Numbers and counting in Tamil
59 words Tamil words on the topic “numbers and counting”: ஒண்ணு — one, ரெண்டு — two, மூணு — three, நாலு — four. 59 words can be played from recordings.
59 words on the topic
- ஒண்ணுoṇṇuoneThe spoken form of the bookish oṉṛu
- ரெண்டுreṇḍutwoThe spoken form of the bookish iraṇḍu. Before a hundred the bookish stem returns: irunūṟu, 'two hundred'
- மூணுmūṇuthreeThe spoken form of the bookish mūnṛu. In the hundreds the bookish stem is back: munnūṟu, 'three hundred'
- நாலுnālufourThe spoken form of the bookish nānku. The ordinal is built from the spoken one: nālāvadu, 'fourth'
- அஞ்சுañcufiveThe spoken form of the bookish aintu. The hundred takes the bookish stem, aiṉṉūṟu, while the ordinal takes the spoken one, añcāvadu
- ஆறுāṟusixThe word also means 'river': āṟu is both the number and the thing that flows
- ஏழுēḻusevenStarts with the long ē and carries the ḻ. Before a hundred and a ten the stem shortens: eḻunūṟu, eḻubadu
- எட்டுeṭṭueightHold the doubled ṭṭ long. In the hundreds it vanishes entirely: eṇṇūṟu, 'eight hundred'
- ஒம்பதுombadunineThe spoken form of the bookish oṉbadu. Yet 'nine hundred' is not built from it but from the thousand: toḷḷāyiram
- பத்துpattutenBefore another number it turns into pathi-: pathinoṇḍu, 'eleven'; pathaiñcu, 'fifteen'
- கிலோkilōkilogramIn the shop one simply says 'a kilo'. Half a kilo is 'half kilo', a quarter is 'quarter kilo'
- அரைaraihalfStands before the word: 'half kilo', 'half hour'
- பதினொண்டுpadiṉoṇḍuelevenpa-di-NON-du; the ṇ is an n with the tongue curled back, unlike the plain n you hear in paṉṉeṇḍu
- பன்னெண்டுpaṉṉeṇḍutwelveThe spoken form of the bookish paṉṉiraṇḍu. There is no word for a dozen — a dozen simply is paṉṉeṇḍu
- பதிமூண்டுpadimūṇḍuthirteenSpoken form; on paper pathimūnṛu. You can hear mūṇḍu, 'three', whole inside the number
- பதினாலுpadiṉālufourteenSpoken form; on paper pathinānku. Built on the same scheme as nālu, 'four'
- பதினைஞ்சுpadiṉaiñcufifteenSpoken form; on paper pathinaintu. 'Fifteen minutes' is the very same quarter of an hour: kāḷ maṇi
- பதினாறுpadiṉāṟusixteenpa-di-NAA-ru; the ṟ is a rolled r, crisper than the soft r of maram
- பதினேழுpadiṉēḻuseventeenpa-di-NEE-llu; the final sound is the curled-back zh of the word Tamil, not a plain l
- பதினெட்டுpadiṉeṭṭueighteenPattu + eṭṭu. The age of majority on the island goes by the same number
- பத்தொம்பதுpattombadunineteenThe only teen where 'ten' sounds as patto-, not pathi-. In Jaffna you will also hear pattoṇbadu
- இருபதுirubadutwentyA new root: not reṇḍu 'two' but iru-. The following tens keep the pattern — muppadu, nāṟpadu
- முப்பதுmuppaduthirtyInside the ten, mūṇḍu 'three' contracts to mup-. Nāṟpadu, 'forty', behaves the same way
- நாற்பதுnāṟpadufortynaar-pa-du; in fast speech the r is swallowed and you hear naa-pa-du
- ஐம்பதுaimbadufiftyThe stem ai- comes from añcu, 'five'. Half of a hundred is not 'half a hundred' but simply aimbadu
- அறுபதுaṟubadusixtya-ru-ba-du; the r of aṟu is rolled
- எழுபதுeḻubaduseventye-lu-ba-du; the lu carries the curled-back zh, as in the word Tamil
- எண்பதுeṇbadueightyen-ba-du; the n is made with the tongue curled back
- தொண்ணூறுtoṇṇūṟuninetyton-NUU-ru; a long nn with the tongue curled back, then a rolled r
- நூறுnūṟuone hundrednuu-ru; a rolled r, and the uu is held long
- ஆயிரம்āyiramone thousandTwo thousand is reṇḍāyiram, fused into one word. 'Thousands of people' in the sense of 'very many' becomes āyirakkaṇakkāṉa
- மில்லியன்milliyaṉmillionThe English million. Tamil counts big money not in millions but in laṭcam, 'a hundred thousand': a million is pattu laṭcam, and that is how people usually say it
- சுழிsuḻizerosu-li; the li hides the curled-back zh, as in the word Tamil
- முதலாவதுmudalāvadufirstThe same word as 'firstly' in a list — the difference is only whether it leans on a noun: 'the first floor', but 'firstly, ...'
- ரெண்டாவதுreṇḍāvadusecondren-DAA-va-du; the nn is made with the tongue curled back
- மூண்டாவதுmūṇḍāvaduthirdmuun-DAA-va-du; a long nn with the tongue curled back
- கடைசிkaḍaisifinalNot made by the ordinal ending — a separate word. From it come 'the final stop' and 'in the end'
- எத்தனைettaṉaihow many?Asks about COUNTING things one by one: how many people? how many days? For what is not counted piecewise — money, water, time — the question is evvaḷavu
- ஜோடிjōḍipairA pair as two things belonging together: 'a pair of slippers'. A couple of people is also joḍi, but there it already means 'the two of them'
- பீஸ்pīspieceThe English piece as the shop's counting word: 'three pieces, please'. Tamil has no counting word of its own — usually the number stands right before the thing
- வீதம்vīdampercentAn island word: 'five veedham'. Tamil Nadu says sadaveedham, and in banks and shops you also hear 'percent'
- ஒவ்வொருovvorueveryDemands -um at the end of the whole group: 'every day', 'every person'. Without -um the phrase sounds cut off
- இருநூறுirunūṟutwo hundredIru- 'two' + nūṟu 'hundred'. Before a hundred the numeral takes its short bookish stem, not the spoken reṇḍu
- முந்நூறுmunnūṟuthree hundredmun-NUU-ru; the n before nuu is held long, and the letter n you see disappears in speech
- நானூறுnāṉūṟufour hundredNālu 'four' gives up its stem nā-. The only hundred where almost the whole numeral survives
- ஐந்நூறுainnūṟufive hundredain-NUU-ru; in lively speech closer to ain-nyuu-ru, the n softening before nuu
- அறுநூறுaṟunūṟusix hundredĀṟu 'six' shortens to aṟu- — the same stem as in aṟubadu, 'sixty'
- எழுநூறுeḻunūṟuseven hundrede-lu-NUU-ru; inside the lu hides the curled zh, the sound the language is named by
- எண்ணூறுeṇṇūṟueight hundreden-NUU-ru; a long nn with the tongue curled back
- தொள்ளாயிரம்toḷḷāyiramnine hundredtol-LAA-yi-ram; the ḷ is a dark l made with the tongue curled back, not the plain l
- நாலாவதுnālāvadufourthThe spoken nālu, 'four', plus -āvadu. The same suffix built reṇḍāvadu and mūṇḍāvadu back in lesson five
- அஞ்சாவதுañcāvadufifthAñcu, 'five', drops its -u before -āvadu. The ordinal stands before the noun and never changes for gender or case
- ஆறாவதுāṟāvadusixthĀṟu, 'six', plus -āvadu; the long ā at the start survives. The word for 'river' stands right next to it — only the sense of the sentence tells them apart
- ஏழாவதுēḻāvaduseventhee-laa-va-du; the l hides the curled zh of Tamil, not a plain l
- எட்டாவதுeṭṭāvadueighthEṭṭu, 'eight', plus -āvadu; the doubled ṭṭ stays, unlike in eṇṇūṟu, 'eight hundred'
- ஒம்பதாவதுombadāvaduninthOmbadu, 'nine', plus -āvadu. The spoken ombadu is what sounds in the ordinal, not the bookish oṉbadu
- பத்தாவதுpattāvadutenthPattu, 'ten', plus -āvadu. In set phrases the ordinal takes another form, in -ām: pattām vakuppu, 'the tenth grade'
- நூறாவதுnūṟāvaduhundredthNūṟu, 'hundred', plus -āvadu. A centenary is called nūṟāvadu nāḷ viḻā, 'the feast of the hundredth day'
- எண்eṇnumberShort, two letters. From 'to count'. A phone number is nambar, straight from English
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.
- எனக்கு ஒண்ணு போதும்eṉakku oṇṇu pōdumOne is enough for me
- ரெண்டு டீ தாங்கreṇḍu ṭī tāṅgaGive me two teas
- நான் மூணு நாள் இஞ்ச இருக்கேன்nāṉ mūṇu nāḷ iñca irukkēṉI am here for three days
- எங்கட வீட்டில நாலு பேர்eṅgaḍa vīṭṭila nālu pērThere are four of us in the house
- பஸ் அஞ்சு மணிக்கு வரும்bas añcu maṇikku varumThe bus will come at five
- எனக்கு ஆறு மணிக்கு வேலைeṉakku āṟu maṇikku vēlaiI have work at six
What is worth knowing about these words
ஒண்ணு (oṇṇu) — one. The spoken form of the bookish oṉṛu
ரெண்டு (reṇḍu) — two. The spoken form of the bookish iraṇḍu. Before a hundred the bookish stem returns: irunūṟu, 'two hundred'
மூணு (mūṇu) — three. The spoken form of the bookish mūnṛu. In the hundreds the bookish stem is back: munnūṟu, 'three hundred'
நாலு (nālu) — four. The spoken form of the bookish nānku. The ordinal is built from the spoken one: nālāvadu, 'fourth'
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ஒண்ணு (oṇṇu) — one.
- What is this word?
It is எட்டு (eṭṭu) — eight.
- What is this word?
It is பதிமூண்டு (padimūṇḍu) — thirteen.
- What is this word?
It is இருபது (irubadu) — twenty.
- What is this word?
It is தொண்ணூறு (toṇṇūṟu) — ninety.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Tamil?
The spoken form of the bookish oṉṛu
- How do you say “eight” in Tamil?
Hold the doubled ṭṭ long. In the hundreds it vanishes entirely: eṇṇūṟu, 'eight hundred'
- How do you say “thirteen” in Tamil?
Spoken form; on paper pathimūnṛu. You can hear mūṇḍu, 'three', whole inside the number
- How do you say “twenty” in Tamil?
A new root: not reṇḍu 'two' but iru-. The following tens keep the pattern — muppadu, nāṟpadu
- How do you say “ninety” in Tamil?
The only ten that does not end in -badu. Nothing of ombadu, 'nine', survives in it
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.
- This holds 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 Tamil?
«ஒண்ணு», read “oṇṇu”. The spoken form of the bookish oṉṛu. It is one of 59 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 59 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 59 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.