Arabic/Numbers

Arabic 101: An Introduction to Arabic

Unit: Arabic Numbers

Goal

By the end of this unit, the student should be able to read, comprehend, and be able to transliterate any/all numbers of the known Arabic alphabet in all forms of each number, whether they are isolated or within larger numbers.

Following along in the textbook

• Sorry, nothing in the book yet. Maybe some soul would love to add something in there about numbers. Well, if I can get through this course in one piece, then I will myself I suppose. In the meantime, this will serve all the facets of this area. Not too much studying necessary when all the numbers are here.

Numbers

• 0 — sifr
• 1 — wāhid
• 2 — ithnān
• 3 — thalātha
• 4 — 'arbaca
• 5 — khamsa
• 6 — sitta
• 7 — sabca
• 8 — thamāniya
• 9 — tisca
• 10 — cashra
• 11 — 'ahada cashra
• 12 — ithnā cashra
• 13 — thalātha cashra
• 14 — 'arbaca cashra
• 15 — khamsa cashra
• 16 — sitta cashra
• 17 — sabca cashra
• 18 — thamāniya cashra
• 19 — tisca cashra
• 20 — cishrūn
• 21 — 'ahad wa-cishrūn
• 22 — ithnān wa-cishrūn
• 23 — thalātha wa-cishrūn
• 24 — 'arbaca wa-cishrūn
• 25 — khamsa wa-cishrūn
• 26 — sitta wa-cishrūn
• 27 — sabca wa-cishrūn
• 28 — thamāniya wa-cishrūn
• 29 — tisca wa-cishrūn
• 30 — thalāthūn
• 35 — khamsa wa-thalāthūn
• 40 — 'arbacūn
• 42 — 'ithnān wa-'arbacūn
• 50 — khamsūn
• 59 — tisca wa-khamsūn
• 60 — sittūn
• 66 — sitta wa-sittūn
• 70 — sabcūn
• 73 — thalātha wa-sabcūn
• 80 — thamānūn
• 84 — 'arbaca wa-thamānūn
• 90 — tiscūn
• 91 — 'ahad wa-tiscūn
• 100 — mi'a
• 102 — mi'a wa-ithnān
• 153 — mi'a thalātha wa-khamsūn
• 1000 — 'alf
• 1111 — 'alf mi'a 'ahada cashra
• 1603 — 'alf sitt mi'a wa-thalātha

Grammar: Use of numbers

Numbers in Arabic are quite complicated, there are different rules for the numbers, numbers are declined according to gender. Getting the grip on numbers in order to make practical use of them (few Arabs used numbers correctly), is however reasonably easy. From 21 to 99 you count like this: (example) 24: Four wa-twenty.From 12 to 19 you count like this (example) 15: Five Ten. 11 is slightly slightly diverging. When putting numbers together with nouns you do like this:

1: (example) 1 book is said as simply as "book", "kitâb", you leave 1 out, unless it is very important to emphasise that it is one book. 2: (example) 2 books is a special case, as Arabic not only has singular and plural, but also dual. The rules here are straight, but often omitted by students, who wind up saying "2 books",

ithnân kutub.

That is not correct, and the correct dual for 2 books is

kitâbâni.

3 and up: You place the full form of the number first, immediately followed by the noun: 42 books:

ithnân wa-'arbacûn kutub.

While this is not the correct form, it is OK to say it this way at the present level. If you're curious, this is the correct way for saying 42 books:

ithnân wa-'arbacûn kitâbân.