructs. For example, Chinese emperors made their subjects build palaces with constant references to numbers like 5 and 9, and they were also referred to as 九五至尊. So this preference probably carried on to modern times.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Is this the similar story of Kowloon (九龍) having 9 dragons?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 what story are you referring to?  
> **username_0**: not a story, but maybe a fable, that the 九龍 or '9 dragons' represents the 9 hills of Hong Kong (one dragon passes through one hill). So I am wondering why they used '9 dragons' instead of say '8' or '6'. Are there really 9 hills or was it just because it's a lucky number?  

---

