Numbers in Hebrew

In Brief

Hebrew cardinal numbers—the numbers used for counting—often have separate masculine and feminine forms. Choose the form according to the gender of the noun: שני ספרים “two books” but שתי מחברות “two notebooks.” The surprising beginner rule is that from 3 to 10, the longer forms ending in ־ה go with masculine nouns, while the shorter forms go with feminine nouns.

Overview

Numbers are an A1 topic because they appear everywhere: prices, phone numbers, ages, addresses, quantities, and times. Hebrew adds one feature that English does not have: most basic numbers distinguish grammatical gender. A noun (a word for a person, place, thing, or idea) is classified as masculine or feminine, and the number normally agrees with that gender.

The system is most noticeable from 1 to 19. One usually follows its noun, two has special forms before nouns, and 3–10 show a pattern sometimes called gender polarity: the number form that looks feminine because it ends in ־ה is actually used with a masculine noun. The tens from 20 onward do not change for gender, but the final unit in a compound number does.

Modern Hebrew is normally written without vowel points, so forms that are distinct in speech may look similar on the page. The tables below give common unvocalized spelling and a simple transliteration where pronunciation is especially useful. Transliteration is only a guide; stress and some vowels vary in natural speech.

How It Works

Zero and one

אפס (éfes, zero) is normally treated as one form; you do not choose a masculine or feminine version. When reading digits individually—such as a phone number—speakers also normally use אפס.

One agrees with the noun and usually comes after it. This differs from English, where the number normally comes first.

Meaning	Masculine	Feminine	Note
zero	אפס	אפס	One common form
one, counting/standalone	אחד	אחת	eḥad / aḥat
one + noun	ספר אחד	מחברת אחת	The number follows the noun

The noun is singular with one: ילד אחד “one boy,” not a plural noun. When merely reciting the number sequence, learners commonly hear אחד, שתיים, שלוש...; counting forms do not remove the need to choose the correct gender in a noun phrase.

Two

The standalone forms are שניים for masculine and שתיים for feminine. Directly before a noun, use the shorter construct forms—special forms that connect closely to the following noun—שני and שתי.

Use	Masculine	Feminine
Standalone “two”	שניים	שתיים
Before a noun	שני ספרים	שתי מחברות

The noun after two is plural. Compare יש לי שני ספרים “I have two books” with כמה מחברות יש? שתיים. “How many notebooks are there? Two.”

Three through ten

For 3–10, first identify the noun’s gender. Use the longer ־ה form with masculine nouns and the shorter form with feminine nouns. This reversal is the part worth memorizing as paired phrases rather than as an abstract rule.

Number	With a masculine noun	With a feminine noun
3	שלושה ספרים	שלוש בנות
4	ארבעה ספרים	ארבע בנות
5	חמישה ספרים	חמש בנות
6	שישה ספרים	שש בנות
7	שבעה ספרים	שבע בנות
8	שמונה ספרים	שמונה בנות
9	תשעה ספרים	תשע בנות
10	עשרה ספרים	עשר בנות

In unvocalized writing, both forms of eight are spelled שמונה, although their standard pronunciations differ: shmoná with masculine nouns and shmóne with feminine nouns. After 3–10, the noun is plural.

Do not decide gender from the noun’s plural ending alone. שולחן “table” is masculine even though its plural is שולחנות, so “three tables” is שלושה שולחנות. Learn the gender with the singular noun.

Eleven through nineteen

Numbers 11–19 also distinguish gender. They consist of a unit plus a form related to ten. In the masculine series, the second part is עשר (asar); in the feminine series, it is עשרה (esre). Twelve has special first elements.

Number	Masculine	Feminine
11	אחד עשר	אחת עשרה
12	שנים עשר	שתים עשרה
13	שלושה עשר	שלוש עשרה
14	ארבעה עשר	ארבע עשרה
15	חמישה עשר	חמש עשרה
16	שישה עשר	שש עשרה
17	שבעה עשר	שבע עשרה
18	שמונה עשר	שמונה עשרה
19	תשעה עשר	תשע עשרה

Choose the whole number according to the noun: שלושה עשר תלמידים “thirteen male students” and שלוש עשרה תלמידות “thirteen female students.” The noun is normally plural.

The tens and one hundred

The round tens do not have separate masculine and feminine forms. Several resemble plural forms, but treat each as a fixed number word.

Number	Hebrew	Pronunciation guide
20	עשרים	esrím
30	שלושים	shloshím
40	ארבעים	arba'ím
50	חמישים	ḥamishím
60	שישים	shishím
70	שבעים	shiv'ím
80	שמונים	shmoním
90	תשעים	tish'ím
100	מאה	me'á

To form 21–99, join the tens and unit with ו־, the attached conjunction meaning “and”: עשרים ואחד “twenty-one,” שלושים ושתיים “thirty-two.” The conjunction is written as part of the following word. The unit agrees with the noun, while the tens stay unchanged:

• עשרים ואחד ספרים — twenty-one books
• עשרים ואחת מחברות — twenty-one notebooks
• שלושים ושני תלמידים — thirty-two male students
• שלושים ושתיים תלמידות — thirty-two female students

Notice two details. With 21, one comes inside the number before the noun rather than after it. With numbers ending in two, use שני/שתי when the number directly modifies a following noun, but שניים/שתיים when it stands alone.

The number 100 is מאה. This article stops at 100, but recognizing מאה helps with prices and addresses. Its fuller inflectional patterns belong to later study.

Examples in Context

Hebrew	English	Note
יש לי ספר אחד.	I have one book.	Masculine singular; אחד follows the noun
קניתי מחברת אחת.	I bought one notebook.	Feminine singular
על השולחן יש שני ספרים.	There are two books on the table.	שני before a masculine noun
בכיתה יש שתי מורות.	There are two female teachers in the classroom.	שתי before a feminine noun
יש לנו שלושה ילדים.	We have three children/boys.	Masculine plural
יש להם שלוש בנות.	They have three daughters.	Feminine plural
אני צריך ארבעה כרטיסים.	I need four tickets.	כרטיס is masculine
היא קנתה חמש חולצות.	She bought five shirts.	חולצה is feminine
באוטובוס יש שנים עשר נוסעים.	There are twelve passengers on the bus.	Masculine form of twelve
במסעדה יש שתים עשרה מנות.	The restaurant has twelve dishes.	Feminine form of twelve
הספר עולה עשרים ואחד שקלים.	The book costs twenty-one shekels.	Final unit agrees with שקל
קניתי עשרים ואחת מחברות.	I bought twenty-one notebooks.	Feminine final unit agrees with מחברות
אנחנו צריכים שלושים ושני כיסאות.	We need thirty-two chairs.	Construct שני inside a compound number
הגיעו שלושים ושתיים תלמידות.	Thirty-two female students arrived.	Feminine unit
המספר שלי מתחיל באפס חמש.	My number starts with zero five.	Digits read individually
בבית הספר יש מאה תלמידים.	There are one hundred students in the school.	מאה + plural noun

Common Mistakes

Using the visually “feminine-looking” form with a feminine noun

• Wrong: שלושה בנות
• Right: שלוש בנות
• Why: From 3 to 10, the forms ending in ־ה accompany masculine nouns. Feminine בנות takes the shorter form שלוש.

Putting one before the noun

• Wrong: אחד ספר
• Right: ספר אחד
• Why: When one directly counts a noun, Hebrew normally places אחד/אחת after that singular noun.

Using the standalone form of two before a noun

• Wrong: שניים ספרים / שתיים מחברות
• Right: שני ספרים / שתי מחברות
• Why: Before a noun, use the connecting forms שני and שתי. Use שניים/שתיים when “two” stands alone.

Guessing gender from the plural ending

• Wrong: שלוש שולחנות
• Right: שלושה שולחנות
• Why: שולחן is masculine, despite the plural ending ־ות. Agreement follows the noun’s grammatical gender, not the appearance of its plural.

Forgetting agreement in the final unit

• Wrong: עשרים ואחד מחברות
• Right: עשרים ואחת מחברות
• Why: The tens are fixed, but the unit still agrees with the feminine noun מחברות.

Omitting “and” in compound numbers

• Wrong: עשרים אחד
• Right: עשרים ואחד
• Why: Standard compound numbers connect the tens and unit with attached ו־ “and.”

Usage Notes

When counting objects carefully, especially in formal or educational settings, use the gender forms shown above. In casual Israeli speech, number agreement is not always maintained consistently—particularly with complex numbers, prices, addresses, and speakers who default to familiar counting forms. As a learner, the standard agreement system is the safest foundation; it is understood everywhere and expected in careful speech and writing.

Numbers used as labels or identifiers behave differently from quantities. Phone numbers, bus numbers, apartment numbers, and mathematical expressions are often read with conventional standalone counting forms rather than as a number agreeing with an implied noun. Listen to how native speakers say the entire item instead of forcing noun agreement onto each digit.

Currency also shows a common colloquial pattern. After larger numbers, Israeli speakers often use singular שקל, as in עשרים שקל, although formal agreement and plural patterns may appear too. This is a usage convention involving units of measurement, not a reason to ignore gender agreement with ordinary countable nouns.

Hebrew spelling usually leaves vowels unwritten. That makes pronunciation practice essential: identical-looking שמונה can represent two pronunciations, and עשר/עשרה are pronounced differently within the masculine and feminine teen series.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master this section at A1, but these patterns explain forms you will encounter in newspapers, announcements, dates, and formal writing.

When a phrase with 3–10 is definite—roughly, “the three books” rather than “three books”—the number commonly takes a construct-state form, a form closely linked to the following definite noun:

Indefinite	Definite	Meaning
שלושה ספרים	שלושת הספרים	three books / the three books
ארבעה תלמידים	ארבעת התלמידים	four students / the four students
שלוש הבנות	שלוש הבנות	the three girls

In masculine forms, the final ־ה is replaced in writing by ־ת in this construction: שלושה → שלושת, חמישה → חמשת. Feminine number forms usually remain visually unchanged. This pattern is useful to recognize before trying to produce it freely.

Nouns after numbers do not all behave alike. Ordinary count nouns are generally plural after two and higher, but units of currency, time, distance, and measurement can occur in the singular after larger numbers, especially in everyday usage: עשרים שקל “twenty shekels,” מאה מטר “one hundred meters.” Formal style and particular nouns may favor other patterns, so learn frequent measurement expressions as complete chunks.

Finally, cardinal numbers such as אחד, שתיים, שלוש answer “how many?” Ordinal numbers such as ראשון, שני, שלישי answer “which in a sequence?” English uses “one” versus “first”; Hebrew makes the same conceptual distinction, but ordinals behave more like adjectives and agree with their nouns. Dates and centuries add further conventions and are best learned as a separate topic.

Practice Tips

1. Learn numbers with two nouns. For each number, say one masculine and one feminine phrase: שלושה ספרים, שלוש מחברות. This builds agreement into memory instead of leaving it as a rule to calculate later.
2. Practice in layers. First master 1–10, then 11–19, then the round tens. Only afterward combine tens and units, changing the final unit for gender.
3. Use real-life mini-drills. Count objects around you, read prices aloud, and invent short shopping lists. For numbers ending in one or two, check word order and the special forms שני/שתי.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender — you need to know whether a noun is masculine or feminine before choosing a number form.
• Next step: Telling Time and Dates — applies numbers to clocks, weekdays, months, and calendar expressions.
• Later study: Ordinal Numbers and Date Expressions — distinguishes “one” from “first” and develops formal date patterns.