二 / 两【èr / liǎng】

There are two words for "two", and they are not interchangeable. 两 counts things and goes before a measure word; 二 is the digit.

两 before a measure word

Anything being counted takes 两.

• × 二个人 → 两个人
• × 二本书 → 两本书

二 when the number is being read out

Counting aloud, reciting digits, giving a date, a room number, a bus route or an ordinal – all 二.

Inside larger numbers

In the tens and units it is always 二, even before a measure word: 十二个, 二十二个. In front of 百, 千 and 万 at the start of a number it is usually 两: 两百, 两千, 两万. 二百 is also heard in the north.

• × 十两个 → 十二个

Telling the time

两点 is two o'clock, but 二十分 is twenty minutes past, because 二十 is a number being read out.