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Jan 31 '26
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u/Terry9925 马来语 Jan 31 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
You mean phone numbers right, js saying numbers is too vague.
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u/qianli_yibu Jan 31 '26
It's not only for phone numbers, it's generally used when reading out numbers. It's similar to how 0 can be read as "oh" or "zero" in English when reading out numbers, but they aren't always interchangeable and aren't used for standalone numbers.
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u/Terry9925 马来语 Jan 31 '26
Normally I say yī when reading out numbers (math) or with words like 个, 条, 张, etc. and yāo for phone numbers only
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u/Pidgeapodge 普通话 Jan 31 '26
The other commenter means when reading out strings of numbers. For example, an address is another situation where one might say yāo.
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u/qianli_yibu Jan 31 '26
Yes exactly. Again it's similar to how oh/zero are used for 0 in English in terms of context. I've never heard anyone use "oh" for 0 in math and probably wouldn't understand them if they did. Same goes for "yao" for 1 in math.
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u/Pidgeapodge 普通话 Feb 01 '26
I think it’s a little different, because the whole point of yāo is to make it clear you’re saying 1 as opposed to 7. In English, saying “oh” for 0 doesn’t make it clearer (or unclearer), it just makes it faster to say.
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u/qianli_yibu Feb 01 '26
When I said I wouldn't understand someone using "oh" for 0 in math, I meant it as I would not comprehend, not that I wouldn't hear them clearly. People just don't use "oh" or "yao" in math. So for example if someone said 1+ 0 as "one plus oh" I wouldn't understand what they meant. I'd probably think "oh" was an undefined variable "o" before I'd think "oh" was 0.
The reasons why "oh" and "yao" are used are different, but in terms of context where oh/yao can be used instead of zero/yi it's almost (if not completely) the same.
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u/kwpang Feb 01 '26
No, all numbers that do not denote quantity.
Like room numbers, unit numbers, phone numbers, organisation names (that are not counting numbers).
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u/Washfish Feb 01 '26
Numbers w/o values. Yao came into civilian life via the military where the numbers 0 1 7 9 are pronounced 洞幺拐勾 when it comes to 编号 and stuff like that. Basically strings of numbers. 幺 managed to stick in civilian lingo.
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u/Any_Print_8872 Jan 31 '26
Judging by your history - you speak German. In this case, I'd explain it like zwei vs. zwo. Also, depending if you're interested more in Continental China or Taiwan - in Taiwan yi1 is typically used, I don't think I've heard it very often in my 6 years living there. You can use either one and will be understood.
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u/Dedrockk Jan 31 '26
Also kinda like in American English, you can read that number as “six-oh-one” using “oh” in the place of “zero”.
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u/komnenos Jan 31 '26
Huh, random thought/question that I just had. When we say "oh" in American English it's because zero looks like the letter O. Is there a similar reason why Chinese say yao? Is there a character that looks like a vertical line with the pronunciation "yao?"
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u/_specialcharacter Beginner Jan 31 '26
That's not it, but I don't know what exactly the reason is. There is the character 幺 yāo which means "tiny/smallest."
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u/TeacherCookie Feb 01 '26
The reason for using 幺 in such a way is because it means the youngest or the smallest. Like 老幺 is the youngest sibling; 幺小 is tiny. And in some dialects, it literally means 1; like 么二三的 means insignificant or negligible.
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u/urbanacrybaby Native Jan 31 '26
Yao1 in Taiwan is used in the military. It's rare (archaic) but not unheard of in colloquial speech. I want to note that the concept of reading a number sequence differently exists in Hokkien too.
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u/vivianvixxxen Jan 31 '26
For us who don't speak German, can you explain? English explanation would be most clear, but Japanese would work as well.
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u/minasaet Feb 01 '26
Isn't Taipei 101 read as yao ling yao?
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u/oGsBumder 國語 Feb 03 '26
Absolutely never heard that, after living in Taiwan for years. It’s yī líng yī
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u/Jigle_Wigle Feb 04 '26
taiwan uses yi ling yi but there is a brand in singapore whose jingle is bei jing yao ling yao, singapore follows mainland chinese conventions so we have this
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u/didntlook-_- Jan 31 '26
When saying rooms , buildings and phone numbers Yao is used instead of yi but in other cases yi commonly used
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u/Ordinary-Ad-5814 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
Imagine pronouncing a phone number such as XXX-1771. Yāo makes it easy to distinguish, as yī can easily be confused when spoken
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u/ralmin Jan 31 '26
also when there are multiple numbers in a row, Chinese don’t have a convention like English of saying “double” or “triple”. If it was 111 we’d say “triple one”, but in Chinese that’d be “yi yi yi” and the y is silent or almost silent, so they all blend together and it’s hard to tell how many there are. Changing it to “yao yao yao” varies the vowel more and helps the listener to hear how many there are.
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u/kakahuhu Jan 31 '26
Standard way to say it in mainland China. In Taiwan, they would say yi. In the old days when Taiwan was more developed than China, people would say they knew it was a Mainland sex worker who showed up to a hotel because they'd say yao when saying the room number. I'm not sure why they would need to say the room number to someone working in the hotel. Probably a made up story to discriminate against mainlanders back then.
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u/BubbhaJebus Jan 31 '26
In Taiwan, they use "yao" in the military to distinguish "yi" from "qi" in poor-quality radio communications. Like in English military speak they use "tree", "fife", "niner", etc.
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u/Limp_Application5170 Jan 31 '26
When reporting numbers, 1 and 7 are easily misheard and confused. Therefore, "yao" and "guai" are used to replace 1 and 7, respectively. 2 is replaced with "liang," and 0 is replaced with "dong."
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u/Acymoy Jan 31 '26
As I understood it from my teacher:
Numbers/codes sometimes have western numbers and letters (like a passport code). Western letters are spoken in English by Chinese. So when a Chinese person pronounces the letter "E" it sounds a lot like "yi" 一。 Therefore, to avoid confusion "yao" is used.
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u/tablepixels Native 普通话+吴语 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
I only use yao when I'm saying phone numbers, for instance 110 120 119.This way of reading numbers exists simply because it is used to ensure clear pronunciation and prevent misunderstandings, such as when fighter pilots are communicating.
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u/smut_operator5 Jan 31 '26
It's mostly (like 98%) used for all kinds of serial numbers, except counting from 1 to... and in any money use
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u/OkDoggieTobie Jan 31 '26
I say yi. Yao sounds like a connecting speech which I don't use in Congress
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u/pendelhaven Jan 31 '26
yao came into mainstream use because yi (1) and qi (7) can be confused over phone calls.
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u/Naomi_w2852 Feb 01 '26
both are fine,but yāo is more conversational,like when we say room numbers we often use it,601. When we write down notes,like 1. xxxx 2.xxxx 3.xxxx ,we say yī. To be concluded，when 1 appears alone，it’s yī. When 1 appears with other numbers as combination，it’s yāo.
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u/yoopea Conversational Feb 01 '26
Like in English when we are reading phone numbers sometimes we say “o” like the letter instead of 0. It’s a way of reading numbers such as addresses or phone numbers that are in sequence.
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Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Of course it’s Yao! So when you say numbers, it doesn’t sound like seven… Qi. Try this one: 250…lol
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u/Decent-Stuff4691 Feb 02 '26
When saying numbers as in names, they're pretty interchangeable. When saying numbers in the numerical sense it's only yi
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u/Scandalic_1502 Feb 02 '26
OK, I'll try to explain, but I'm still study English and sorry for mistakes When you call the number, there you must put yao instead of yi
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u/Upstairs_Move5438 Feb 03 '26
you can use yi if you want. in the genuine speaking scenes,there no difference between them
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u/Jolly_Comedian_1839 Native Feb 03 '26
No difference honestly, especially when it comes to number. It means the same.
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u/wilsonna Feb 03 '26
If it's used in a mathematical context, read Yi and never Yao.
If it's used in an identity, like identity number, phone number, serial number, room number, then Yao is better so that it doesn't get misheard as Qi (7), although Yi is still acceptable.
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u/Critical-Rice-7328 Feb 04 '26
good question，I never thought of it,everyone read it this way and so do I
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u/Awesome_Hamster Jan 31 '26
Oh wow, I have not heard people pronounce 1 as yao since my time in the military. Where did you get this book?
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Jan 31 '26
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u/Awesome_Hamster Feb 01 '26
Oh I see. I live in Taiwan.
Should have guessed, the book is in simplified Chinese.
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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
It’s an example of daily life influenced by military.
To avoid misunderstanding in oral communication, Chinese military has different pronunciations for certain numbers so that they are easier to be distinguished. Sort of like NATO’s alpha for A, Bravo for B, etc.
1 幺 Yao. 2 两 Liang. 7 拐 Guai. 9 勾 Gou. 0 洞 Dong.
Among all these, only Yao as one is widely adopted in daily life. For instance, 911 emergency call in China is 110, and most people read it as Yao Yao Ling.
If you watch military related videos, some people read numbers like Sukhoi-27 jet as Su Er Qi, but military professionals almost always read it as Su Liang Guai.