num.
Two strokes parting to denote the number eight. Eight; also a lucky homophone for wealth and prosperity (发). A pair of diverging lines like an opening fan marking the number 8.
八
Common Usage & Traps
- 八点 — eight o'clock
- 八月 — August (the eighth month)
- 八个人 — eight people
- 八号 — the 8th (of the month), or number 8
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八点八分八点零八分A single-digit minute needs a 零 in front. Say 8:08 as 八点零八分, like English 'eight oh eight' — not 八点八分.
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八十 (meaning 18)十八For teens, 十 comes first: 18 is 十八. Put 八 first and you get 八十, which is 80 — the exact opposite number.
Why does everyone chase phone numbers and plates full of 888?
八 is the luckiest digit because it sounds like 发, meaning to get rich.
Chinese speakers treat 八 as money-adjacent purely because it sounds like 发 (to prosper). That single sound-alike explains why phone numbers, license plates, and shop names chase 888. It also explains why a wedding date like 8/8 gets booked out months early. The flip side is 四, which sounds like death, so people dodge it the same way. It is a sound pun, not a hidden meaning baked into the character.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Why it is lucky | sounds like 发 (to prosper) | thinking 八 literally means 'money' |
| Where you notice it | 888 in numbers, prices, plates | treating 八 as a plain neutral digit |
Is 18 十八 and 80 八十 — why does the order flip on me?
十八 is 18 and 八十 is 80 — teens put 十 first, tens put 八 first.
Chinese sticks the ten in front only for the teens, so 18 is 十八. For the decades it does the reverse, so 80 is 八十. English hides this behind the -teen and -ty suffixes, which is why the swap feels invisible at first. Say them slowly and the two halves trade places: shí-bā versus bā-shí. Get the order wrong and you name a completely different number, not a slightly odd one. “六七八九十， 昨天星期四； 十四是十四， 四十是四十。” (Six, seven, eight, nine, ten — yesterday was Thursday. Fourteen is fourteen, and forty is forty.) ── [《一二三（2）》](/read/counting-days-rhymes#s2)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 十八 (shí bā) | 八十 (bā shí) |
| 80 | 八十 (bā shí) | 十八 (shí bā) |
Can I say 八点八分 to mean 8:08?
8:08 is 八点零八分 — the lone minute needs a 零, or it sounds wrong.
In time-telling, a single-digit minute needs a 零 in front, so 8:08 is 八点零八分. Skip the 零 and 八点八分 sounds like you fumbled the number. You only drop it once the minutes hit two digits, like 八点十分 for 8:10. The 零 fills the empty tens slot, exactly like the 'oh' in English 'eight oh eight'.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| 8:08 | 八点零八分 | 八点八分 |
| 8:10 | 八点十分 | 八点十 |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
This playful poem turns numbers into a rhythm of daily life. As you read, practice counting, days of the week, and common time words in a fun, memorable way.
- Scene #1
六七 八 九十，昨天星期四；十四是十四，四十是四十。
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