万
ten thousand
wàn
What does 万 mean?
万 (wàn) is the Chinese number 'ten thousand' — and unlike English, it's a core counting unit, not a workaround. Chinese groups large numbers in 万 (10,000) and 亿 (100,000,000), not thousand/million/billion. This is the single biggest mental shift for English speakers: 100,000 is 十万 ('ten ten-thousands'), 1,000,000 is 一百万 ('one hundred ten-thousands'), and 10,000,000 is 一千万 ('one thousand ten-thousands').
Always pause and regroup digits in fours, not threes. 万 also functions figuratively to mean 'a huge number / all / absolutely' in fixed expressions: 千万别 ('absolutely don't,' literally 'thousand-ten-thousand don't'), 万一 ('just in case,' literally 'one in ten thousand'), 万岁 ('long live,' literally 'ten thousand years'). The character is also a common Chinese surname (Wàn).
Character breakdown
ten thousand; myriad
Memory hook: Picture a swarm too big to count — 万 means 'ten thousand' AND 'countless / myriad.'
Example sentences
这部手机要一万块。
Zhè bù shǒujī yào yí wàn kuài.
This phone costs ten thousand yuan.
neutral
他们公司有一千多人。
Tāmen gōngsī yǒu yì qiān duō rén.
Their company has over a thousand people.
neutral
我的工资一个月一万。
Wǒ de gōngzī yí ge yuè yí wàn.
My monthly salary is ten thousand.
spoken
万一下雨怎么办？
Wànyī xià yǔ zěnme bàn?
What if it rains?
spoken
Common phrases with 万
Don't confuse 万 with
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