Chinese Discount Numbers: Why 打八折 Means 20% Off
打八折 (dǎ bāzhé) means 20% off, not 80% off. The eight is not the discount. It is the share of the original price you still pay: eight tenths, 80%. Chinese states discounts as the pay rate, English states the cut, and the two systems are exact inverses. The predictable result is that learners hear a bigger number and assume a bigger discount, when it means a smaller one.
This guide covers how the 打折 (dǎzhé) system works, the full conversion table from 九折 (jiǔzhé) down to 五折 (wǔzhé), the percentage and fraction structures that flip English order the same way, and a short self-test.
Countfu is Chinese numbers listening practice: hear a number in Mandarin, type the digits. Coming soon.
The 折 system: you hear what you pay
One 折 (zhé) is one tenth of the original price. 打 (dǎ) is the verb that applies it. So 打八折 says: multiply the price by 0.8. You pay 80%, the shop knocks off 20%.
Finer discounts get two digits, read one by one. 打七五折 (dǎ qīwǔ zhé) is 7.5 tenths: you pay 75%, which is 25% off. 打八五折 (dǎ bāwǔ zhé) is pay 85%, 15% off.
The rule that needs to be burned in: the smaller the 折 number, the deeper the discount. 打九折 (dǎ jiǔzhé) is barely a deal, only 10% off. 打五折 (dǎ wǔzhé) is half price. English ears want it the other way around, and that instinct is exactly what mistranscribes the sale.
Chinese discount conversion table: 九折 to 五折
Every row below follows one formula: discount = 100% minus (the 折 number times 10%).
| You hear | You pay | English discount |
|---|---|---|
| 九折 (jiǔzhé) | 90% | 10% off |
| 八五折 (bāwǔ zhé) | 85% | 15% off |
| 八折 (bāzhé) | 80% | 20% off |
| 七五折 (qīwǔ zhé) | 75% | 25% off |
| 七折 (qīzhé) | 70% | 30% off |
| 六折 (liùzhé) | 60% | 40% off |
| 五折 (wǔzhé) | 50% | 50% off (half price) |
The middle of the table is where mistakes cluster. 八五折 and 八折 differ by one syllable and by five percentage points. At native speed, the two-digit forms also collide with prices: 七五 in a discount is 7.5 tenths, while the same digits in a price context are something else entirely.
Percentages and fractions reverse English order too
The 折 inversion is not an isolated quirk. Two related structures flip the order English ears expect:
- Percentages: 百分之三十 (bǎifēnzhī sānshí) = 30%. The literal structure is "of a hundred parts, thirty", so the number you need arrives last. By the time you hear 三十, the frame 百分之 is already gone.
- Fractions: denominator first. 三分之一 (sānfēnzhī yī) = 1/3, literally "of three parts, one". English says the 1 first; Chinese says it last.
So a sale announcement can stack all three: a 折 rate that inverts the discount, a percentage with the number at the end, and a fraction read back to front. None of them is hard on paper. All of them are hard in half a second of audio.
Where the 折 numbers come at you
Discount language is some of the most common number language in daily life:
- Shop windows. Signs print the short form: 八折, 五折, often with nothing else on the poster. Reading them is easy. The spoken version at the counter is where the inversion has to run live.
- Taobao and 11.11-style sales. Online platforms layer 折 rates across products, and livestream hosts call them out fast, one after another. 双十一 (shuāng shíyī), the November 11 shopping festival, is a wall of two-digit 折 forms.
- Checkout conversations. A cashier mentioning a member discount, a waiter noting the lunch rate, a market vendor offering 打个八折 to close a sale. These arrive unannounced, mid-sentence, at full speed.
The two-step listening skill
Catching a Chinese discount by ear is really two skills chained together:
- Catch the digits. Hear 七五折 and resolve it as 7-5, not 75, not a price.
- Run the inversion. Pay 75%, so 25% off. Subtract from 100 while the conversation keeps moving.
Each step is trivial alone. Together, under time pressure, they fall apart, because the inversion is mental arithmetic and the next sentence does not wait for it. That is why this category needs dedicated practice at speed: enough listening reps that 八折 lands directly as "20% off" with no subtraction step left to do consciously.
Test yourself cold. Answers follow each item:
- 打六折 (dǎ liùzhé) = pay 60%, 40% off
- 打九五折 (dǎ jiǔwǔ zhé) = pay 95%, 5% off
- 打七折 (dǎ qīzhé) = pay 70%, 30% off
- 百分之二十五 (bǎifēnzhī èrshíwǔ) = 25%
- 四分之一 (sìfēnzhī yī) = 1/4
If 打九五折 felt like a good deal for a beat before the math caught up, that is the gap to train. The fix is volume: hear discount and percentage forms at native speed, type the digits, get scored, review the misses.
Know the real price before you reach the register
Countfu plays real Mandarin numbers, discounts included, and you type the digits. Coming soon.
Follow @countfu on TikTokRelated reading
- Chinese Prices by Ear: Kuài, Máo, and Real Shop Talk: the money ladder the discount gets applied to.
- Chinese Big Numbers: How 万 and 亿 Regroup Everything You Know: the ten-thousand grouping behind sale totals and turnover figures.
- Why 三百五 Means 350 in Chinese, Not 305: the trailing unit rule that shapes the prices themselves.
Frequently asked questions
What does 打八折 mean in Chinese?
打八折 (dǎ bāzhé) means 20% off. The 折 system states the share of the original price you pay, in tenths. Eight 折 means you pay eight tenths, which is 80% of the price, so the discount is the remaining 20%.
How do you say 50% off in Chinese?
50% off is 打五折 (dǎ wǔzhé): you pay five tenths, half the original price. The smaller the 折 number, the deeper the discount, which is the exact opposite of how English percent-off numbers feel.
What does 打七五折 mean?
打七五折 (dǎ qīwǔ zhé) means you pay 75% of the price, so it is 25% off. The two digits are read one by one (seven, five) and together name the pay rate as 7.5 tenths.
How do you say percentages in Chinese?
With 百分之 plus the number: 百分之三十 (bǎifēnzhī sānshí) is 30 percent. The order reverses English: the literal structure is "of a hundred parts, thirty", so the number arrives last. Fractions do the same with the denominator first: 三分之一 (sānfēnzhī yī) is one third.
Why do learners mishear Chinese discounts?
Because the 折 system is the inverse of English. A bigger 折 number means a smaller discount, so learners hear 打九折 (pay 90%, only 10% off) and feel like they are getting a big deal. Catching the digits and running the inversion both have to happen at speech speed, which takes dedicated listening practice.