【Learn Chinese】Math in Chinese: Multiplication and Division

Numbers are among the first Chinese words that you’ll learn, so it makes sense to learn how to do basic math in Mandarin. After all, percentages and decimals are all part of daily life—just ask anyone who shops regularly.
Read this guide for essential math terms in Chinese, advanced vocabulary and plenty of examples.
Today we cover multiplication and division.

Multiplication
乘法 chéng fǎ multiplication
乘以 chéng yǐ times/multiply by
乘积 chéng jī product

Take a look at these multiplication math problems:
5 乘以 11 等于 55 。 Wǔ chéng yǐ shí yī děng yú wǔ shí wǔ - 5 times 11 equals 55.
20 乘以 10 等于 200。 èr shí chéng yǐ shí děng yú liǎng bǎi - 20 times 10 equals 200.
6 乘以 8，乘积是 48。 liù chéng yǐ bā, chéng jī shì sì shí bā - Multiply 6 by 8, the product is 48.

You can shorten 乘以 to 乘 (chéng):
3 乘 4 等于 12 。 sān chéng sì děng yú shí èr - 3 times 4 equals 12.

Division
除法 chú fǎ division
除以 chú yǐ to divide by
商数 shāng shù quotient
余数 yú shù remainder

Here’s how you can use this division vocabulary:
30 除以 10 等于 3。sān shí chú yǐ shí děng yú sān - 30 divided by 10 equals 3.
77 除以 7 等于 11。 qī shí qī chú yǐ qī děng yú shí yī - 77 divided by 7 equals 11.
25 除以 6，商数是 4，余数是 1。 èr shí wǔ chú yǐ liù, shāng shù shì sì, yú shù shì yī - Divide 25 by 6, the quotient is 4 and the remainder is 1.