Counting to ten in Arabic
One to ten, for prices, platforms, rooms and how many beers. Play the ten Arabic words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Arabic phrases in this lesson
- واحدWA-hid
- One
- اثنانith-NAN
- Two
- ثلاثةtha-LA-tha
- Three
- أربعةAR-ba-a
- Four
- خمسةKHAM-sa
- Five
- ستةSIT-ta
- Six
- سبعةSAB-a
- Seven
- ثمانيةtha-MA-ni-ya
- Eight
- تسعةTIS-a
- Nine
- عشرةASH-a-ra
- Ten
Two numeral sets are in use, and the naming is the reverse of what you would guess. The ٠١٢٣ shapes are what Arabs call "Hindi numerals," standard on price tags and license plates in Egypt and much of the Gulf. The 1, 2, 3 shapes Europe calls Arabic numerals are called "Arabic numerals" in Arabic too, and dominate tourist-facing menus and receipts. Learning to read ٠ to ٩ pays for itself in a market.
In casual speech: "itnayn" (Egypt), "ithnayn" (Gulf). Arabic has a dual grammatical form which is why two behaves slightly differently than other numbers, but for counting and shopping "itnayn" works universally.
The th is the th in "think", not the one in "the". In Egypt it softens to t: talata (ta-LA-ta).
The a at the end is cut short by a catch in the throat, the letter ain.
Also the word for the hand-shaped amulet against the evil eye.
Thirty through ninety are the unit plus -een: thalatheen, arba'een, khamseen, sitteen. Twenty is the exception, ishreen, built off ten rather than off two. One hundred is mi'a (MEE-ah), one thousand alf. Numbers are one of the more regular parts of Arabic.
Where Arabic is spoken
- Facts about United Arab Emirates · Map of United Arab Emirates
- Facts about Bahrain · Map of Bahrain
- Facts about Djibouti · Map of Djibouti
- Facts about Algeria · Map of Algeria
- Facts about Egypt · Map of Egypt
- Facts about Eritrea · Map of Eritrea
- Facts about Israel · Map of Israel
- Facts about Iraq · Map of Iraq