Arabic/Arabic numbers

The Arabic Numbers

Arabic numerals (how the numbers look) are of two types: the ones used in most of the world which originate from Arabic and those which are used in Arabic today. Notice that, while Arabic itself is written right-to-left, the numbers remain written left-to-right:

I am 42 years old today! ↔ !اليوم عندي ٤٢ سنة

A pattern you might notice is that words containing a ١ or ٢ have word-forms that differ from any patterns

Comparison of Arabic numerals

Sometimes, the numbers themselves are written in different forms, depending on the country.

Western Arabic	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Eastern Arabic numerals	٠	١	٢	٣	٤	٥	٦	٧	٨	٩	١٠
Persian	۰	۱	۲	۳	۴	۵	۶	۷	۸	۹	۱۰
Urdu	۰	۱	۲	۳	۴	۵	۶	۷	۸	۹	۱۰

Though the Persian & Urdu variants are not often found outside of Iran & Pakistan respectively, it is not impossible to run into them. It is also accepted to use western Arabic numerals, especially in typing where they are heavily favored. In this course, we will only use the eastern Arabic numerals in order to help better recognize them

١٠-٠

Numbers ١٠-١ have no rhyme or reason, so the best thing to do is memorize them

• ٠ - صفر

ṣifr

0 - Zero

• ١ - واحد

wāḥid

1 - One

• ٢ - اثنان

iṯnān

2 - Two

• ٣ - ثلاثة

ṯalāṯa

3 - Three

• ٤ - أربعة

ʾarbaʿa

4 - Four

• ٥ - خمسة

ḵamsa

5 - Five

• ٦ - ستة

sitta

6 - Six

• ٧ - سبعة

sabʿa

7 - Seven

• ٨ - ثمانية

ṯamāniya

8 - Eight

• ٩ - تسعة

tisʿa

9 - Nine

• ١٠ - عشرة

ʿašara

10 - Ten

١٩-١١

Numbers ١٩-١١ are constructed by placing "عشر" after the number, with the exception of ١١ and ١٢ which have special word-forms. Even though these numbers are written with two separate words, they are spoken as if they are one, so ة is pronounced as ت

• ١١ - أحد عشر

ʾāḥida ʿašr

11 - Eleven

• ١٢ - اثنا عشر

iṯnā ʿašr

12 - Twelve

• ١٣ - ثلاثة عشر

ṯalāṯata ʿašr

13 - Thirteen

• ١٤ - أربعة عشر

ʾarbaʿata ʿašr

14 - Fourteen

• ١٥ - خمسة عشر

ḵamsata ʿašr

15 - Fifteen

• ١٦ - ستة عشر

sittata ʿašr

16 - Sixteen

• ١٧ - سبعة عشر

sabʿata ʿašr

17 - Seventeen

• ١٨ - ثمانية عشر

ṯamāniyata ʿašr

18 - Eighteen

• ١٩ - تسعة عشر

tisʿata ʿašr

19 - Nineteen

٩٠-١٠

Numbers ending with ٠, also known as tens in English, are formed methodically by replacing ـة- with ـون-; the numbers ١٠ and ٢٠ have special forms

• ١٠ - عشرة

ʿašara

10 - Ten

• ٢٠ - عشرون

ʾišrūn

20 - Twenty

• ٣٠ - ثلاثون

ṯalāṯūn

30 - Thirty

• ٤٠ - أربعون

ʾarbaʿūn

40 - Forty

• ٥٠ - خمسون

ḵamsūn

50 - Fifty

• ٦٠ - ستون

sittūn

60 - Sixty

• ٧٠ - سبعون

sabʿūn

70 -Seventy

• ٨٠ - ثمانون

ṯamānūn

80 - Eighty

• ٩٠ - تسعون

tisʿūn

90 Ninety

٩٠٠-١٠٠

Hundreds also have their own forms, made by replacing ـة- and attaching the word for hundred to the base number, ـمائة-; the numbers ١٠٠ and ٢٠٠ have special forms

• ١٠٠ - مائة

māʾa

100 - One hundred

• ٢٠٠ - مائتين

māʾatayn

200 - Two hundred

• ٣٠٠ - ثلاثمائة

ṯalāṯumāʾa

300 - Three hundred

• ٤٠٠ - أربعمائة

ʾarbaʿumāʾa

400 - Four hundred

• ٥٠٠ - خمسمائة

ḵamsumāʾa

500 - Five hundred

• ٦٠٠ - ستمائة

sittumāʾa

600 - Six hundred

• ٧٠٠ - سبعمائة

sabʿumāʾa

700 - Seven hundred

• ٨٠٠ - ثمانيمائة

ṯamāniyumāʾa

800 - Eight hundred

• ٩٠٠ - تسعمائة

tisʿumāʾa

900 - Nine hundred

٩٩٩-٠

Other complex numbers under a thousand can be made placing the two words next to each other and adding the word "and", "-و", to the beginning of the next word; keep in mind that when reading numbers, the order is hundreds, ones, and then tens. Here are a few examples:

• ٢٩٥ - مائتين وخمسة وتسعون

māʾatayn wa-ḵamsa wa-tisʿūn

295 - Two hundred ninety-five (lit. two-hundred and-five and-ninety)

• ٣٦٣ - ثلاثمائة وثلاثة وستون

ṯalāṯumāʾa wa-ṯalāṯa wa-sittūn

363 - Three hundred sixty-three (lit. three-hundred and-three and-sixty)

• ٤٧ - سبعة وأربعون

sabʿa wa-ʾarbaʿūn

47 - Forty-seven (lit. seven and-forty)

• ٥٠٢ - خمسمائة واثنان

ḵamsumāʾa wa-iṯnān

502 - Five hundred two (lit. five-hundred and-two)

• ٧٣٠ - سبعمائة وثلاثون

sabʿumāʾa wa-ṯalāṯūn

730 Seven hundred thirty (lit. seven-hundred and-thirty)

• ٦١ - واحد وستون

wāḥid wa-sittūn

61 - Sixty-one (lit. one and-sixty)

• ٧١٨ - سبعمائة وثمانية عشر

sabʿumāʾa wa-ṯamāniyata ʿašr

718 - Seven hundred eighteen (lit. seven-hundred and-eighteen)

• ٩٩٩ - تسعمائة وتسعة وتسعون

tisʿumāʾa wa-tisʿa wa-tisʿūn

999 - Nine hundred ninety-nine (lit. nine-hundred and-nine and-ninety)

• ٥٥ - خمسة وخمسون

ḵamsa wa-ḵamsūn

55 - Fifty-five (lit. five and-fifty)

• ٦٤٢ - ستمائة واثنان وأربعون

sittumāʾa wa-iṯnān wa-ʾarbaʿūn

642 - Six hundred forty-two (lit. six-hundred and-two and-forty)

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