Numbers in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi numbers from 1 to 100 are not built by one dependable rule. Learn एक, दो, तीन (1, 2, 3) and the other basic forms first, but treat words such as इक्कीस (21), बत्तीस (32), and उनचास (49) as vocabulary in their own right. The good news is that cardinal numbers—the ordinary counting words—normally do not change to match the noun they count.

Overview

Numbers are essential from the beginning of Hindi study. You need them to buy food, understand prices, tell someone your age, arrange a meeting, give an address, and recognise train or bus numbers. This A1 topic covers the cardinal numbers from 1 to 100: numbers that answer “how many?” rather than “which in order?”

For an English-speaking learner, the main difference is predictability. English builds twenty-one transparently from twenty plus one. Modern Hindi इक्कीस has a historical relationship to एक and बीस, but you cannot safely invent it by joining those two words. Similar sound patterns recur across the number system, yet changes are frequent enough that the standard forms should be learned individually.

Hindi is written in Devanagari and may also use Devanagari digits such as १, २, ३. International digits such as 1, 2, 3 are extremely common too. This article gives romanization as temporary pronunciation support, but learning the Devanagari words will make real signs, messages, and conversations much easier to follow.

How It Works

The beginner rule

Put the number before the noun:

• एक किताब — one book
• दो किताबें — two books
• चार लोग — four people
• दस रुपये — ten rupees

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. The number itself normally stays unchanged: दो लड़के (two boys), दो लड़कियाँ (two girls). The noun may take its appropriate singular or plural form, but दो does not change for gender.

With exactly one item, use a singular noun: एक कमरा (one room). With larger exact numbers, Hindi often uses a plural form for countable nouns: तीन कमरे (three rooms), पाँच कुर्सियाँ (five chairs). Some nouns have a plural form identical to the singular in this position, so do not assume that every plural must look different: एक आदमी, तीन आदमी.

Zero to ten

Value	Devanagari digit	Hindi	Romanization
0	०	शून्य / सिफ़र	shūnya / sifar
1	१	एक	ek
2	२	दो	do
3	३	तीन	tīn
4	४	चार	chār
5	५	पाँच	pā̃ch
6	६	छह	chhah
7	७	सात	sāt
8	८	आठ	āṭh
9	९	नौ	nau
10	१०	दस	das

The mark over the vowel in पाँच indicates nasalization: some air passes through the nose. In आठ, ठ is a retroflex consonant, made with the tongue curled slightly back. Romanization can hint at these distinctions but cannot replace listening.

शून्य is the standard mathematical word for zero. सिफ़र is also widely understood, while English zero is common in contemporary speech, particularly in strings of digits.

Eleven to twenty

Value	Hindi	Romanization	Value	Hindi	Romanization
11	ग्यारह	gyārah	16	सोलह	solah
12	बारह	bārah	17	सत्रह	satrah
13	तेरह	terah	18	अठारह	aṭhārah
14	चौदह	chaudah	19	उन्नीस	unnīs
15	पंद्रह	pandrah	20	बीस	bīs

These are best learned as complete words. Several end in -रह or -दह, but that resemblance is not a rule that lets you construct every form.

The tens

Value	Hindi	Romanization
10	दस	das
20	बीस	bīs
30	तीस	tīs
40	चालीस	chālīs
50	पचास	pachās
60	साठ	sāṭh
70	सत्तर	sattar
80	अस्सी	assī
90	नब्बे	nabbe
100	सौ	sau

Notice the recurring -ईस / -लीस sound in some lower tens and doubled consonants in सत्तर, अस्सी, नब्बे. These observations help memory, but they do not form a complete system.

Twenty-one to ninety-nine

Hindi has a conventional word for each number. The table is therefore not merely a list of exceptions: it is the practical reference system learners need.

20s	30s	40s	50s
21 इक्कीस	31 इकतीस	41 इकतालीस	51 इक्यावन
22 बाईस	32 बत्तीस	42 बयालीस	52 बावन
23 तेईस	33 तैंतीस	43 तैंतालीस	53 तिरपन
24 चौबीस	34 चौंतीस	44 चवालीस	54 चौवन
25 पच्चीस	35 पैंतीस	45 पैंतालीस	55 पचपन
26 छब्बीस	36 छत्तीस	46 छियालीस	56 छप्पन
27 सत्ताईस	37 सैंतीस	47 सैंतालीस	57 सत्तावन
28 अट्ठाईस	38 अड़तीस	48 अड़तालीस	58 अट्ठावन
29 उनतीस	39 उनतालीस	49 उनचास	59 उनसठ

60s	70s	80s	90s
61 इकसठ	71 इकहत्तर	81 इक्यासी	91 इक्यानवे
62 बासठ	72 बहत्तर	82 बयासी	92 बानवे
63 तिरसठ	73 तिहत्तर	83 तिरासी	93 तिरानवे
64 चौंसठ	74 चौहत्तर	84 चौरासी	94 चौरानवे
65 पैंसठ	75 पचहत्तर	85 पचासी	95 पंचानवे
66 छियासठ	76 छिहत्तर	86 छियासी	96 छियानवे
67 सड़सठ	77 सतहत्तर	87 सतासी	97 सत्तानवे
68 अड़सठ	78 अठहत्तर	88 अट्ठासी	98 अट्ठानवे
69 उनहत्तर	79 उन्नासी	89 नवासी	99 निन्यानवे

Useful families do appear. Numbers ending in 9 often begin with उन- before the next ten: उनतीस (29), उनतालीस (39), उनचास (49), उनसठ (59), उनहत्तर (69). This reflects the idea “one less than” the following ten. Later forms do not all preserve that exact pattern: 79 is उन्नासी, 89 नवासी, and 99 निन्यानवे.

Likewise, words ending in the same digit often resemble one another—compare इक्कीस, इकतीस, इकतालीस—but their endings and internal sounds change. Use patterns to organise recall, not to guess unfamiliar numbers with confidence.

One hundred and larger combinations

सौ means one hundred. Both सौ and एक सौ can express 100. Above 100, combinations become more transparent:

• एक सौ एक — 101
• एक सौ पच्चीस — 125
• दो सौ — 200
• नौ सौ निन्यानवे — 999

A common alternative construction uses एक सौ plus the remaining number; no equivalent of English and is required. Larger South Asian numbering terms, including हज़ार (thousand), लाख (100,000), and करोड़ (10,000,000), belong beyond the core 1–100 scope but are important in real prices and news reports.

Quantities, ages, and prices

Hindi often uses a number directly before a unit:

• पाँच किलो चावल — five kilos of rice
• दो लीटर पानी — two litres of water
• तीस रुपये — thirty rupees

For age, Hindi normally describes a person as being a number of years “of,” rather than using the direct English structure I am twenty. A male speaker says मैं बीस साल का हूँ; a female speaker says मैं बीस साल की हूँ. Here का/की agrees with the person being described, not with the number.

For prices, रुपया has the plural direct form रुपये: एक रुपया, but बीस रुपये. In everyday speech, pronunciation may sound closer to rupaye or rupay depending on the speaker.

Time and strings of digits

For exact clock hours, Hindi commonly uses the number with बजे:

• तीन बजे — at three o’clock
• सात बजे मिलते हैं। — Let’s meet at seven.

Phone numbers, room numbers, PINs, and similar identifiers are usually read digit by digit because they are labels, not quantities. Thus 507 may be पाँच शून्य सात, पाँच सिफ़र सात, or, in mixed contemporary speech, पाँच ज़ीरो सात. A bus route written 32, by contrast, can naturally be called बत्तीस नंबर की बस.

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
मेरे पास दो टिकट हैं।	I have two tickets.	A simple quantity before a plural noun
मेज़ पर एक किताब है।	There is one book on the table.	एक takes a singular noun
कमरे में चार आदमी हैं।	There are four men in the room.	आदमी has the same direct singular and plural form
मुझे पाँच किलो चावल चाहिए।	I need five kilos of rice.	Number + measurement unit
यह तीस रुपये का है।	This costs thirty rupees.	Literally, “This is of thirty rupees”
मेरी उम्र इक्कीस साल है।	I am twenty-one years old.	A gender-neutral way to state age using उम्र
मेरी बहन बत्तीस साल की है।	My sister is thirty-two years old.	की agrees with the sister
ट्रेन सैंतालीस मिनट लेट है।	The train is forty-seven minutes late.	A duration or difference
हम आठ बजे निकलेंगे।	We will leave at eight o’clock.	Exact hour with बजे
बस नंबर पचपन कहाँ जाती है?	Where does bus number fifty-five go?	Number used as a route label
इस कक्षा में उनतीस छात्र हैं।	There are twenty-nine students in this class.	उनतीस is 29, not 39
सौ लोग आए।	One hundred people came.	सौ can mean 100 without एक
मेरा कमरा दो सौ तीन है।	My room is 203.	Room numbers may be read as a whole number
कोड पाँच-शून्य-सात है।	The code is five-zero-seven.	Digits read separately

Common Mistakes

Building numbers as if Hindi worked like English

• Wrong: बीस-एक for 21
• Right: इक्कीस
• Why: English combines twenty and one, but standard Hindi uses a single inherited form. Memorise इक्कीस as one word.

Confusing similar “one less” forms

• Wrong: उनतीस for 39
• Right: उनतालीस for 39; उनतीस is 29
• Why: Several numbers ending in 9 begin similarly. Anchor each one to its following ten: उनतालीस is one before चालीस.

Changing the number for gender

• Wrong: दोई लड़कियाँ for “two girls”
• Right: दो लड़कियाँ
• Why: Cardinal numbers such as दो, तीन, बीस do not have masculine and feminine forms. The noun supplies the appropriate form.

Leaving a singular noun after a larger count

• Wrong: तीन किताब
• Right: तीन किताबें
• Why: Ordinary countable nouns are normally plural after numbers greater than one. Learn the noun’s plural along with its singular, while remembering that some forms, such as आदमी, do not visibly change here.

Translating age word for word

• Wrong: मैं बीस हूँ।
• Right: मैं बीस साल का हूँ। (male speaker) / मैं बीस साल की हूँ। (female speaker)
• Why: Hindi normally includes साल and an agreeing का/की phrase, or uses मेरी उम्र बीस साल है.

Reading every numeric string as a quantity

• Potentially confusing: saying पाँच सौ सात when giving the digits of a code written 507
• Clearer: पाँच-शून्य-सात
• Why: A code or phone number identifies rather than counts. Reading each digit separately prevents ambiguity.

Usage Notes

Hindi speakers frequently mix English number words into conversation, especially for phone numbers, dates, prices, addresses, and professional contexts. That does not make the Hindi forms old-fashioned: words such as एक, दो, दस, सौ remain fundamental, and many speakers move between the two systems depending on context. Learn to recognise mixed usage rather than assuming every conversation will use one system consistently.

Spelling and pronunciation can vary slightly across dictionaries, regions, and careful versus rapid speech. For example, learners may encounter छः as an alternative spelling of छह (6), and everyday pronunciation can compress consonant clusters. The forms in the tables are widely taught standard spellings; focus first on recognising the number rather than policing minor accent differences.

Hindi also has familiar fractional expressions. आधा means half, डेढ़ means one and a half, and ढाई means two and a half. They are common in prices, time, and measurements, but they should be learned as separate vocabulary rather than derived from the 1–100 table.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but they explain forms you will soon encounter.

First, exact cardinal numbers differ from ordinal numbers, which show order. English distinguishes two from second; Hindi distinguishes दो from दूसरा/दूसरी/दूसरे. Unlike basic cardinals, many ordinal forms agree with gender and grammatical position: दूसरा दिन (second day), दूसरी मंज़िल (second floor).

Second, Hindi can turn small numbers into group expressions. दोनों means “both,” while तीनों means “all three.” Repetition can distribute items or actions: एक-एक किताब means “one book each,” and दो-दो लोग means “two people at a time/each.” These are not replacements for ordinary counting; they add the ideas of a complete group or distribution.

Finally, South Asian grouping differs from standard English grouping above a thousand. एक लाख is 100,000 and एक करोड़ is 10,000,000. Indian digit grouping writes these as 1,00,000 and 1,00,00,000. This matters when reading property prices, salaries, population figures, and news, even though it lies beyond the present 1–100 foundation.

Practice Tips

1. Learn in useful layers. Master 0–10, then 11–20 and the tens. Add one row of ten higher numbers at a time instead of trying to absorb all 100 in one sitting.
2. Practise recognition in random order. Counting upward can hide weak recall. Write 17, 32, 49, and 86 on cards and say सत्रह, बत्तीस, उनचास, छियासी without running through the sequence.
3. Attach numbers to real tasks. Say the prices on a menu, your age, the current hour, room numbers, and quantities on a shopping list. Alternate between whole quantities and digit strings so that पाँच सौ सात and पाँच-शून्य-सात stay distinct.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Ordinal Numbers — learn forms such as पहला, दूसरा, तीसरा and how they agree with the noun.
• Later development: Aggregative and Distributive — express “both,” “all three,” “each,” and “one by one” with forms such as दोनों, हर, and एक-एक.