Arabic Numbers

If you're trying to learn Arabic Numbers you will find some useful resources including a course about Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers... to help you with your Arabic grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Arabic. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!


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 NumbersArabic Numbers
numbersأَرْقَام - aarqaam
oneوَاحِد - waahed
twoاثْنَان - athnaan
threeثَلَاثَة - thalaathah
fourأَرْبَعَة - aarba'ah
fiveخَمْسَة - khamsah
sixسِتَّة - setah
sevenسَبْعَة - sab'ah
eightثَمَانِيَة - thamaaneeeah
nineتِسْعَة - tes'ah
tenعَشْرَة - 'ashrah
elevenأَحَد عَشَر - aahad 'ashar
twelveاثْنَا عَشَر - athnaa 'ashar
thirteenثَلَاثَة عَشَر - thalaathah 'ashar
fourteenأَرْبَعَة عَشْرَة - aarba'ah 'ashrah
fifteenخَمْسَة عَشَر - khamsah 'ashar
sixteenسَت عَشْرَة - sat 'ashrah
seventeenسَبْعَة عَشَر - sab'ah 'ashar
eighteenثَمَانِيَة عَشَر - thamaaneeeah 'ashar
nineteenتِسْعَة عَشَر - tes'ah 'ashar
twentyعِشْرُوْن - 'eshrown
hundredمِائَة - mea'ah
one thousandأَلْف - aalf
millionمْلْيُوْن - 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 NumbersArabic Numbers
Ordinal Numbers -
firstأَوَّل - aawal
secondثَان - thaan
thirdثَالِث - thaaleth
fourthرَابِع - raabe'
fifthخَامِس - khaames
sixthسَادِس - saades
seventhسَابِع - saabe'
eighthثَامِن - thaamen
ninthتَاسِع - taase'
tenthعَاشَر - 'aashar
eleventhحَادِى عَشَر - haadea 'ashar
twelfthثَانِي عَشَر - thaaneee 'ashar
thirteenthثَالِث عَشَر - thaaleth 'ashar
fourteenthرَابِع عَشَر - raabe' 'ashar
fifteenthخَامِس عَشَر - khaames 'ashar
sixteenthسَادِس عَشَر - saades 'ashar
seventeenthسَابِع عَشَر - saabe' 'ashar
eighteenthثَامِن عَشَر - thaamen 'ashar
nineteenthتَاسِع عَشَر - taase' 'ashar
twentiethالْعِشْرِيْن - al'eshreeen
onceمَرَّة - marah
twiceمَرَّتَيْن - 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.