Learn Arabic Numbers

8:08:00 AM Language

Arabic Numbers

Learning the Arabic Numbers
is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Arabic language. But first we need to know what the role of Numbers is in the structure of the grammar in Arabic.
Arabic cardinal number convey the "how many" they're also known as "counting numbers," because they show quantity. Here are some examples:

English Numbers	Arabic Numbers
numbers	أَرْقَام - aarqaam
one	وَاحِد - waahed
two	اثْنَان - athnaan
three	ثَلَاثَة - thalaathah
four	أَرْبَعَة - aarba'ah
five	خَمْسَة - khamsah
six	سِتَّة - setah
seven	سَبْعَة - sab'ah
eight	ثَمَانِيَة - thamaaneeeah
nine	تِسْعَة - tes'ah
ten	عَشْرَة - 'ashrah
eleven	أَحَد عَشَر - aahad 'ashar
twelve	اثْنَا عَشَر - athnaa 'ashar
thirteen	ثَلَاثَة عَشَر - thalaathah 'ashar
fourteen	أَرْبَعَة عَشْرَة - aarba'ah 'ashrah
fifteen	خَمْسَة عَشَر - khamsah 'ashar
sixteen	سَت عَشْرَة - sat 'ashrah
seventeen	سَبْعَة عَشَر - sab'ah 'ashar
eighteen	ثَمَانِيَة عَشَر - thamaaneeeah 'ashar
nineteen	تِسْعَة عَشَر - tes'ah 'ashar
twenty	عِشْرُوْن - 'eshrown
hundred	مِائَة - mea'ah
one thousand	أَلْف - aalf
million	مْلْيُوْن - mleeown

The Arabic rule for numbers is very complex and follows no logical rule. Arabic has masculine and feminine nouns. Feminine nouns end on ة ـة t . It only occurs at the and of a feminine word. In the old days the feminine ending was like in Hebrew an ه but the Arabs pronounced as a t, so they took the two dots from the ت t and placed it above the ه so producing ة. Thy call it the ta’ marbuta. The rule is a feminen noun has to be accompanied by a masculine numeral and vice versa. أربعة كتب arba’3a(tun) kutubun (kutub being the plural of kitaab ) four books خمس سيارة five car’s Zero comes actually from the Arabic سفر sifr, as does the Dutch word for number ‘cijfer’.
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Numbers in Arabic has a logical pattern. Locate the Numbers above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Arabic.

List of Ordinal Numbers in Arabic

Arabic Ordinal numbers tell the order of things in a set: first, second, third, etc. Ordinal numbers do not show quantity. They only show rank or position. Below is a list of the Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers in Arabic. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Arabic vocabulary.

English Numbers	Arabic Numbers
Ordinal Numbers	-
first	أَوَّل - aawal
second	ثَان - thaan
third	ثَالِث - thaaleth
fourth	رَابِع - raabe'
fifth	خَامِس - khaames
sixth	سَادِس - saades
seventh	سَابِع - saabe'
eighth	ثَامِن - thaamen
ninth	تَاسِع - taase'
tenth	عَاشَر - 'aashar
eleventh	حَادِى عَشَر - haadea 'ashar
twelfth	ثَانِي عَشَر - thaaneee 'ashar
thirteenth	ثَالِث عَشَر - thaaleth 'ashar
fourteenth	رَابِع عَشَر - raabe' 'ashar
fifteenth	خَامِس عَشَر - khaames 'ashar
sixteenth	سَادِس عَشَر - saades 'ashar
seventeenth	سَابِع عَشَر - saabe' 'ashar
eighteenth	ثَامِن عَشَر - thaamen 'ashar
nineteenth	تَاسِع عَشَر - taase' 'ashar
twentieth	الْعِشْرِيْن - al'eshreeen

once	مَرَّة - marah
twice	مَرَّتَيْن - marataeen