Numbers 11–100 in Arabic

In Brief

Arabic numbers 11–99 normally come before the item counted, and that item is a singular accusative noun: أحد عشر كتابًا (“eleven books”), not a plural equivalent of “books.” The teens have special gender patterns, while 21–99 put the unit first, then و (“and”), then the ten: خمسة وعشرون (“twenty-five”). At 100, the counted noun changes to singular genitive: مائة كتابٍ (“one hundred books”).

Overview

Numbers from 11 to 100 are essential at A1: they appear in prices, ages, dates, addresses, times, quantities, and telephone numbers. The basic number words are not difficult to memorize, but Arabic asks you to notice two features that English usually ignores: the grammatical gender of the thing being counted and the case of the number in the sentence.

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea, such as طالب (“student”), سيارة (“car”), or يوم (“day”). Arabic nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine. The numeral may change according to that gender. The noun after 11–99 is also in the accusative case—a form marked with a final a sound in fully pronounced Standard Arabic—and remains singular even when the meaning is plural.

This article teaches the beginner pattern first. Later sections explain case changes and formal variants that matter in careful Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). You can begin by learning the main forms as complete chunks, then add the case details as your reading and writing become more advanced.

How It Works

11 and 12: special forms

Both parts of 11 and 12 agree with the gender of the counted noun. In other words, use the masculine form with a masculine noun and the feminine form with a feminine noun.

Value	With a masculine noun	With a feminine noun
11	أحد عشر	إحدى عشرة
12, nominative	اثنا عشر	اثنتا عشرة
12, accusative or genitive	اثني عشر	اثنتي عشرة

The nominative is the form often used for the subject of a sentence (the person or thing being described or doing the action). The genitive is used after a preposition and in certain noun combinations. For now, the most useful contrast is:

• في الصف اثنا عشر طالبًا. — There are twelve male students in the class.
• رأيت اثني عشر طالبًا. — I saw twelve male students.
• في الصف اثنتا عشرة طالبةً. — There are twelve female students in the class.
• تحدثت مع اثنتي عشرة طالبةً. — I spoke with twelve female students.

Only 12 has this visible اثنا / اثني and اثنتا / اثنتي change. The noun after it is still singular accusative.

13–19: the two parts follow different gender rules

For 13–19, the unit from 3 to 9 has the opposite gender from the noun, just as it does in the basic 3–10 pattern. The “ten” part agrees with the noun:

Value	With a masculine noun	With a feminine noun
13	ثلاثة عشر	ثلاث عشرة
14	أربعة عشر	أربع عشرة
15	خمسة عشر	خمس عشرة
16	ستة عشر	ست عشرة
17	سبعة عشر	سبع عشرة
18	ثمانية عشر	ثماني عشرة
19	تسعة عشر	تسع عشرة

This split pattern is easier to see with examples:

• ثلاثة عشر كتابًا — thirteen books (كتاب is masculine)
• ثلاث عشرة سيارةً — thirteen cars (سيارة is feminine)
• خمسة عشر يومًا — fifteen days (يوم is masculine)
• خمس عشرة دقيقةً — fifteen minutes (دقيقة is feminine)

Do not try to make both parts look alike. With a feminine noun, for example, ثلاث عشرة is correct: ثلاث is the unit form required by the opposite-gender rule, while عشرة agrees with the feminine noun.

The round tens: 20, 30, … 90

The tens do not change for gender. The same form is used whether the counted noun is masculine or feminine.

Value	Nominative	Accusative or genitive
20	عشرون	عشرين
30	ثلاثون	ثلاثين
40	أربعون	أربعين
50	خمسون	خمسين
60	ستون	ستين
70	سبعون	سبعين
80	ثمانون	ثمانين
90	تسعون	تسعين

The ـون ending is used when the number is nominative. The ـين ending is used when it is accusative or genitive:

• حضر عشرون طالبًا. — Twenty students attended. The number is the subject, so it is nominative.
• رأيت عشرين طالبًا. — I saw twenty students. The number is the object, so it is accusative.
• تحدثت مع عشرين طالبًا. — I spoke with twenty students. The number follows a preposition, so it is genitive.

In everyday unvowelled Arabic, this is one of the case distinctions you can actually see in the spelling, so it is worth learning early.

21–99: unit + و + ten

For a non-round number above 20, Arabic places the unit first, adds و (“and”), and then gives the ten. This order may feel reversed to an English speaker:

• 25: خمسة وعشرون — literally “five and twenty”
• 37: سبعة وثلاثون — literally “seven and thirty”
• 49: تسعة وأربعون — literally “nine and forty”

The conjunction و is attached directly to the following word in Arabic writing. Do not omit it.

The unit still follows the relevant gender rule:

Unit in compounds	With a masculine noun	With a feminine noun
1	واحد	إحدى
2, nominative	اثنان	اثنتان
2, accusative or genitive	اثنين	اثنتين
3	ثلاثة	ثلاث
4	أربعة	أربع
5	خمسة	خمس
6	ستة	ست
7	سبعة	سبع
8	ثمانية	ثماني
9	تسعة	تسع

Thus:

• واحد وعشرون كتابًا — twenty-one books
• إحدى وعشرون سيارةً — twenty-one cars
• ثلاثة وعشرون كتابًا — twenty-three books
• ثلاث وعشرون سيارةً — twenty-three cars

For 1 and 2, the unit agrees with the noun. For 3–9, it has the opposite gender. The tens part has no gender contrast, but it changes between ـون and ـين according to its role in the sentence.

The counted noun after 11–99

The noun that states what is being counted is traditionally called the tamyīz (تمييز), meaning the word that clarifies what the number refers to. After every number from 11 through 99, it is normally:

1. singular, even though more than one item is meant;
2. accusative;
3. placed after the number.

Number phrase	Why the noun has this form
أحد عشر كتابًا	كتابًا is singular accusative, not plural كتب
عشرون طالبًا	طالبًا is singular accusative, not plural طلاب
خمس وثلاثون دقيقةً	دقيقةً is singular accusative despite the plural meaning

The accusative ending is often written as ـًا on many masculine nouns, as in كتابًا. Feminine nouns ending in ة commonly appear with ـً over the ending, as in سيارةً. In ordinary unvowelled writing, these short-vowel marks may be omitted, but the grammatical pattern remains the same.

100 changes the noun pattern

“One hundred” is مائة; the modern spelling مئة is also correct. Unlike 11–99, 100 is followed by a singular genitive noun:

• مائة كتابٍ — one hundred books
• مائة سيارةٍ — one hundred cars
• مائة طالبٍ — one hundred students

The noun is still singular, but its case has changed from accusative to genitive. This boundary is important: compare تسعة وتسعون كتابًا (“ninety-nine books”) with مائة كتابٍ (“one hundred books”).

Examples in Context

Arabic	English	Note
لدي أحد عشر كتابًا.	I have eleven books.	11 with a masculine noun
في الحافلة إحدى عشرة امرأةً.	There are eleven women on the bus.	11 with a feminine noun
في الصف اثنتا عشرة طالبةً.	There are twelve female students in the class.	Feminine 12, nominative
اشتريت اثني عشر قلمًا.	I bought twelve pens.	Masculine 12, accusative
قرأنا ثلاثة عشر فصلًا.	We read thirteen chapters.	Masculine noun; opposite-gender unit
وصلت ثلاث عشرة رسالةً.	Thirteen messages arrived.	Feminine noun; ثلاث + عشرة
في الفندق ثمانية عشر طابقًا.	The hotel has eighteen floors.	18 with a masculine noun
يستغرق الدرس عشرين دقيقةً.	The lesson takes twenty minutes.	20 is accusative here
حضر ثلاثون طالبًا.	Thirty students attended.	Nominative ثلاثون
عمرها خمس وعشرون سنةً.	She is twenty-five years old.	Feminine noun سنة
تضم المكتبة واحدًا وعشرين قاموسًا.	The library contains twenty-one dictionaries.	Masculine 21, accusative
في المبنى اثنتان وعشرون شقةً.	There are twenty-two apartments in the building.	Feminine 22, nominative
تحدثت إلى ثلاثةٍ وثلاثين موظفًا.	I spoke to thirty-three employees.	Genitive compound after إلى
تحتوي المكتبة على مائة كتابٍ.	The library contains one hundred books.	100 takes a singular genitive noun

Common Mistakes

Using a plural noun after 11–99

• Wrong: عشرون طلابًا
• Right: عشرون طالبًا
• Why: After 11–99, the counted noun is singular accusative. English says “twenty students,” but Arabic uses the singular form طالبًا after the numeral.

Putting the tens before the unit

• Wrong: عشرون وخمسة كتابًا
• Right: خمسة وعشرون كتابًا
• Why: In 21–99, Arabic orders the parts as unit + و + ten: “five and twenty.”

Omitting و in a compound number

• Wrong: خمسة عشرون
• Right: خمسة وعشرون
• Why: Numbers such as 25 require و between the unit and the ten. By contrast, 15 is the separate teen form خمسة عشر, without و.

Applying one gender pattern to both parts of a teen

• Wrong: ثلاثة عشر سيارةً
• Right: ثلاث عشرة سيارةً
• Why: For a feminine noun from 13 to 19, the unit takes the opposite-gender form (ثلاث) while the “ten” part agrees with the noun (عشرة).

Keeping اثنا in every sentence

• Wrong: رأيت اثنا عشر طالبًا.
• Right: رأيت اثني عشر طالبًا.
• Why: The first part of 12 behaves like the Arabic dual: اثنا is nominative, but اثني is accusative or genitive. The feminine pair is اثنتا / اثنتي.

Using the accusative noun pattern after 100

• Wrong: مائة كتابًا
• Right: مائة كتابٍ
• Why: The noun after 100 is singular genitive, not singular accusative.

Usage Notes

These rules describe Modern Standard Arabic, the form used in formal writing, news, education, and communication across Arabic-speaking regions. Spoken varieties often use different pronunciations or number forms. They also usually omit most final case vowels. Learn the MSA system for reading and formal use, but expect everyday speech to sound simpler and to vary by region.

Arabic text may use Arabic-Indic digits such as ١١، ٢٥، ١٠٠ or Western digits such as 11, 25, 100. The number word and noun grammar do not change. In prices, timetables, menus, and online writing, you will encounter both digit systems.

When a number is given on its own, its gender may depend on an understood noun. Counting lists often teach a conventional form, but in a phrase you must choose the form that matches the actual noun pattern. It is therefore more useful to memorize ثلاثة عشر كتابًا and ثلاث عشرة سيارةً than to memorize one isolated equivalent for “thirteen.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master every case ending at A1, but careful MSA changes more than just the final noun. Eleven and the teens 13–19 are largely fixed in form regardless of their position in the sentence. Twelve is exceptional: its first part changes between اثنا / اثني or اثنتا / اثنتي. The round tens behave like the sound masculine plural, using ـون in the nominative and ـين in the accusative and genitive.

In compound numbers, both the unit and the ten respond to case. Compare the same quantity in three roles:

Role	Arabic	Meaning
Nominative subject	حضر ثلاثةٌ وثلاثون طالبًا.	Thirty-three students attended.
Accusative object	رأيت ثلاثةً وثلاثين طالبًا.	I saw thirty-three students.
Genitive after a preposition	تحدثت مع ثلاثةٍ وثلاثين طالبًا.	I spoke with thirty-three students.

The short case vowel on ثلاثة is normally absent from unvowelled text, but the difference between ثلاثون and ثلاثين remains visible. This is why learners may see two written forms for the same ten.

You will also encounter both مائة and مئة for 100. They represent the same word and meaning; مئة is a widely accepted modern spelling designed to reflect the pronunciation more directly. Neither spelling changes the genitive pattern of the following noun.

Practice Tips

1. Learn numbers in contrasting pairs. Say ثلاثة عشر كتابًا / ثلاث عشرة سيارةً, then change 13 to 14, 15, and so on. This trains the gender split instead of treating every form as unrelated vocabulary.
2. Build compounds from right to left conceptually. For 47, identify 7 (سبعة with a masculine noun), add و, then 40 (أربعون): سبعة وأربعون. Repeat with masculine and feminine nouns.
3. Use real quantities around you. Write ages, prices, page numbers, and counts in both digits and words. Always include a noun, because the noun is what determines gender and lets you practise the singular accusative pattern.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers 1–10 — introduces the unit forms and the gender pattern needed to build the teens and compound numbers.