HSK 2 · Numbers

两 liǎng “two (of)” in Chinese

Traditional 兩

What 两 means

  1. two (of)
  2. two
  3. both
  4. some
  5. a few
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)

How to say 两

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale两liǎng3rd tone, dipping

两 in a sentence

  1. 他想在中国工作两年。

    Tā xiǎng zài Zhōngguó gōngzuò liǎng nián.

    He wants to work in China for two years.

    Sentence #3378249 from Tatoeba

  2. 我已经喝了两杯咖啡。

    Wǒ yǐjīng hē le liǎng bēi kāfēi.

    I’ve already had two cups of coffee.

    Sentence #8905143 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他的哥哥比我大两岁。

    Tā de gēge bǐ wǒ dà liǎng suì.

    His older brother is two years older than me.

    Sentence #343614 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 两 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 两 (liǎng) with each of its parts in a different colour
两liǎngtwo
  • 一one · yī
  • 冂down box · jiōng
  • 从from · cóng

How to write 两

两 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

两 (liǎng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 两 (liǎng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 两

Words with 两

一举两得yìjǔliǎngdé · to kill two birds with one stone

More words: Numbers & Money

一yī · one二èr · two三sān · three第一dìyī · first件jiàn · measure word for clothes零líng · zero千qiān · thousand次cì · times

FAQs

两 (liǎng) means “two (of)” or “two”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it liǎng: liǎng with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 两 is written 兩. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type liang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 两 from the suggestions. Typing liang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
两 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.