Arabic Numbers – learn how to count in Arabic by studying the rules of gender and plurality in Arabic numerals, both Cardinal and Ordinal.
Click here if you’re not interested in the grammar behind actually counting in Arabic and are just looking for some useful number vocab.
Table of Contents
How we will approach Arabic Numbers
Consider the following grouping of Arabic numbers and try to become accustomed to this categorization. Notice that there is a lot of division based on putting 1 & 2 into one category, and 3 to 9 in another.
Group | Numbers |
A | 1, 2 |
B | 3..10 |
C | 11, 12 |
D | 13..19 |
E | 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 |
F | 21, 22, 31, 32, 41, 42, 51, 52, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81, 82, 91, 92 |
G | 23..29, 33..39, 43..49, 53..59, 63..69, 73..79, 83..89, 93..99 |
H | 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 |
I | 1000 onwards |
For each of these groups, we want to consider the following:
- How do you construct the number – ordinal and cardinal?
- What is the grammatical gender of the number?
- What is the grammatical case of the number?
- What is the grammatical case of the counted word (by counted word we mean, for example, ‘men’ in the phrase ’22 men’)?
- Is the counted word going to be singular or plural?
Constructing the Arabic Numbers
Below are tables describing how we construct the different Arabic numbers mentioned. Both cardinals (one, two, three) are included, as well as ordinals (first, second, third).
Note that we can make any of the ones place numbers (as well as the word عشر) feminine simply by adding the تاء of femininity (suffix ة). The only exception is that احد has feminine form اِحْدى. Therefore, only the masculine forms have been shown.
The charts below are quite dense. First, make sure to flip your phone on the side, if you’re viewing on a phone 🙂 Next, to ease the learning process, familiarize yourself with this chart below which aims to introduce the core vocabulary of Arabic numbers. Most other numbers are simply manipulations of these words.
2 | 1 | A | |
Use dual | Use singular | Cardinal | |
ثاني | واحِد | Ordinal |
10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | B |
عَشَْر | تِسْع | ثَماني | سَبْع | سِتّ | خَمْس | أَرْبَع | ثَلاث | Cardinal |
عاشِر | تاسِع | ثامِن | سابِع | سادِس | خامِس | رابِع | ثالِث | Ordinal |
19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | C, D |
تِسْعَ
عَشَرَ | ثَمانِي
عَشَرَ | سَبْعَ
عَشَرَ | سِتَّ
عَشَرَ | خَمْسَ
عَشَرَ | أَرْبَعَ
عَشَرَ | ثَلاثَ
عَشَرَ | اِثْنا
عَشَرَ | اَحَدَ
عَشَرَ | Cardinal |
تاسِع
عَشَرَ | ثامِن
عَشَرَ | سابِع
عَشَرَ | سادِس
عَشَرَ | خامِس
عَشَرَ | رابِع
عَشَرَ | ثالِث
عَشَرَ | ثاني
عَشَرَ | حادي
عَشَرَ | Ordinal |
90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 | 30 | 20 | E |
تِسْعونَ | ثَمانونَ | سَبْعونَ | سِتّونَ | خَمْسونَ | أَرْبَعونَ | ثَلاثونَ | عِشْرونَ | Cardinal |
Ordinal |
… | 23 | 22 | 21 | F, G |
… | ثلاث
وعِشْرونَ | إثنْان
وعِشْرونَ | واحِد
وعِشْرونَ | Cardinal |
… | ثالِث
وعِشْرونَ | ثاني
وعِشْرونَ | حادي
وعِشْرونَ | Ordinal |
900 | 800 | 700 | 600 | 500 | 400 | 300 | 200 | 100 | H |
تِسْعمِائة | ثَمانيمِائة | سَبْعمِائة | سِتّمِائة | خَمْسمِائة | اَرْبَعمِائة | ثَلاثمـِائة | مِائَتانِ | مِائة | Cardinal |
تاسِع
مِائة | ثامِن
مِائة | سابِع
مِائة | سادِس
مِائة | خامِس
مِائة | رابِع
مِائة | ثالِث
مِائة | Ordinal |
100,000 | … | 3,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | I |
مِائة
آلاف | … | ثَلاث
آلاف | اَلْفانِ | اَلْف | Cardinal |
… | ثالِث
آلاف | Ordinal |
Examples
a
floor | طابق | 1st floor | الطابق
الواحد |
2
floors | طابقان | 2nd
floor | الطابق
الثاني |
5
tests | خمسة
امتحانات | 5th
test | الامتحان
الخامس |
11
pictures | احدى
عشرة صورة | 11th
picture | الصورة
الحادية
عشرة |
18
arrows | ثمانية
عشر سهما | 18th
arrow | السهم
الثامن عشر |
60
buckets | ستّون
دلوا | 60th
bucket | الدلو
الستون |
31
cities | واحدة
وثلاثون
مدينة | 31st
city | المدينة
الحادية
والثلاثون |
29
regions | تسع
وعشرون
منطقة | 29th
region | المنطقة
التاسعة
والعشرون |
300
soldiers | ثلاثمائة
عسكريّ | 300th
soldier | العسكري
الثالث مائة |
413
thieves | اربعمائة
وثلاثة عشر
لصا | 413th
thief | اللص
الرابع مائة
والثالث عشر |
year
1985 | سنة
الف
وتسعمائة
وخمس وثمانين | 1,985th
year | السنة
الالف والتاسعة
مائة والخامسة
والثمانون |
Grammatical Gender of the Arabic Numbers
The table below explains what the gender of a cardinal number will be given the word being counted. The ordinals have not been included because, in most cases, they act as adjectives for the counted word. So they will match in gender. For example, الرجل الثالث and المرأة الثالثة.
To facilitate the understanding of these rules, let’s consider a rule of thumb:
Consider the gender of the singular form of the word being counted. When the ones place is 1 or 2 (such as in the number 11 or 21), the ones place will match that singular in gender e.g. احد عشر بلدا. And when the ones place is a number between 3 and 9, it will mismatch e.g. أربعة عشر سبيلا.
Group | Numbers | Gender of Cardinals | Example |
A | 1, 2 | There is no number, the counted
word is used either as singular or dual as needed | رئيس،
رئيسان |
B | 3..10 | Ones place: gender opposite
of the counted word | (sing. امتحان) ثلاثة
امتحانات |
C | 11, 12 | Ones place: gender same as
the counted word Tens place: gender same as
the counted word | احد
عشر بلدا |
D | 13..19 | Ones place: gender opposite
of the counted word Tens place: gender same as
the counted word | أربعة
عشر سبيلا |
E | 20, 30, 40, 50, … | Tens place: always
masculine | خمسون
صحيفا |
F | 21, 22, 31, 32, … | Ones place: gender same as
the counted word Tens place: always
masculine | اثنان
وستون
مرابطا |
G | 23..29, 33..39, … | Ones place: gender opposite
of the counted word Tens place: always
masculine | سبعة
وسبعون ركنا |
H | 100, 200, 300, … | Hundreds place: always
masculine since the word مائة is
feminine | ثمانيمائة
وخمسة
وعشرون بيتا |
I | 1000, 2000, … | Thousands place: always
feminine since the word الف is
masculine | تسعة
آلاف جلاّد |
Exercise: translate the following phrases into Arabic. The translations of the counted words have been provided. Where you see two words, you must use the underlined plural; the singular is there to help you figure out the gender.
a. a dog (كلب، كلاب)
b. 7 kittens (هريرة، هريرات)
c. 10 masc. students (طالب، طلاب)
d. 11 mice (فأرة)
e. 12 masc. classmates (زميل)
f. 14 windows (شباك)
g. 18 caravans (قافلة)
h. 32 dates (تمرة)
i. 51 journalists (صحافيون)
j. 96 frogs (ضفدع)
k. 99 nicknames (كنية)
l. 307 stars (نجم، نجوم)
m. 411 telephones (هاتف)
n. 789 beds (سريرة)
o. 1,718 apples (تفّاح)
p. 36,036 peaches (درّاق)
Grammatical Case of the Numbers & the Counted Words
The table below summarizes what grammatical case both the number and the counted word take.
Group | Numbers | Case of Number | Case of Word | Example |
A | 1, 2 | There is no number | Determined by its position
in the sentence | رأيت
رجليـن |
B | 3..10 | Determined by its position
in the sentence | The number and word form اضافة, so it
will be genitive | لعب
في ثلاثةِ
ميادينَ |
C | 11, 12 | Both parts are
indeclinable; final letters take the فتحة vowel in
all cases | The number and word form تميز, so it
will be accusative | ثلاثَ
عشرةَ عيناً |
D | 13..19 | |||
E | 20, 30, 40, 50, … | Determined by its position
in the sentence | خذ
ثلاثاً
وأربعيـن داراً | |
F | 21, 22, 31, 32, … | |||
G | 23..29, 33..39, … | |||
H | 100, 200, 300, … | The number’s case is determined
by its position | The number and word form اضافة, so it
will be genitive | أوقظ
ثلاثُمائةِ
الفِ نائمٍ |
I | 1000, 2000, … |
It is important to note that, when you have a complicated number like 1234, those numbers that form اضافة or تميز will do so with the words that follow them, whether those words are the thing being counted or other numbers.
For example, in “أوقظ ثلاثُمائةِ الفِ نائمٍ”, مائة forms اضافة with الف.
Exercise: correctly inflect the underlined words in the following sentences:
a. فانفجرت منه اثنتا عشرة عين
b. أنزل الله مائة الف وأربعة وعشرون الف نبي
Plurality of the Counted Words
The final task is to understand whether the word following the number will be singular or plural. Refer to our dedicated tutorial at Learn Arabic Online on Arabic plurals if you need further help. This is a relatively simple topic summarized in the table below.
Group | Numbers | Plurality of Word | Example |
A | 1, 2 | single or dual | ثعلب،
ثعلبان |
B | 3..10 | plural | خمسة
ثعالبَ |
C | 11, 12 | single | احدَ
عشرَ ثعلباً |
D | 13..19 | خمسةَ
عشرَ ثعلباً | |
E | 20, 30, 40, 50, … | خمسون
ثعلباً | |
F | 21, 22, 31, 32, … | واحد
وخمسون
ثعلباً | |
G | 23..29, 33..39, … | خمسة
وخمسون
ثعلباً | |
H | 100, 200, 300, … | خمسمائةِ
ثعلبٍ | |
I | 1000, 2000, … | خمسة
آلافِ ثعلبٍ |
Exercise: correct the following phrases in terms of gender and grammatical case, as necessary:
a.
أحدَ
عشرةِ فنادقَ
b.
اثنتا
عشرةَ درهماً
c.
تسعةَ
عشرةِ كتابٍ
d.
خمسو
قضاةٍ
e.
ثلاثةُ
مائةٍ وإحدى
وتسعين طاولاتٍ
Extend your Knowledge
Numerals
The numerals associated with the Arabic numbers are summarized in the following chart:
Number | Numeral | |
صفر | ٠ | 0 |
واحد | ١ | 1 |
اثنان | ٢ | 2 |
ثلاثة | ٣ | 3 |
أربعة | ٤ | 4 |
خمسة | ٥ | 5 |
ستة | ٦ | 6 |
سبعة | ٧ | 7 |
ثمانية | ٨ | 8 |
تسعة | ٩ | 9 |
Fractions
In Arabic, we use the word نصف to indicate one half. In order to indicate fractions with a numerator of 1 but denominators larger than 2, we place the cardinal numbers on the فُعُل pattern. The table below makes this clearer.
… | 1/5 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 1/2 |
… | خُمُس | رُبُع | ثُلُث | نِصْف |
In order to change the numerator, we use the rules of Arabic numbers we’ve just learned, using the denominator as the counted word. In essence, what we are saying is ‘three one-quarters,’ for example. Below are a few examples.
3/4 | 3/3 | 3/2 | 2/4 | 2/3 | 2/2 |
ثَلاثة
أَرْباعٍ | ثَلاثة
أَثْلاثٍ | ثَلاثة
أنْصافٍ | رُبُعانِ | ثُلُثانِ | نِصْفانِ |
Useful Number Vocab
In the rest of this tutorial, we’ll list some useful number vocab. These are Arabic words and Arabic expressions that relate in some way to the Arabic numbers from one until ten and also zero.
One
Arabic | English |
آل
/ يؤول | to return; regress |
أَوَّل | first; foremost (superlative: what you arrive
at after doing the most returning) |
أولاً | firstly, at the outset |
مِن
أوائل … | since the beginning /
inception of … |
في
أَوائل … | at the beginning of… (some timeframe) |
في
أوائل الشهر | during the first ten days of
a month |
أمسِ
الأول | day before yesterday |
الأول
فالأول | first come first serve |
واحد | one |
وُحْدانا | individually |
وحدانية | singularity, oneness |
وحيد | alone; lonely |
توحيد | declaring the oneness of God;
consolidation; standardization |
اتّحاد | unity |
متّحدة | united (as in U.N., U.S.A,
U.A.E, etc) |
يوم
الأحد | Sunday |
Two
Arabic | English |
ثنى
/ يثني | to bend; among other meanings |
اثنان | two (when one thing bends
towards another to the point where they become paired) |
ثانٍ | second |
ثانية
ج. ثوانٍ | second (as in time) |
ثَنَوِية | dualism |
مَثْنى | by twos; two at a time |
ثُنائي | dual; binary |
ثُنائية | duo (usually musical) |
ثانوي | secondary (as in secondary
school) |
مثنّى | dual |
يوم
الإثنين | Monday |
Three
Arabic | English |
ثلاث | three |
ثالث | third |
ثُلُث | one third |
ثُلاث،
مَثْلَث | by threes; three at a time |
ثُلاثي | tertiary |
ثَلاثي | trinary |
ثالوث | Trinity |
مُثلَّث | triangle |
تثليثي | trigonometric |
يوم
الثُلاثاء | Tuesday |
Four
Arabic | English |
أربَع | four |
رابع | fourth |
رُبع | quarter |
رَبيع | spring |
تربُّع | sitting cross-legged |
رُباع | by fours; four at a time |
رُباعي | (as an adjective) |
تربيعي | quadratic |
مربَّع | square (rectangle = مستطيل);
quadrilateral |
مربَّعة | quadrant |
يوم
الأَرْبِعاء | Wednesday |
Five
Arabic | English |
خمس | five |
خامس | fifth |
خُمُس | one fifth |
خُماسي | (as an adjective) five-fold; five at a time; quintuple;
quintet; pentagonal; pentahedral |
مخمَّس | pentagon |
يوم
الخميس | Thursday |
Six
Arabic | English |
سِتّ | six |
سادس | sixth |
سُدُس | one sixth |
سُداسي | (as an adjective) six-fold; six at a time; hex-triple;
sextet; hexagonal; hexahedral |
مسدَّس | hexagon |
Seven
Arabic | English |
سَبْعة | seven |
سابع | seventh |
سُبُع | one seventh |
سُباعي | (as an adjective) seven-fold; seven at a time; sextuple;
sextuplet; heptahedral |
مسبَّع | heptagon |
أُسبوع
ج. أسابيع | week |
أُسْبوعيّا | weekly |
Eight
Arabic | English |
ثمانٍ | eight |
ثماني | eighth |
ثُمُن | one eighth |
ثُماني | (as an adjective) eight-fold; eight at a time; etc |
مثمَّن | octagon |
Nine
Arabic | English |
تِسْعة | nine |
تاسع | ninth |
تُسُع | one ninth |
Ten
Arabic | English |
عَشَر | ten |
عاشر | tenth |
عُشْر | one tenth; one twentieth |
عُشري | decimal (as opposed to
binary) |
عِشار | animals (esp. camels) ten
months pregnant |
مِعْشار | the tenth part of something |
عاشوراء | the tenth of Muharram |
Zero
Arabic | English |
صفَر
/ يصفَر | to be vacant/empty |
صِفْر | zero |
