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of Arabic Grammar

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Arabic
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Arabic Numbers

How we will approach this Topic

Consider the following grouping of numbers and try to become
accustomed to this categorization. Notice that there is a lot of division based
on putting 1 & 2 into one category, and 3 to 9 in another.

Group

Numbers

A

1, 2

B

3..10

C

11, 12

D

13..19

E

20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80,
90

F

21, 22, 31, 32, 41, 42, 51, 52, 61, 62,
71, 72, 81, 82, 91, 92

G

23..29, 33..39, 43..49, 53..59, 63..69,
73..79, 83..89, 93..99

H

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800,
900

I

1000
onwards

For each of these groups, we want to consider the
following:

·
How do you construct the
number – ordinal and cardinal?

·
What is the grammatical gender of
the number?

·
What is the grammatical
case of the number?

·
What is the grammatical case
of the counted word (by counted word we mean, for example, ‘men’ in the phrase
’22 men’)?

·
Is the counted word going to
be singular or
plural?

Constructing the Numbers

Below are tables describing how we construct the different
numbers mentioned. Both cardinals (one, two, three) are included, as well as
ordinals (first, second, third).

Note that we can make any of the ones place numbers (as well
as the word عشر)
feminine simply by adding the تاء of
femininity (suffix ة). The only
exception is that احد has
feminine form اِحْدى.
Therefore, only the masculine forms have been shown.

The charts below are quite dense. To ease the learning
process, familiarize yourself with this chart below which aims to introduce the
core vocabulary of numbers. Most other numbers are simply manipulations of these
words.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

عَشَر

تِسْع

ثَمانِي

سَبْع

سِتّ

خَمْس

اَرْبـَع

ثَلاث

2

1

A

Use dual

Use
singular

Cardinal

ثاني

واحِد

Ordinal

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

B

عَشَْر

تِسْع

ثَماني

سَبْع

سِتّ

خَمْس

أَرْبَع

ثَلاث

Cardinal

عاشِر

تاسِع

ثامِن

سابِع

سادِس

خامِس

رابِع

ثالِث

Ordinal

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

C,
D

تِسْعَ عَشَرَ

ثَمانِي عَشَرَ

سَبْعَ عَشَرَ

سِتَّ عَشَرَ

خَمْسَ عَشَرَ

أَرْبَعَ عَشَرَ

ثَلاثَ عَشَرَ

اِثْنا عَشَرَ

اَحَدَ عَشَرَ

Cardinal

تاسِع عَشَرَ

ثامِن عَشَرَ

سابِع عَشَرَ

سادِس عَشَرَ

خامِس عَشَرَ

رابِع عَشَرَ

ثالِث عَشَرَ

ثاني عَشَرَ

حادي عَشَرَ

Ordinal

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

E

تِسْعونَ

ثَمانونَ

سَبْعونَ

سِتّونَ

خَمْسونَ

أَرْبَعونَ

ثَلاثونَ

عِشْرونَ

Cardinal

Ordinal

...

23

22

21

F,
G

...

ثلاث وعِشْرونَ

إثنْان وعِشْرونَ

واحِد وعِشْرونَ

Cardinal

...

ثالِث وعِشْرونَ

ثاني وعِشْرونَ

حادي وعِشْرونَ

Ordinal

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

H

تِسْعمِائة

ثَمانيمِائة

سَبْعمِائة

سِتّمِائة

خَمْسمِائة

اَرْبَعمِائة

ثَلاثمـِائة

مِائَتانِ

مِائة

Cardinal

تاسِع مِائة

ثامِن مِائة

سابِع مِائة

سادِس مِائة

خامِس مِائة

رابِع مِائة

ثالِث مِائة

Ordinal

100,000

...

3,000

2,000

1,000

I

مِائة آلاف

...

ثَلاث آلاف

اَلْفانِ

اَلْف

Cardinal

...

ثالِث آلاف

Ordinal

Examples

a floor

طابق

1st
floor

الطابق الواحد

2 floors

طابقان

2nd floor

الطابق الثاني

5 tests

خمسة امتحانات

5th test

الامتحان الخامس

11 pictures

احدى عشرة صورة

11th picture

الصورة الحادية عشرة

18 arrows

ثمانية عشر سهما

18th arrow

السهم الثامن عشر

60 buckets

ستّون دلوا

60th bucket

الدلو الستون

31 cities

واحدة وثلاثون مدينة

31st city

المدينة الحادية والثلاثون

29 regions

تسع وعشرون منطقة

29th region

المنطقة التاسعة والعشرون

300 soldiers

ثلاثمائة عسكريّ

300th soldier

العسكري الثالث مائة

413 thieves

اربعمائة وثلاثة عشر لصا

413th thief

اللص الرابع مائة والثالث عشر

year 1985

سنة الف وتسعمائة وخمس وثمانين

1,985th year

السنة الالف والتاسعة مائة والخامسة والثمانون

Grammatical Gender of the Numbers

The table below explains what the gender of a cardinal
number will be given the word being counted. The ordinals have not been included
because, in most cases, they act as adjectives for the counted word. So they
will match in gender. For example, الرجل الثالث
and المرأة الثالثة.

To facilitate the understanding of these rules, let’s
consider a rule of thumb: Consider the gender of the singular form of the
word being counted. When the ones place is 1 or 2, the ones place will match
that singular in gender. And when the ones place is a number between 3 and 9, it
will mismatch.

Group

Numbers

Gender of
Cardinals

Example

A

1,
2

There is no number, the
counted word is used either as singular or dual as
needed

رئيس، رئيسان
مرأة، مرأتان

B

3..10

Ones place: gender
opposite of the counted word

(sing. امتحان) ثلاثة امتحانات
(sing. مباراة)ثلاث مباريات

C

11,
12

Ones place: gender same
as the counted word

Tens place: gender same
as the counted word

احد عشر بلدا
إحدى عشرة ولاية

D

13..19

Ones place: gender
opposite of the counted word

Tens place: gender same
as the counted word

أربعة عشر سبيلا
أربع عشرة معجزة

E

20, 30, 40, 50,
...

Tens place: always
masculine

خمسون صحيفا
خمسون ورقة

F

21, 22, 31, 32,
...

Ones place: gender same
as the counted word

Tens place: always
masculine

اثنان وستون مرابطا
اثنتان وستون
زوجة

G

23..29, 33..39,
...

Ones place: gender
opposite of the counted word

Tens place: always
masculine

سبعة وسبعون ركنا
سبع وسبعون صدقة

H

100, 200, 300,
...

Hundreds place: always
masculine since the word مائة is feminine
The word
مائة is always
feminine

ثمانيمائة وخمسة وعشرون بيتا
ثمانيمائة وخمس وعشرون
دار

I

1000, 2000,
...

Thousands place: always
feminine since the word الف is masculine
The word
الف is always
masculine

تسعة آلاف جلاّد
تسعة آلاف هرة

Exercise: translate the following phrases into Arabic. The
translations of the counted words have been provided. Where you see two words,
you must use the underlined plural; the singular is there to help you figure out
the gender.

a.
a dog (كلب، كلاب)

b.
7 kittens (هريرة، هريرات)

c.
10 masc. students (طالب، طلاب)

d.
11 mice (فأرة)

e.
12 masc. classmates (زميل)

f.
14 windows (شباك)

g.
18 caravans (قافلة)

h.
32 dates (تمرة)

i.
51 journalists (صحافيون)

j.
96 frogs (ضفدع)

k.
99 nicknames (كنية)

l.
307 stars (نجم، نجوم)

m.    411 telephones (هاتف)

n.
789 beds (سريرة)

o.
1,718 apples (تفّاح)

p.
36,036 peaches (درّاق)

Grammatical Case of the Numbers & the Counted Words

The table below summarizes what grammatical
case both the number and the counted word take.

Group

Numbers

Case of
Number

Case of
Word

Example

A

1,
2

There is no
number

Determined by its
position in the sentence

رأيت رجليـن

B

3..10

Determined by its
position in the sentence

The number and word form
اضافة, so it will be
genitive

لعب في ثلاثةِ ميادينَ

C

11, 12

Both parts are
indeclinable; final letters take the فتحة vowel in all
cases

The number and word form
تميز, so it will be
accusative

ثلاثَ عشرةَ عيناً

D

13..19

E

20, 30, 40, 50,
...

Determined by its
position in the sentence

خذ ثلاثاً وأربعيـن داراً

F

21, 22, 31, 32,
...

G

23..29, 33..39,
...

H

100, 200, 300,
...

The number’s case is
determined by its position

The number and word form
اضافة, so it will be
genitive

أوقظ ثلاثُمائةِ الفِ نائمٍ

I

1000, 2000,
...

It is important to note that, when you have a complicated
number like 1234, those numbers that form اضافة or
تميز will do
so with the words that follow them, whether those words are the thing being
counted or other numbers.

For example, in “أوقظ ثلاثُمائةِ الفِ نائمٍ”, مائة forms
اضافة with
الف.

Exercise: correctly inflect the underlined words in the
following sentences:

a.
فانفجرت منه اثنتا عشرة عين

b.
أنزل الله مائة الف وأربعة وعشرون
الف نبي

Plurality of the Counted Words

The final task is to understand whether the word following
the number will be singular or
plural. This is a relatively simple topic summarized in the table below.

Group

Numbers

Plurality of
Word

Example

A

1,
2

single or dual

ثعلب، ثعلبان

B

3..10

plural

خمسة ثعالبَ

C

11, 12

single

احدَ عشرَ ثعلباً

D

13..19

خمسةَ عشرَ ثعلباً

E

20, 30, 40, 50,
...

خمسون ثعلباً

F

21, 22, 31, 32,
...

واحد وخمسون ثعلباً

G

23..29, 33..39,
...

خمسة وخمسون ثعلباً

H

100, 200, 300,
...

خمسمائةِ ثعلبٍ

I

1000, 2000,
...

خمسة آلافِ ثعلبٍ

Exercise: correct the following
phrases in terms of gender and grammatical case, as necessary:

a.
أحدَ عشرةِ فنادقَ

b.
اثنتا عشرةَ درهماً

c.
تسعةَ عشرةِ كتابٍ

d.
خمسو قضاةٍ

e.
ثلاثةُ مائةٍ وإحدى وتسعين طاولاتٍ

Extend your Knowledge

Numerals

The numerals associated with the numbers are summarized in
the following chart:

Number

Numeral

صفر

٠

0

واحد

١

1

اثنان

٢

2

ثلاثة

٣

3

أربعة

٤

4

خمسة

٥

5

ستة

٦

6

سبعة

٧

7

ثمانية

٨

8

تسعة

٩

9

Fractions

In Arabic, we use the word نصف to
indicate one half. In order to indicate fractions with a numerator of 1 but
denominators larger than 2, we place the cardinal numbers on the فُعُل
pattern. The table below makes this clearer.

...

1/5

1/4

1/3

1/2

...

خُمُس

رُبُع

ثُلُث

نِصْف

In order to change the numerator, we use the rules of numbers
we’ve just learned, using the denominator as the counted word. In essence, what
we are saying is ‘three one-quarters,’ for example. Below are a few
examples.

3/4

3/3

3/2

2/4

2/3

2/2

ثَلاثة أَرْباعٍ

ثَلاثة أَثْلاثٍ

ثَلاثة أنْصافٍ

رُبُعانِ

ثُلُثانِ

نِصْفانِ

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All tutorials on this website are authored by Shariah Program
graduate Mohtanick Jamil
© 2003-2011 Shariah Program All Rights
Reserved.