ثلاثة
“ثلاثة” (саляса) — three in Arabic. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books. In a live sentence: “ثلاثة من فضلك” — Three, please. Written with the characters ث, ل, ا, ث, ة. One of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | ثلاثة |
| Read in Latin letters | саляса |
| Translation | three |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ثلاثة من فضلكсаляса мин фадликThree, please
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- واحدвахидoneThe number follows the noun: kitaab waahid — one book. To the feminine — wahida
- اثنانиснаанtwoTwo is a number of its own kind: with it the noun goes into the dual, with -aan on the end. Baytaan — two houses
- أربعةарбаʿаfourIn the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender
- خمسةхамсаfiveThe same kh as in khubz. Khamsa is both five and the palm-shaped charm: five fingers of a hand
- ستةситтаsixThe shadda tt is held long: sit-ta. The ten grows from the same root: sittuun — sixty
- سبعةсабʿаsevenThe same ayn as in arbaʿa. Saturday is sabt — the word looks alike but is another one
- ثمانيةсамаанияeightStarts with the interdental s, the same as in thalj — ice. A long word: four syllables, all of them audible
- تسعةтисʿаnineLooks like sabʿa — the difference is the first letter, t against s. Shops open at nine, and the word is heard on every corner
- عشرةʿашараtenStarts with the ayn — that squeezed throat. The base of the tens: twenty is ʿishrun, a hundred is miʾa
- أحد عشرахад ʿашарelevenLiterally "one-ten": Arabic numbers from eleven to nineteen are pairs of words. The clock uses them too: at eleven o’clock is fi as-saaʿa ahad ʿashar
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “three” in Arabic?
From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books
- How do you say “eight” in Arabic?
Starts with the interdental s, the same as in thalj — ice. A long word: four syllables, all of them audible
- How do you say “four” in Arabic?
In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender
- How do you say “eleven” in Arabic?
Literally "one-ten": Arabic numbers from eleven to nineteen are pairs of words. The clock uses them too: at eleven o’clock is fi as-saaʿa ahad ʿashar
- How do you say “seven” in Arabic?
The same ayn as in arbaʿa. Saturday is sabt — the word looks alike but is another one
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “three” in Arabic?
«ثلاثة», read “саляса”. In a live sentence: “ثلاثة من فضلك” — Three, please. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters ث, ل, ا, ث, ة.
How is “ثلاثة” written in Latin letters?
саляса. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.