按…（来）算
by … reckoning; counted by …
Structure
按 标准 （来） 算 ， 结果
What it means
'By … reckoning; counted by …': 按 gives the yardstick and 算 does the counting.
How it is built
按 + standard + (来) 算，result: 这次聚餐按人头算，每人一百五 (this dinner is split per head: 150 each). Common: 按小时算, 按公斤算, 按农历算, 按虚岁算.
When to use it
Everyday speech for prices, ages and dates; formal writing uses 按…计算 or 以…计. 按理说 ('by rights') is a separate set phrase.
Watch out
算 comes after the yardstick: ✗按算人头。 ✓按人头算。 With dates the yardstick changes the answer: a child born in early February can be a rabbit 按农历算 but a dragon by the solar year.
Examples
他是2024年2月初出生的，按农历算还没过年，所以属兔不属龙。
He was born in early February 2024; by the lunar calendar the New Year had not come yet, so he is a rabbit, not a dragon.
这次聚餐按人头算，每人一百五。
This dinner is split per head: 150 each.
Learn this in Lesson 214 · HSK 9+: 生肖与干支 (The zodiac and the sixty-year cycle)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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