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 |
Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers have a very important role in Arabic, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Arabic Numbers, you might want to check the rest of our Arabic lessons here: Learn Arabic. Don't forget to bookmark this page.