num.
A counting symbol for the number five, drawn as a cross between two tally bars. The fifth; by extension, a vivid shorthand for "many," "various," or "all around" in idioms.
五
Common Usage & Traps
- 五个苹果 — five apples
- 五个人 — five people
- 五块钱 — five yuan
- 五楼 — fifth floor (label, no 第)
- 五块五 — 5.50 yuan, not 5.05
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五苹果五个苹果English allows number plus noun with nothing between. Chinese never does. A measure word has to sit in that slot, and 个 is the everyday default.
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第五楼五楼第 marks rank in a counted list. Floors, rooms, bus lines and dates are labels, so they take the bare number. 第五楼 only reads as 'the fifth building'.
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我们五人一起去我们五个人一起去五人 is fine in headlines and written news, but in speech it sounds stiff and literary. Spoken Chinese adds 个.
Can you drop 个 and just say 五苹果?
No. A number can never touch a noun directly in Chinese. 五个苹果, never 五苹果.
English stacks number and noun with nothing in between: five apples. Chinese forces a measure word into that gap, so 五苹果 never works. 个 is the safe default for 苹果, 人, 同事, 包 and most everyday things. The measure word also rides along in short answers: 你有几个？— 五个. Skip it and you sound like someone reading a phrasebook out loud. “今天我买了五个苹果。” (Today I bought five apples.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Five apples | 五个苹果 | 五苹果 |
| Five coworkers | 五个同事 | 五同事 |
| Answering 你有几个？ | 五个 | 五 |
Why do people say 五楼 but 第五个?
第 turns a number into a rank. Labels like floors, buses and dates skip it.
第 puts a number in a ranking: the fifth apple, the fifth try, the fifth place. Floors, rooms, buses and dates are labels, not ranks, so 第 disappears. 我住五楼 answers 'which floor?', and 五月五号 answers 'which date?'. Bolting 第 onto those sounds like a robot translating English ordinals. Save 第 for when something is genuinely number five in a counted line-up.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Picking from a row | 第五个苹果 | 五个苹果 (that just means five apples) |
| Which floor you live on | 我住五楼 | 我住第五楼 |
| Today's date | 五月五号 | 五月第五号 |
| Bus you take | 五路公交车 | 第五路公交车 |
If a shopkeeper says 五块五, is that 5.05 or 5.50?
五块五 means 5.50 yuan. The last number is the small unit, 毛.
Price talk drops the middle word when both numbers are obvious. 五块五 is short for 五块五毛, so it lands on 5.50 yuan. When the small number sits under one 毛, you hear 零: 五块零五 is 5.05. The pattern scales upward without changing: 十五块五 means 15.50, 三块二 means 3.20. Good to nail before you split a delivery bill with a roommate.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| 5.50 yuan | 五块五 | 五块零五 |
| 5.05 yuan | 五块零五 | 五块五 |
| 15.50 yuan | 十五块五 | 十五块零五 |
Appears in Stories 6 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
This simple HSK 2 story introduces a warm family of six. Follow Little Bao and his British wife as they raise their two green-eyed children, each with their own personality.
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小包的女儿七岁，儿子 五 岁。
Follow a traveler's unexpected hospital stay in China, where counting days and costs becomes practical learning. Practice numbers, dates, food prices, and simple descriptions of a doctor and room.
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饺子七块 五 ，包子 五 块三。
Join a family on a sweltering Beijing Sunday as a boy learns a funny lesson about playing outside in the summer heat. Perfect for HSK 1 learners.
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请给我 五 块钱吧。
This playful poem helps you count and practice vocabulary about clothes, students, and pets. Enjoy the rhythm while learning new words.
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买了 五 只小猫，七百零五块钱。
Shopping for fruit is a common daily task in China. Practice saying prices, counting items, and using simple shopping phrases while buying five apples for three yuan.
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今天我买了 五 个苹果。
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这 五 个苹果都是中国苹果。
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.
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一二三四 五 ，今天星期五。
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工作两三年，休息四五天，读书一小时，吃饭 五 分钟。
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