Understanding Arabic number rules is essential for navigating the elaborate system of cardinal number agreement, which is dictated by three key factors: the gender of the counted nouns, the quantity being expressed, and the specific grammatical declension involved.
The number may or may not agree with the gender of the counted object depending on its value.
In contrast to English cardinal numbers, Arabic numerals are nouns (apart from 2 being an adjective and 1 with both forms of a noun and adjective). Following this, the preceding object will not be in the nominative case but take on different ending cases according to its numerical value. Moreover, the object that is quantity beyond two may or may not be plural depending on what number it follows in succession.
The gender agreement of the number / العدد
المَعْدُود Counted object
جِنْس العَدَد Gender of the number
1 – 2
same
3 to 10
Opposite to the gender of the counted object in its singular form
11 – 12
same
13 to 19
1st part (unit): opposite 2nd part (ten): same
tens 20 to 90
Never change according to gender
compound number 21 to 99
1st part (unit) same 2nd part: never change no matter the gender
hundred
Never change according to gender
thousand
Unit from 1 to 10, 100 & 1000
1 – 2: the gender of the number corresponds to the counted object
1 woman
أِمْرَأَةٌ واحِدةٌ
2 men
رَجُلانِ اِثْنانِ
3 to 10: the number has the opposite gender of the counted object in the singular form
4 men
أَرْبَعةُ رَجُلٍ
6 women
سِتُّ اِمْرَأَةٍ
100 to 1000: doesn’t change according to gender
100 men
مِئَةُ رَجُلٍ
100 women
مِئَةُ اِمْرَأَةٍ
1000 men
أَلْفُ رَجُلٍ
1000 women
أَلْفُ اِمْرَأَةٍ
The compound number from 11 to 19
11 – 12: Both parts of the number agree with the gender of the counted object
11 men
أَحَدَ عَشَرَ رَجُلاً
12 women
اِثْنَتَا عَشَرَةَ اِمْرَأَةً
Note: the feminine of اِثْنان is اِثْنَتان
13 to 19: the 1st part of the number is of the opposite gender to the counted object while the 2nd part agrees with the gender of the counted object
14 men
أَرْبَعَةَ عَشَرَ رَجُلاً
17 women
سَبْعَ عَشَرَةَ اِمْرأَةً
Tens (20 to 90)
Never change according to gender
20 women
عِشْرونَ اِمْرَأةً
50 men
خَمْسُونَ رَجُلاً
Compound number constructed with the conjunction wāw 21 to 99
The unit agrees with the object while the ten doesn’t change according to the genre
21 men
واحِدٌ وَعِشْرونَ رَجُلاً
35 women
خَمْسٌ وَثَلاثُونَ اِمْرَأَةً
68 men
ثَمانِيةٌ وَسِتُّونَ رَجُلاً
92 women
اِثْنَتانِ وَتِسْعُونَ اِمْرَأَةً
Agreement in number and noun case of the counted object / المَعْدود
0 Comments