Correct Answer: A
In Chinese, “二(èr)” and “两(liǎng)” both similarly mean “two”, but they are quite different in usage and should be used in different situations.
First of all, “二(èr)” is used in numbers such as “2, 20, 1.2, 2%, etc.”
Candy: Liú Yīng, bàngōngshì lǐ yǒu jǐgè rén?
Candy：刘 英， 办公室 里 有 几个 人？
Candy: Liu Ying, how many people are there in the office?
Liú Yīng: Ràng wǒ xiǎng yí xià. Yī, èr, sān, sì… sì gè rén.
刘 英： 让 我 想 一 下。一、二、三、 四……四 个 人。
Liu Ying: Let me see. One, two, three, four…. Four people.
Additionally, “二(èr)” can generally be used as an ordinal number referring to “second”, as in “第二(dì’èr) second”, “二月(èr’yuè) February”, “二年级(èr’niánjí) second grade”, “二级(èrjí) secondary”, and so on.
Yǒuyì dìyī, bǐsài dì’èr.
友谊 第一，比赛 第二。
Friendship must come first and competition second.
HSK èrjí kǎoshì zhēn jiǎndān!
HSK 二级 考试 真 简单！
The HSK 2 exam is so easy!
Now let’s move on to “两(liǎng)”. This term is usually used before a measure word, while “二(èr)” is not. For example, “两个人(liǎng’gè rén) two people”, “两本书(liǎngběn shū) two books”, “两个月(liǎnggè yuè) two months”, “两次(liǎngcì) twice”, etc.
Tom: Nà liǎnggè rén shì shéi?
Tom：那 两个 人 是 谁？
Tom: Who are those two people?
Jenny: Tāmen shì Zhào Xuě hé Chén Xīn.
Jenny：她们 是 赵 雪 和 陈 欣。
Jenny: They are Zhao Xue and Chen Xin.
Wǒ yǒu liǎngběn shū.
我 有 两 本 书。
I have two books.
In our test, “本(běn)” is a measure word, so we should use “两(liǎng)” before it. Also, “第二(dì’èr)” means “second”, so the correct answer is A.
<<Back to “Chinese Test: The Two Two’s of Chinese : ‘二(èr )’ and ‘两(liǎng)'”
HSK Test
General Chinese (Beginner Level)
General Chinese (Intermediate Level)