Numbers and counting in Arabic
57 words in Arabic on the topic “numbers and counting”: واحد — one, اثنان — two, ثلاثة — three, أربعة — four.
57 words on the topic
- 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
- ثلاثةсалясаthreeFrom three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books
- 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
- اثنا عشرиснаа ʿашарtwelveLiterally "two-ten", and the "two" stands in a special case form: ithnaa. The dual does not hook onto numbers past ten — it lives only with pairs
- ثلاثة عشرсаляса ʿашарthirteenLiterally "three-ten". The numbers from thirteen to nineteen are built alike, and in speech both halves hold on to the same noun
- أربعة عشرарбаʿа ʿашарfourteenLiterally "four-ten": the same arbaʿa with the ayn in the middle. The longest of the -teen row: three syllables in the first half
- خمسة عشرхамса ʿашарfifteenLiterally "five-ten". Up to twenty the count runs in pairs, and each pair writes itself as two words — no one-word fusions here
- ستة عشرситта ʿашарsixteenLiterally "six-ten". The doubled tt in sitta is the same as in plain "six": the number family keeps together and sounds alike
- سبعة عشرсабʿа ʿашарseventeenLiterally "seven-ten". The ayn in sabʿa is that same squeezed throat: the numbers to ten already taught it to you, and here it is again
- ثمانية عشرсамаания ʿашарeighteenLiterally "eight-ten": long, but each half is known. At eighteen you get a driving licence and the vote in most Arab countries
- تسعة عشرтисʿа ʿашарnineteenLiterally "nine-ten" — the last pair before twenty. Then the system changes: the tens are built otherwise, and twenty is no longer a pair of words
- عشرونʿишруунtwentyNot a pair like eleven to nineteen but one word with -uun on the end. Twenty-five is khamsa wa-ʿishruun — "five and twenty": the smaller number comes after the bigger
- ثلاثونсалясуунthirtyThe tens end in -uun: the "three" is recognizable inside, but the form is its own. Thirty-three is thalaatha wa-thalaathuun — the smaller number after the bigger again
- أربعونарбаʿуунfortyThe same ayn in the middle as in "four": the ten keeps the root of its number. Fourteen and forty sound like one family
- خمسونхамсуунfiftyThe kh from the throat and -uun on the end: the same frame as every ten. In speech the final n sometimes gets eaten and you hear khamsuu
- ستونситтуунsixtyFrom sitta, six, with the doubling on the t. Spelling and sound agree here: the -uun on the end is always audible
- سبعونсабʿуунseventyThe ayn in the middle again: sab-ʿ-uun. The seventies as a decade is sabʿiniyyaat — a ten can become the name of an era
- ثمانونсамаануунeightyFrom thamaaniya, eight, interdental s on the spot: tongue between the teeth. The ten is one syllable longer than its number and loses nothing
- تسعونтисʿуунninetyFrom tisʿa, nine. The frame is the most even of all the tens: the root of the number plus -uun, and done
- مئةмиʾаhundredThe hamza in the middle is a break: mi-ʾ-a. After a hundred the noun stands in the singular: miʾa yuro — a hundred euros, no plural ending
- ألفальфthousandThe word you know from the name of the first letter — alif: written alike. A thousand euros is alf yuro, and the number, as always, comes before the money
- مليونмильуунmillionAn international word in an Arabic coat: milyuun. After it, as after a hundred and a thousand, the noun stays singular — the Arabic count saves on endings
- صفرсифрzeroThe world’s "cipher" and "zero" both grew from this word: the nought is an Arabic invention that gave its name to all the digits. A nil score and a phone number both use sifr
- الأولаль-аввальfirstThe doubled ll stretches: al-awwal. The feminine is uulaa — the first page, the first week; the ordinal agrees like an adjective
- الثانيас-сааниsecond (ordinal)From ithnaan, two: the same base as the name of Monday. After an ordinal the noun keeps the article: al-yawm ath-thaanii — the second day
- الثالثас-саалисthirdFrom thalaatha, three, with -is on the end. "The third floor" is at-taabiq ath-thaalith: the ordinal follows the noun and takes the article
- الأخيرаль-ахиирlastFrom akhir — an end: the last one is "the most ended". "In the end" is built on it too: fi al-akhir — in the end, the word a conclusion opens with
- كمкамhow muchIt opens the question and needs no plural ending: kam yuro? — how many euros. The familiar bi-kam and kam al-hisaab were its work; now the word stands alone
- زوجзавджpairOne word for a "pair" and a "spouse": husband is zawj, wife zawja — and they are also just "a pair". The dual is close by: two things not paired take the -aan form
- وحدةвахдаpiece (unit)From waahid — one: a piece is the "unit" of counting. In the shop they count wahda after wahda, and on the receipt it is heard more often than "piece"
- في المئةфи аль-миʾаpercentLiterally "of a hundred": a percent is a share of miʾa — the hundred you know from the numbers lesson. Market discounts are measured with it: ʿashara fi al-miʾa — ten percent
- كلкульeachIt stands before the noun with no article and pulls the singular: kul yawm — every day. The same word means "all" and "the whole": kull is the full sweep
- مئتانмиʾатаанtwo hundred"Hundred" itself stands in the dual here: miʾataan — one word, not two. The noun after a hundred does not change: miʾataan yuro is two hundred euros
- ثلاثمئةсалясумиʾаthree hundredLiterally "three-hundred": the familiar thalaatha loses its endings and glues onto miʾa into one word. Spoken without a pause, written the same way
- أربعمئةарбаʿумиʾаfour hundred"Four hundred" in one word, with the ayn audible in the middle — the same sign as in arbaʿa: arbaʿumiʾa
- خمسمئةхамсумиʾаfive hundredThe ending drops off: khamsumiʾa, no pause at the joint. The whole hundred lives in one word
- ستمئةситтумиʾаsix hundredFrom sitta, six, with the doubled t at the joint: sittumiʾa. You have heard the same doubling in sittuun — sixty
- سبعومئةсабʿумиʾаseven hundredFrom sabʿa, seven: the ayn in the middle does not go away — sabʿumiʾa. The throat pinches shut for a beat and lets go
- ثمانمئةсаманумиʾаeight hundredThe interdental s of thamaaniya stays in place: thamaanumiʾa. Tongue between the teeth — and eight hundred are ready
- تسعمئةтисʿумиʾаnine hundredTisʿumiʾa — nine hundred, the last hundred before the familiar alf, a thousand. Nine hundred ninety-nine, and the Arabic count is complete up to it
- الرابعар-раабиʿfourthFrom arbaʿa, four. The ordinal follows the thing and takes the article: at-taabiq ar-raabiʿ — exactly like the familiar "third floor"
- الخامسаль-хаамисfifthFrom khamsa, five, with a long aa: khaamis. Do not mix it up with al-khamiis, Thursday — that one is one vowel shorter
- السادسас-саадисsixthFrom sitta, six: saadis. No long vowels at all — the ordinal is shorter than its number
- السابعас-саабиʿseventhFrom sabʿa, seven: saabiʿ. The feminine adds an a on the end: saabiʿa — it agrees like an adjective
- الثامنас-сааминeighthThe interdental s at the start — the same as in thamaaniya. Thaamin, with no long vowels: a short word for the eighth place
- التاسعат-таасиʿninthFrom tisʿa, nine, but with a long aa: taasiʿ. This is the common pattern of the row’s tail: ʿaashira, the tenth, holds its vowel the same way
- العاشرаль-ʿааширtenthFrom ʿashara, ten: ʿaashir. The same root in "ten percent off" — ʿashara fi al-miʾa — heard in every market
- المئةаль-миʾаhundredthArabic built no separate word: it is the familiar miʾa with the article. After the tenth the row keeps assembling simply: al-khamsuun — the fiftieth
- رقمракамnumberThe same raqm that stands in a phone number. Arab does not split "number" and "figure" strictly: a digit in a line and a number in a count are one word
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
واحد (вахид) — one. The number follows the noun: kitaab waahid — one book. To the feminine — wahida.
اثنان (иснаан) — two. Two is a number of its own kind: with it the noun goes into the dual, with -aan on the end. Baytaan — two houses.
ثلاثة (саляса) — three. From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books.
أربعة (арбаʿа) — four. In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Arabic?
The number follows the noun: kitaab waahid — one book. To the feminine — wahida
- 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 “fifteen” in Arabic?
Literally "five-ten". Up to twenty the count runs in pairs, and each pair writes itself as two words — no one-word fusions here
- How do you say “forty” in Arabic?
The same ayn in the middle as in "four": the ten keeps the root of its number. Fourteen and forty sound like one family
- How do you say “thousand” in Arabic?
The word you know from the name of the first letter — alif: written alike. A thousand euros is alf yuro, and the number, as always, comes before the money
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
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.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Arabic?
«واحد», read “вахид”. The number follows the noun: kitaab waahid — one book. To the feminine — wahida. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 57 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.