八

八 (bā) is the Chinese number eight. It's a cardinal numeral used like any other: count items (八个人 'eight people'), tell time (八点 'eight o'clock'), or give dates and prices. Two things English speakers should know: first, 八 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture because bā rhymes with 发 (fā) in 发财 ('get rich'), so license plates, phone numbers, and apartment floors containing 八 sell at a premium and weddings are often scheduled on the 8th; second, in counting sequences 八 stays a first tone, but learners often confuse it with 吧 (ba, a sentence-final particle) or 把 (bǎ, a grammatical marker) — the tone is what keeps them apart. The 2008 Beijing Olympics famously opened at 8:08 pm on 8/8/08 for this reason.

Memory hook: Two strokes that split apart — like dividing a group in two, you get eight (8 = two fours).