Numbers in Egyptian Arabic
- The numbers from 1 to 10
- Noun-number construction for 1: [singular noun] + [form of واحد that agrees with the noun in gender] (for emphasis)
- بنت واحدة (bint waHda) - (only) one girl
- Noun-number construction for 2: [dual noun] + اتنين (for emphasis)
- بنتين اتنين (bintein itnein) - (only) two girls
- Noun-number construction for 3 through 10: [short form of the number] + [plural noun]
- تلات بنات (talat banaat) - three girls
- The numbers from 11 to 19
- Noun-number construction for 11 and up: [number] + [singular noun]
- خمستاشر بنت (xamastaašar bint) - fifteen girls
- Multiples of 10
- To read out numbers from 21 to 99: [number in ones place] wa[multiple of ten]
- اتنين وتلاتين (itnein wa-talatiin), 32
- Multiples of 100
- To read out numbers from 101 to 999: [multiple of 100] + [number in ones place] + [multiple of ten] - "wa" comes before the last number
- مية وخمسة (meyya wa-xamsa), 105
- متين واحد وخمسين (metein waaHid wa-xamsiin), 251
- Multiples of 1,000
- To read out numbers from 1,001 to 999,999: [multiple of 1,000] + [multiple of 100] + [number in ones place] + [multiple of 10]
- ألفين وستة (alfein wa-sitta), 2,006
- ألف سبعة وخمسين (alf sab3a wa-xamsiin), 1,057
- عشر تآلاف ربعمية ستة وعشرين (3ašar talaaf rub3omeyya sitta wa-3išriin), 10,426
- واحد وخمسين ألف تسعمية تمانية وتلاتين (waaHid wa-xamsiin alf tus3omeyya tamanya wa-talatiin), 51,938
- مية سبعة وأربعين ألف تلتمية خمسة وستين (meyya sab3a wa-arbi3iin alf tultomeyya xamsa wa-sittiin), 147,365
- 10,000+
The cardinal and ordinal numbers from 1 to 10
| | | Cardinal numbers | "Short form" (see below) | | Ordinal numbers (masc. - fem.) |
| 0 | ٠ | صفر (Sifr) | | | |
| 1 | ١ | واحد (waaHid) | | 1st | أول - أولى (awwil - uula) |
| 2 | ٢ | اتنين (itnein) | | 2nd | تاني - تانية (taani - tanya) |
| 3 | ٣ | تلاتة (talaata) | تلات (talat) | 3rd | تالت - تالتة (taalit - talta) |
| 4 | ٤ | أربعة (arba3a) | أربع (arba3) | 4th | رابع - رابعة (raabi3 - rab3a) |
| 5 | ٥ | خمسة (xamsa) | خمس (xamas) | 5th | خامس - خامسة (xaamis - xamsa) |
| 6 | ٦ | ستة (sitta) | ست (sitt) | 6th | سادس - سادسة (saadis - sadsa) |
| 7 | ٧ | سبعة (sab3a) | سبع (saba3) | 7th | سابع - سابعة (saabi3 - sab3a) |
| 8 | ٨ | تمانية (tamanya) | تمان (taman) | 8th | تامن - تامنة (taamin - tamna) |
| 9 | ٩ | تسعة (tis3a) | تسع (tisa3) | 9th | تاسع - تاسعة (taasi3 - tas3a) |
| 10 | ١٠ | عشرة (3ašara) | عشر (3ašar) | 10th | عاشر - عاشرة (3aašir - 3ašra) |
Note: While the rest of Arabic is written right-to-left, numbers are written left-to-right! So ٣٥٦ is 356, for instance.
واحد and its feminine form, واحدة waHda, are usually used after a single noun for emphasis. It must agree with the gender of the noun it's modifying.
| راجل واحد (raagil waaHid) |
(only) one man |
| كلمة واحدة (kelma waHda) |
(only) one word |
In a similar way, اتنين usually follows a dual noun and is used for emphasis. It is invariable, though, so there's no gender agreement with the noun.
| كتابين اتنين (kitaabein itnein) |
(only) two books |
| بنتين اتنين (bintein itnein) |
(only) two girls |
However, there's a special instance here: singular count nouns. These nouns are always singular and come after a cardinal number.
- The kinds of nouns you use in ordering food, drinks, and so on:
| واحد قهوة (waaHid 'ahwa) |
one (cup of) coffee |
| اتنين شاي (itnein šaay) |
two (cups of) tea |
| خمسة بيرة (xamsa biira) |
five beers |
- Most nouns indicating some kind of measurement (such as weight, length, distance, monetary value):
| واحد كيلومتر (waaHid kilometr) |
one kilometer |
| اتنين جنيه (itnein gineih) |
two Egyptian pounds |
| تلاتة قرش (talaata 'irš) |
three piasters |
- The words مليون (milyoon), million, and بليون (bilyoon), billion
| اتنين مليون (itnein milyoon) |
two million |
| أربعة بليون (arba3a bilyoon) |
four billion |
On to the numbers 3 through 10! The "short form" of these numbers must precede the plural form of a noun. Here we don't have to worry about gender agreement.
| تلات أيام (talat ayyaam) | three days |
| أربع سنين (arba3 siniin) | four years |
| خمس ستات (xamas sittaat) | five women |
| ست ولاد (sitt welaad) | six boys |
| سبع أفلام (saba3 aflaam) | seven movies |
| تمان ورود (taman wuruud) | eight roses |
| تسع أوراق (tisa3 awraa') | nine pieces of paper |
| عشر كتب (3ašar kutub) | ten books |
Note that with any number from 3 up, you may make the number + noun phrase definite by simply adding a definite article to the first word in the number.
| التلات أيام (it-talat ayyaam) | the three days |
| الأربع سنين (il-arba3 siniin) | the four years |
| الخمس ستات (il-xamas sittaat) | the five women |
The numbers from 11 to 19
| | Cardinal numbers | |
| 11 | ١١ | حداشر (Hadaašar) |
| 12 | ١٢ | اتناشر (itnaašar) |
| 13 | ١٣ | تلاتاشر (talaattaašar) |
| 14 | ١٤ | أربعتاشر (arba3taašar) |
| 15 | ١٥ | خمستاشر (xamastaašar) |
| 16 | ١٦ | ستاشر (sittaašar) |
| 17 | ١٧ | سبعتاشر (saba3taašar) |
| 18 | ١٨ | تمانتاشر (tamantaašar) |
| 19 | ١٩ | تسعتاشر (tisa3taašar) |
With any number from 11 and up, the number must precede a singular noun. There is no gender agreement.
| حداشر ولد (Hadaašar walad) |
eleven boys |
| اتناشر عربية (itnaašar 3arabiyya) |
twelve cars |
Note that with all numbers from 11 up, the ordinal numbers are the same as the cardinal numbers.
| | Cardinal numbers | |
| 20 | ٢٠ | عشرين (3ešriin) |
| 30 | ٣٠ | تلاتين (talatiin) |
| 40 | ٤٠ | أربعين (arbi3iin) |
| 50 | ٥٠ | خمسين (xamsiin) |
| 60 | ٦٠ | ستين (sittiin) |
| 70 | ٧٠ | سبعين (sab3iin) |
| 80 | ٨٠ | تمانين (tamaniin) |
| 90 | ٩٠ | تسعين (tis3iin) |
For numbers that fall within this range, you literally say "one and twenty, two and twenty, three and twenty," etc.
| واحد وعشرين (waaHid w3ešriin) | 21 |
| اتنين وتلاتين (itnein wa-talatiin) | 32 |
| تلاتة وأربعين (talata warbi3iin) | 43 |
And if you want to say "21 cars" or whatever, you just put the singular form of the noun right after the number.
Multiples of 100 from 100 to 900
| | Cardinal numbers | Form used before a counted noun |
| 100 | ١٠٠ | مية (meyya) | ميت (miit) |
| 200 | ٢٠٠ | متين (metein) | متين (metein) |
| 300 | ٣٠٠ | تلتمية (tultomeyya) | تلتميت (tultomiit) |
| 400 | ٤٠٠ | ربعمية (rub3omeyya) | ربعميت (rub3omiit) |
| 500 | ٥٠٠ | خمسمية (xumsomeyya) | خمسميت (xumsomiit) |
| 600 | ٦٠٠ | ستمية (suttomeyya) | ستميت (suttomiit) |
| 700 | ٧٠٠ | يبعمية (sub3omeyya) | سبعميت (sub3omiit) |
| 800 | ٨٠٠ | تمنمية (tumnomeyya) | تمنميت (tumnomiit) |
| 900 | ٩٠٠ | تسعمية (tus3omeyya) | تسعميت (tus3omiit) |
For numbers that fall within this range, you do the same thing as above but add the multiple of 100 to the beginning.
| مية واحد وعشرين (meyya waaHid w3ešriin) | 121 |
| خمسمية اتنين وتلاتين (xumsomeyya itnein wa-talatiin) | 532 |
| ستمية تلاتة وأربعين (suttomeyya talata warbi3iin) | 643 |
| مية واتنين (meyya witnein) | 102 |
Multiples of 1,000
| | Cardinal numbers | |
| 1,000 | ١٠٠٠ | ألف (alf) |
| 2,000 | ٢٠٠٠ | ألفين (alfein) |
| 3,000 | ٣٠٠٠ | تلات تآلاف (talat talaaf) |
| 4,000 | ٤٠٠٠ | أربع تآلاف (arba3 talaaf) |
| 5,000 | ٥٠٠٠ | خمس تآلاف (xamas talaaf) |
| 6,000 | ٦٠٠٠ | ست تآلاف (sit talaaf) |
| 7,000 | ٧٠٠٠ | سبع تآلاف (saba3 talaaf) |
| 8,000 | ٨٠٠٠ | تمن تآلاف (taman talaaf) |
| 9,000 | ٩٠٠٠ | تسع تآلاف (tisa3 talaaf) |
| 10,000 | ١٠٠٠٠ | عشر تآلاف (3ašar t-alaaf) |
For numbers in this range, see this "formula": [multiple of 1,000] + [multiple of 100] + [number in ones place] + [multiple of 10]:
| ألفين وستة (alfein wa-sitta) | 2,006 |
| ألف سبعة وخمسين (alf sab3a wa-xamsiin) | 1,057 |
| عشر تآلاف ربعمية ستة وعشرين (3ašar talaaf rub3omeyya sitta wa-3išriin) | 10,426 |
| واحد وخمسين ألف تسعمية تمانية وتلاتين (waaHid wa-xamsiin alf tus3omeyya tamanya wa-talatiin) | 51,938 |
| مية سبعة وأربعين ألف تلتمية خمسة وستين (meyya sab3a wa-arbi3iin alf tultomeyya xamsa wa-sittiin) | 147,365 |
10,000+
| Cardinal numbers | |
| 11,000 | حداشر ألف (Hadaašar alf) |
| 12,000 | اتناشر ألف (itnaašar alf) |
| etc. | ... (number from 11 onward + alf) |
| 100,000 | ميت ألف (miit alf) |
| 200,000 | متين ألف (metein alf) |
| 500,000 | خمسميت ألف \ نص مليون (xumsomiit alf/nuSSe milyoon) |
| 1 million | مليون (milyoon) |
| 2 million | اتنين مليون (itnein milyoon) |
| 3 million | تلاتة مليون (talaata milyoon) |
| 1 billion | بليون (bilyoon) |
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