Cardinal numbers in Arabic are quite complex and many Arabic native speakers make errors in using them, that’s why most pronounce them the dialectal way with simplified grammar. For that very reason, we’re going to divide the lesson about cardinal numbers into three parts. This part under the Beginner section will deal with the counting system in Arabic and days of the week. A second lesson under the Intermediate section will focus on ordinal numbers, fractions and the expression of time. Lastly, a third part under the Advanced section will deal with the numbers noun cases’, and gender agreement with the noun they qualify.

There are two different ways to write numbers in Arabic. We have on the one hand the Eastern Arabic numerals used in the Middle East and the Arabic Peninsula. On the other hand, we have the Western Arabic numerals used in North Africa. You can read more about it in our article over here. Those latter are the ones used in most of the World nowadays. For more information about that, please check our dedicated page.

Units / وَحَدات

0 to 10

• 0: does not vary in gender but varies in noun case
• 1 to 10: numbers can vary in gender and noun case.

11 to 19

• 11 to 19: the numbers are indeclinable (مَبْنِية) with a final fatḥa but can vary in gender.

Note: in Arabic, the unit is pronounced before the ten.

Tens / عَشَرات

• 20 to 90: These are the masculine sound plurals of the number nouns from 3 to 9 except 20 which is the plural of 10 (عِشْرون).

• 21 to 29: To create intermediate numbers, the unit’s name is written first followed by its tens. These two components are combined using و and must be declined in accordance with standard rules of grammar.

Hundreds / مِئات

• 100 have the alternative writing مائِة but is still pronounced the same way.
• 200 is written in the dual form of 100
• 300 to 900: units are written as prefixes to 100, without bearing the ة. They are considered as 1st term of annexation while 100 is the 2nd, hence always in the genitive case (مَجْرور).

Note: Even though units are pronounced before tens, the hundreds (and above) always come first, the natural order is then:

hundreds 🢡 units 🢡 tens. 

سِتُّمِئةٍ واثْنَانِ وعِشْرُونَ

622 (year of the hijra)

Thousands / آلاف

1 000 to 10 000:

• 2 000 is written in the dual form of 1 000
• 3 000 to 10 000 are written with units followed by the plural form of 1 000

11 000 to 999 999: 

Starting from 11 000 numbers are written thousands are written in the singular form in the indefinite accusative case (مَنْصُوب)

Note: Following the same logic the hundreds, thousands, and what’s above will continue to come first, the natural order is then:

thousands 🢡 hundreds 🢡 units 🢡 tens.

1187 (date of conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin)	أَلْفٌ وَمِئةٌ وسَبْعةٌ وثَمانُون
999 999	تِسْعُمِئةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعونَ أَلْفًا وَتِسْعُمِئةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعونَ

Millions and billions / المَلايِين و البلايِين