Already passed HSK1, but still not sure how to express prices in Chinese? No worries! Today we’ll show you the different Chinese currencies and teach you how to talk about them, so when you visit China you can haggle and understand prices like a local ;)

I’m sure you already know that the Chinese currency is renminbi (RMB). RMB is divided into three monetary units: 元 [yuán]，角 [jiǎo] and 分 [fēn]. However, in spoken Chinese, we replace these with 块 [kuài]，毛 [máo] and 分 [fēn], respectively. 

元/块 are the primary unit of currency, 角/毛 are one tenth of a unit, like a dime (i.e. 1 角=0.1元) and 分 are one hundredth, or cents (i.e. 1 分 = 0.01元, meaning 1 元 = 10 角).

So how should we read this price? It’s easy, simply go number by number, and then add its corresponding unit.

分 is in brackets because you can usually skip the monetary value of the last number. Another example:

Just like when we say “three dollars eighty”, we wouldn’t usually add the word “cents”.

Bear in mind that since we’re talking about amounts, we’ll always use 两 to say “2” in units. However, for cents we’ll always use 二. That’s why 0.02 is 二分. 

Lastly, for tenths, it will depend on whether we use 毛/角 or not, and also whether there’s a 2 in the units. If so, we won’t repeat 两, but just use it for the units instead, and for the tenths we’ll say 二. 

As a general rule, if a 2 in tenths is preceded by 毛, we’ll read it as 两 (unless there’s a 2 in the units), and if it is by itself, as 二. For example: