二 [èr] numbers in general, ordinal numbers, phone numbers,... / en números en general, números ordinales, dar un número de teléfono,...
两 [liǎng] before measure words / antes de palabras de medida
十二
shí'èr 12
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二十二
èrshí'èr 22
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一百二十二
yìbǎi èrshí'èr 122
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两个人
liǎng gè rén two people
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两口人
liǎng kǒu rén two people (family members)
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两本书
liǎng běn shū two books
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More examples我有两只小猫。
Wǒ yǒu liǎng zhī xiǎo māo.
I have two small cats.
Tengo dos gatos pequeños.
她的儿子两岁了。
Tā de érzi liǎng suì le.
Her son is two years old.
Su hijo tiene dos años.
两个小时 [liǎng gè xiǎoshí] two hours / dos horas
两天 [liǎng tiān] two days / dos días
两个星期 [liǎng gè xīngqī] two weeks / dos semanas
两个月 [liǎng gè yuè] two months / dos meses
Aditional ideas / Ideas adicionales
The time is expressed with 两 [liǎng].
La hora se expresa con 两 [liǎng].
两点 [liǎng diǎn] 2 o’clock / las dos en punto
二 [èr] is used in ordinal numbers.
Se usa 二 [èr] para los números ordinales.
第二 [dì'èr] the second / segundo
二楼 [èr lóu] the second floor / segundo piso
In math, to indicate a numeral, a fraction, or a decimal，“二 ”is used instead of “两”.
En matemáticas, para indicar un número, una fracción o un decimal, se utiliza 二 [èr] en lugar de 两 [liǎng].
1/2(èr fēn zhī yī) 二分之一; 1/3(sān fēn zhī èr) 三分之二
0.2(líng diǎn èr) 零点二； 2.4(èr diǎn sì) 二点四
In the multi-digit numbers, use 二，not 两for tens place and ones place, as 22(二十二). Before the百(hundred)’s place, either 两 or 二 can be used, as in 200(二百/两百). When used before the “千”(qiān ,thousand)、“万”(wàn, ten thousand) or “亿”(yì, hundred million) places, “两” is much more frequently used.
E.g. 2000(两千); 22222(两万两千二百二十二); 200000000(两亿)4) Before “traditional” units for capacity or weight (尺(chǐ)/亩(mǔ)/升(shēng)…), both 两 and 二 can usually be used. For example: 二尺/两尺(èr chǐ /liǎng chǐ)； 二亩/两亩(èr mǔ /liǎng mǔ)； 二升/两升(èr shēng /liǎng shēng).
However, before the “new” units for capacity and weight, typically 两，is used. For instance: 两吨 and 两公里.Note that两 also means 1/20 of a kilogram, so to make this distinction clear, two “1/20 kilo” is represented as 二两 (èr liǎng )， not 两两 (liǎng liǎng).
When you want to approximate a number, you can use “两”and either “一”/“三” together in succession. For examples
一两天(yī liǎng tiān) One or two days.
这个词我们学了两三次了.
Zhège cí wǒ men xué le liǎng sān cì le.
We’ve studied this word two or three times.
Esta palabra ya la hemos estudiado dos o tres veces.
每个人要花两三百块钱。 Měi gè rén yào huā liǎng sān bǎi kuài qián.
Every one needs to spend two to three hundred RMB.
Cada persona tiene que gastar unos doscientos o trescientos yuanes.
“两”is also often employed on its own to indicate a generally small number of quantity, whereas “二” can not be used in this way. For example:
怎么就来了这么两个人?( zěn me jiù lái le zhè me liǎng gè rén ?)
How have so few people come?
“俩(liǎ)” means “两个”, and is more commonly used as a colloquial term in northern China. Some examples: 我们俩(我们两个, the two of us), 俩苹果(两个苹果, two apples).
Note that 贰 (also pronounced èr) is used to represent the number 2 on items like cheques to prevent forgery.
