When communicating in Chinese you may often make mistakes using Chinese grammar like:

False:

    那个大学有十三千人。

    Nà ɡè dàxué yǒu shísān qiān rén

True:

    那个大学有一万三千人。

    Nà ɡè dàxué yǒu yíwàn sānqiān rén

 

十三千是thirteen thousand的直译。汉语的数目是十进制的，个十百千万是五个基本的整数词。中间是十进位的相加关系。13000应当读作一万三千。

十三千 is the literal interpretation of thirteen thousand. In Chinese, the decimal system is used, and 个十百千万 are the five basic integrals.