Numbers and Counting in Yoruba

In Brief

In Yoruba, a number normally follows the noun it counts: ọmọ méjì “two children,” not the English order “two children.” Learn kan, méjì, mẹ́ta ... mẹ́wàá first. Larger traditional number words reflect a base-20 system and often build values by adding to or subtracting from a higher number.

Overview

Numbers are an A1 foundation because they appear everywhere: shopping, telephone numbers, ages, dates, addresses, transport, and quantities. Yoruba counting is straightforward from one to ten once you know the forms, but it differs from English in two immediately important ways. First, the number usually comes after the noun. Second, the form used while counting aloud is not always identical to the form used after a noun.

Yoruba is often described as having a vigesimal system (a system organized around groups of twenty). You can see this clearly in ogún “twenty,” ogójì “forty,” and in many compound numbers formed through addition or subtraction. Modern speakers also encounter simplified decimal-style expressions, especially in settings influenced by English, but the established Yoruba forms remain important in ordinary speech, prices, broadcasting, and written Yoruba.

Tone marks and underdots are part of Yoruba spelling, not decoration. Compare ogún “twenty” with other Yoruba words written with different tones. When learning a number, learn its full written and spoken shape rather than memorizing only the bare letters.

How It Works

Counting from one to ten

The first column below gives the forms commonly used for counting or naming a number by itself. The last column shows the form normally placed after a noun.

Value	Standalone counting form	After a noun
1	ọ̀kan	kan
2	èjì	méjì
3	ẹ̀ta	mẹ́ta
4	ẹ̀rin	mẹ́rin
5	márùn-ún	márùn-ún
6	mẹ́fà	mẹ́fà
7	méje	méje
8	mẹ́jọ	mẹ́jọ
9	mẹ́sàn-án	mẹ́sàn-án
10	mẹ́wàá	mẹ́wàá

The difference is easiest to see with one to four:

• ọ̀kan, èjì, ẹ̀ta, ẹ̀rin when reciting the sequence “one, two, three, four”
• ọmọ kan, ọmọ méjì, ọmọ mẹ́ta, ọmọ mẹ́rin for “one, two, three, four children”

Forms beginning in m- developed through the joining of a counting element with the numeral. At beginner level, it is more useful to learn each form as a unit than to reconstruct its history every time.

Put the noun before the number

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. In a basic Yoruba quantity phrase, it comes first:

noun + number

• ilé mẹ́ta — three houses
• ìwé mẹ́rin — four books
• ọjọ́ méje — seven days
• ẹja mẹ́wàá — ten fish

English reverses this order, so English-speaking learners often produce the wrong pattern by translating word for word. Think “houses three” while assembling the Yoruba phrase, even though the natural English translation is “three houses.” Yoruba does not add an English-style plural ending to the noun: ilé can mean “house” or “houses,” and the numeral supplies the quantity.

For one item, use kan after the noun: ìwé kan “one book.” Standalone ọ̀kan is used when the number itself is being named or contrasted: Ọ̀kan ni “It is one.”

Eleven to nineteen

Numbers above ten begin to show addition and subtraction. The forms are conventional words, so learn them by sound and in small groups rather than trying to calculate every syllable while speaking.

Value	Yoruba	Useful way to understand it
11	mọ́kànlá	ten plus one
12	méjìlá	ten plus two
13	mẹ́tàlá	ten plus three
14	mẹ́rìnlá	ten plus four
15	mẹ́ẹ̀dógún	five less than twenty
16	mẹ́rìndínlógún	four less than twenty
17	mẹ́tàdínlógún	three less than twenty
18	méjìdínlógún	two less than twenty
19	mọ́kàndínlógún	one less than twenty
20	ogún	twenty

In these forms, lá/lé signals addition in many compounds, while dín means “to be short of” or “less than.” Thus méjìdínlógún is understood as two less than twenty. Spelling may look compressed because historically separate pieces have become one number word.

Tens, hundreds, and thousands

The traditional system continues to reveal groups of twenty. Several high-frequency round numbers should simply be memorized.

Value	Yoruba	Pattern or meaning
20	ogún	one score, or one group of twenty
30	ọgbọ̀n	ten less than forty
40	ogójì	two groups of twenty
50	àádọ́ta	ten less than sixty
60	ọgọ́ta	three groups of twenty
70	àádọ́rin	ten less than eighty
80	ọgọ́rin	four groups of twenty
90	àádọ́rùn-ún	ten less than one hundred
100	ọgọ́rùn-ún	one hundred
200	igba	two hundred
1,000	ẹgbẹ̀rún	one thousand

The alternation between forms such as ọgọ́ta “sixty” and àádọ́rin “seventy” reflects multiplication by twenty and subtraction from the next higher total. This is why Yoruba number words do not map neatly onto English “-ty” forms. Treat common round numbers as vocabulary first; their internal arithmetic becomes easier to recognize with exposure.

For a non-round number, Yoruba uses established compound forms. For example, mọ́kànlélógún is twenty-one: one added to twenty. As compounds grow, sound changes and contractions can make them less transparent on the page. Confirm unfamiliar large numbers with a reliable dictionary or a proficient speaker rather than inventing a form from a formula.

Numbers inside sentences

A numeral phrase can serve as the subject or another part of a sentence just as a noun phrase can:

• Ọmọ méjì dé. — Two children arrived.
• Mo ra ìwé mẹ́ta. — I bought three books.
• Ilé mẹ́rin ni mo rí. — It was four houses that I saw.

The numeral does not change for grammatical gender, because Yoruba does not have the masculine/feminine agreement system found in many European languages. The main beginner choices are word order and the correct counting form.

Examples in Context

Yoruba	English	Note
Ọ̀kan, èjì, ẹ̀ta, ẹ̀rin.	One, two, three, four.	Standalone counting forms
Ọmọ kan wà nílé.	One child is at home.	kan follows the noun
Ọmọ méjì ń ṣeré.	Two children are playing.	Number follows ọmọ
Ilé mẹ́ta wà ní òpópónà yìí.	There are three houses on this street.	A basic quantity phrase
Mo ní ìwé mẹ́rin.	I have four books.	The noun has no plural ending
A fẹ́ àga márùn-ún.	We want five chairs.	Quantity as the object
Wọ́n ra ọ̀gẹ̀dẹ̀ mẹ́fà.	They bought six bananas.	Everyday shopping quantity
Ó dúró fún ọjọ́ méje.	He or she stayed for seven days.	Duration
Mẹ́jọ ni mo rí.	I saw eight.	The counted item is understood
Àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ mẹ́sàn-án dé.	The nine students arrived.	àwọn can mark an explicit plural group
Ó ra ẹja mẹ́wàá.	He or she bought ten fish.	The concept’s core ten-item example
A ní ọmọ méjìlá nínú kíláàsì.	We have twelve children in the class.	Number above ten
Ọjọ́ mẹ́rìnlá ni.	It is fourteen days.	mẹ́rìnlá means fourteen
Ogún ni iye rẹ̀.	Its amount is twenty.	Standalone amount
Ó pé ọmọ ọdún ogún.	He or she turned twenty years old.	Age expression with ọdún “year”

Common Mistakes

Copying English number order

• Wrong: méjì ọmọ
• Right: ọmọ méjì
• Why: In a basic Yoruba counting phrase, the noun comes before its number. English puts the number first, so direct translation gives the wrong order.

Using the standalone form after a noun

• Wrong: ọmọ èjì
• Right: ọmọ méjì
• Why: èjì names the number two by itself; méjì is the normal counting form after a noun. The same contrast is important with ẹ̀ta/mẹ́ta and ẹ̀rin/mẹ́rin.

Using ọ̀kan instead of kan after a noun

• Wrong: ìwé ọ̀kan
• Right: ìwé kan
• Why: Use kan for “one” after the counted noun. Use ọ̀kan when naming the number itself, as in Ọ̀kan ni “It is one.”

Adding an English plural ending or unnecessary marker

• Wrong: treating ilé as if it must take a special plural suffix before mẹ́ta
• Right: ilé mẹ́ta
• Why: Yoruba nouns do not take an English-style plural -s. The numeral already makes the quantity clear. Àwọn, a plural/group marker, may appear when the group is being identified, but it is not a mechanical equivalent of English -s in every numeral phrase.

Dropping tone marks while learning

• Wrong: omo meji in careful learner writing
• Right: ọmọ méjì
• Why: Underdots distinguish letters, and tone marks distinguish pronunciation and often meaning. Informal digital writing sometimes omits marks, but marked spelling is the safest model for learning.

Building large numbers by guesswork

• Wrong: translating English “seventy” piece by piece into an invented Yoruba form
• Right: learn àádọ́rin as the established word
• Why: Traditional Yoruba numbers combine base-20 grouping, addition, subtraction, and sound contraction. The arithmetic is systematic, but the surface form is not always predictable for a beginner.

Usage Notes

Yoruba numeral spelling varies somewhat across publications, dictionaries, and educational traditions, especially where vowels contract inside compound numbers. You may therefore see closely related spellings for some larger forms. This article uses fully marked forms and emphasizes patterns that are broadly useful. When a school, workplace, or publication follows a particular orthographic standard, follow that standard consistently.

In everyday urban life, speakers may mix established Yoruba number words with English numerals, especially for long telephone numbers, technical measurements, or very large sums. That does not make traditional forms obsolete: they remain common and culturally important. A learner should first understand and produce the basic Yoruba inventory, then learn to recognize code-switching without assuming it is the only natural option.

When giving a telephone number or another identifying string, speakers may read digits one at a time rather than express the whole string as one calculated quantity. Context therefore matters: a number can be a quantity, a label, a price, or a sequence of digits.

Beyond the Basics: The Logic of the Base-20 System

You do not need to master every compound number at A1, but you will meet the underlying operations later. Three ideas organize much of the traditional system:

1. Grouping by twenty: ogún is twenty, and forms such as ogójì and ọgọ́ta reflect multiples of twenty.
2. Addition: an element represented by lé/lá adds a smaller number to a base. mọ́kànlélógún is twenty-one, understood as one added to twenty.
3. Subtraction: dín marks a shortfall from a higher base. méjìdínlógún is eighteen, understood as two less than twenty.

This means that understanding a Yoruba numeral may involve a different mental route from understanding its English equivalent. English “eighteen” builds on ten; Yoruba méjìdínlógún looks forward to twenty and subtracts two. Likewise, some round tens are named relative to the next multiple of twenty. Fluency comes when the whole expression is recognized directly, not when every conversation becomes an arithmetic exercise.

Traditional counting also has specialized and historically rich uses in trade, money, and counting particular classes of objects. Such systems can vary by context and are not necessary for basic everyday counting. Advanced learners should study them from sources that state the region, period, and item being counted, because a bare conversion table can hide important usage differences.

Practice Tips

1. Drill in two directions. Recite ọ̀kan, èjì, ẹ̀ta, ẹ̀rin, then attach the corresponding forms to one noun: ìwé kan, ìwé méjì, ìwé mẹ́ta, ìwé mẹ́rin. This prevents confusion between standalone and attributive forms.
2. Count real objects aloud. Count cups, books, people, or days from one to ten, always saying the noun first. Later, choose random values from eleven to twenty instead of only reciting the list in order.
3. Learn larger numbers in pattern families. Group eleven to fourteen as additions to ten and sixteen to nineteen as subtractions from twenty. Record yourself, then compare both vowels and tones with a trusted audio source or proficient speaker.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Market and Shopping — use numbers to ask about quantities, understand prices, and buy goods in everyday situations.