One to ten
| Digit | Arabic | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ١ | وَاحِدٌ | wāḥid |
| ٢ | اثْنَانِ | ithnāni |
| ٣ | ثَلَاثَةٌ | thalātha |
| ٤ | أَرْبَعَةٌ | arbaʿa |
| ٥ | خَمْسَةٌ | khamsa |
| ٦ | سِتَّةٌ | sitta |
| ٧ | سَبْعَةٌ | sabʿa |
| ٨ | ثَمَانِيَةٌ | thamāniya |
| ٩ | تِسْعَةٌ | tisʿa |
| ١٠ | عَشَرَةٌ | ʿashara |
The Arabic-Indic digits ١٢٣ are read left to right, exactly like 123: ١٩٩٥ is 1995.
Counting things: the gender flips
وَاحِدٌ and اثْنَانِ are rarely needed, because a noun on its own already means one, and the dual ending already means two.
From three to ten the number takes the opposite gender from the thing counted, and the counted noun is plural genitive:
| Arabic | Meaning | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ | three books | كِتَاب is masculine, so the number takes ة |
| ثَلَاثُ سَيَّارَاتٍ | three cars | سَيَّارَة is feminine, so the number drops ة |
| خَمْسَةُ أَوْلَادٍ | five boys | masculine noun, feminine number |
| خَمْسُ بَنَاتٍ | five girls | feminine noun, masculine number |
To find the gender, look at the singular: سَيَّارَات is feminine because سَيَّارَة is.
Telling the time
The hour is a feminine ordinal with ال, because السَّاعَة (hour) is feminine:
- السَّاعَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ — one o'clock (the only hour without an ordinal)
- السَّاعَةُ الثَّالِثَةُ — three o'clock
- السَّاعَةُ الْخَامِسَةُ وَالنِّصْفُ — half past five
- السَّاعَةُ السَّابِعَةُ وَالرُّبْعُ — quarter past seven
- السَّاعَةُ التَّاسِعَةُ إِلَّا الرُّبْعَ — quarter to nine
"At" is فِي, and everything after it is genitive: فِي السَّاعَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ — at three o'clock.
The days
الْأَحَدُ Sunday, الِاثْنَيْنِ Monday, الثُّلَاثَاءُ Tuesday, الْأَرْبِعَاءُ Wednesday, الْخَمِيسُ Thursday, الْجُمُعَةُ Friday, السَّبْتُ Saturday. "On Monday" is يَوْمَ الِاثْنَيْنِ.
Watch out as an English speaker
- The gender flip feels backwards. ✗ ثَلَاثُ كُتُبٍ / ✓ ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ.
- The counted noun after 3-10 is plural, not singular. ✗ ثَلَاثَةُ كِتَابٍ / ✓ ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ.
- Do not say "one book" with a number. ✗ وَاحِدُ كِتَابٍ / ✓ كِتَابٌ.
- The clock uses ordinals, not the counting numbers. ✗ السَّاعَةُ ثَلَاثَةٌ / ✓ السَّاعَةُ الثَّالِثَةُ.
Example dialogue
كَمِ السَّاعَةُ؟ — What time is it?
السَّاعَةُ الرَّابِعَةُ وَالنِّصْفُ. — It is half past four.
مَتَى الدَّرْسُ؟ — When is the lesson?
يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ فِي السَّاعَةِ التَّاسِعَةِ. — On Thursday at nine o'clock.
عِنْدِي خَمْسَةُ كُتُبٍ وَثَلَاثُ كَرَّاسَاتٍ. — I have five books and three notebooks.