Number 7, 8, and 9 in Chinese

The Chinese numbers 七[qī], 八[bā], and 九[jiǔ] in sequence means “7, 8, and 9.”

Among the numbers from 1 to 9, the number 九[jiǔ] indicates the most, the best, the limitless in the universe.

Furthermore, 999 is regarded as a magic number with strong power and energy to conquer the whole world.

Why someone buys his girlfriend for 99 or 999 roses? Because 九[jiǔ] has the same pronunciation to this word 久[jiǔ], and 久[jiǔ] means “long time”too. The number 99 or 999 indicates the love would be forever.

Now I create a sentence based on the exciting setting in which good friends meet, drink, and chat for a long time. It is helpful to learn vocabulary and Chinese writing skills.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
一	二	三	四	五	六	七	八	九	十
yī	èr	sān	sì	wǔ	liù	qī	bā	jiǔ	shí

七八九[qī bā jiǔ]， 见好友[jiàn hǎo yǒu]， 喝个酒[hē gè jiǔ]， 聊个天长地久[liáo gè tiān cháng dì jiǔ]。 Seven, eight, nine, meet good friends, have a drink, and chat for a long time.

见[jiàn] /to meet; to see          好友[hǎo yǒu] /good friend 喝[hē] /to drink           酒[jiǔ] /wine 喝个酒[hē gè jiǔ] /to drink wine;    个[gè] used as a particle 聊[liáo] /to chat 天长地久[tiān cháng dì jiǔ] / for a long time 聊个天长地久[liáo gè tiān cháng dì jiǔ]    / 个[gè] here used as a particle

The Chinese sentence above has three features as follows:

1. The pronunciations of 九[jiǔ], 酒[jiǔ], 久[jiǔ] have the same sound, and 友[yǒu] has a similar Final as the previous three words.
2. 喝个酒[hē gè jiǔ] and 聊个天长地久[liáo gè tiān cháng dì jiǔ], I use the word “个[gè] as a particle in these two short simple sentences. The particle 个[gè] can make the sentences much more smoothly, easily, peaceful, and friendly.
3. 天长地久[tiān cháng dì jiǔ] is a 4-word idiom that means “for a long time.” Time is so long as the sky and earth last forever. The writing skills of “Hyperbole” and “Metaphor” are used here.

Note: From the translated English, we will find that English can’t show the Chinese writing features here.  My suggestion is to speak out the sentence aloud.

再见啰 [zài jiàn luo]！