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Teaching Arabic Numbers

by Nuha Al Sha’ar
Before discussing some practical steps which teachers might find useful, two points need to
be mentioned. Firstly, in contrast to the way numbers are taught in some Arabic course
books such as Mastering Arabic, it is probably best if numbers are taught all at once in one
lesson or in two related lessons. Secondly, depending on the syllabus of the teacher, numbers
can be taught either in spoken form, paying less attention to grammatical details, or in written
form where different grammatical points need to be discussed, for example, ‘ashron in the
normative form , and ‘ashrin in the accusative and genitive form.

At the beginning of the lesson, it might be useful if the teacher draws the students’ attention
to the fact that the shape of numbers in European languages are in fact derived from Arabic
ones, while the current Arabic number figures are Indian numbers which were imported into
Arabic through trade relations. It is therefore worth pointing out that Arabic numbers have
connections with European numbers. For example, the numbers 1 and 9 have the same shape
and meaning in both languages. It seems quite likely that the English numbers 2 and 3 may
simply be the Arabic numbers ٢ (ithnan = 2) and ٣ (thalatha = 3) turned on their sides. The
teacher may also like to make students aware that 0 in English is the 5 in Arabic (0) - they
have the same shape. The teacher should show the students that zero (.) looks like a full stop
is English (.).

A systematic way to teach the numbers one to ten in Arabic, which a teacher might like to
adopt, is the following method. First, the Arabic numbers are written one by one on the
blackboard showing the correct up and down stokes. For numbers from ten upwards the
teacher can emphasise that these consist of two or more symbols. While writing the numbers,
the teacher has the students both write the Arabic number and pronounce its name. This is
repeated numerous times until all the students can write and pronounce them correctly.
Some drills and flash cards might be useful at this point. The teacher can prepare cards with
the number shape on one card and the written number on another card, and then students are
asked to mach them.

Second, to reinforce what they have learned, all the students are placed in a circle and the
teacher begins counting in Arabic with the number one, wahid. Then the student at the
beginning of the circle is asked to continue counting with the number two, ithnan, and this
continues with each consecutive student in the circle counting the following number until ten,
‘ashara, is reached. This is repeated until all the students have the chance to count all the
numbers, and that they do so accurately. For further practice, the students are asked to work
in pairs and tell and write their phone numbers in Arabic to their partner.

It is very important to teach students that numbers, like the rest of Arabic, have gender, and
therefore change endings depending on whether they are in the masculine form or the
feminine form:

wahid (= 1) is the masculine form. In order to make it feminine, add ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) which
produces wahidah.

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thalath (= 3) is the masculine form, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces thalathah, the feminine.

’arba’ (= 4) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine ’arba‘ah.

khams (=5) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine khamsah.

sit (= 6) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine sitah.

sab‘ (= 7) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine sab‘ah.

thaman (= 8) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine thamaniah.

tis‘ (= 9) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine tis‘ah.

’ashar (= 10) is masculine, adding ‫( ﮥ‬ta’ marbuta) produces the feminine ’asharah.

The teacher should draw students’ attention to the fact that the number two is slightly
different. It also has a masculine and feminine form, but it uses the dual case. The
masculine is ithnan and the feminine is ithnatan. The teacher should also draw students’
attention to the fact that the word ithnan is less commonly used compared to other numbers.
This is because the dual is often used. We tend to say rajul rajulan instead of saying ithnan
rajulan.

Teaching numbers from eleven to nineteen

The numbers ’ahada ‘ashar (= 11) to tis‘ah ‘ashar (= 19) share a common element, which is
the number ‘ashar (=10). The teacher can explain that the pattern for making numbers 13 to
19 is exactly the same, while 11 and 12 have only a minor variation to the same pattern. For
numbers 13 to 19, simply take a number from thalatha (= 3) to tis‘a (= 9) and add ‘ashar
(=10) to it. For example, to make the number 15, the number khamsa (= 5) is followed by
‘ashar (=10) resulting in khamsa ‘ashar (= 15).

Here students can be advised that the number will be written from right to left and will be
also read from right to left. For example, you write (10) (5) – i.e. you write khamsa first -
and when you read it you start with khamsa from the right and then you say ‘ashar.

Numbers 11 and 12 also have ‘ashar (=10) as the second element to their name. However,
one cannot say wahid ‘ashar for 11 or athnan ‘ashar for 12. There is a slight adaptation to
both numbers, resulting in ‘ahada ‘ashar for 11 and ithna ‘ashar for 12. Students should be
drilled in a manner similar to learning numbers one to ten in the previous section.

Numbers ‘ahada ‘ashar (= 11) to tis‘ah ‘ashar (= 19) also have masculine and feminine
forms. They are formed in the same way as the numbers in the previous section, e.g. thalath
‘ashar (= 13) masculine form, thalathah ‘ashar feminine form. However, there are two
exceptions: 11 and 12: ’ahad ‘ashar (= 11) and not wahid‘ashar is the masculine
form, ’ahada ‘ashar and not wahidah ‘ashar is the feminine form. ithna ‘ashar (= 12) is the
masculine form, ithnata ‘ashar is the feminine form. The teacher should point out here that
the non (‫ )ﻦ‬is deleted from the end of the number.

The teacher can refer students to the exercises in Mastering Arabic (pp 170-71) to be done as
a homework task.

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Teaching numbers 20, 30, 40 etc

It may be helpful when teaching the numbers twenty, thirty, forty, etc., to point out the
similarity between the Arabic and English suffixes for these numbers. English adds the
suffix –ty to the root of the numbers. For example, four becomes forty, six becomes sixty,
etc. In a similar way, the teacher may point out that Arabic simply adds the masculine plural
suffix to the end of numbers thalatha (= 3) to tis‘a (= 9) in order to make thirty to ninety.
For example, thalath- + ‫( و ن‬the masculine plural suffix in the normative form) is thirty
(thalathon), and it is thalath + ‫( و ي‬the masculine plural suffix in the accusative and
genitive). khams- + ‫( و ن‬the masculine plural suffix in the normative form) is fifty (khamson).

Note that for teachers who are following Mastering Arabic, it is entirely up to the teacher to
choose between teaching either the spoken or the written form.

The teacher can explain that the number twenty is different. It is made by adding ‫( و ن‬the
masculine plural suffix) to ‘ashar which makes ‘ashron. A good phrase to teach the students
is “‘ashar + ‫ و ن‬does not make one hundred but goes to ‘ashron, twenty.”

When counting beyond the exact numbers 20, 30, 40, 50, etc., Arabic pronounces the
additional number before 20, 30, 40, etc. Whereas English says twenty-four, starting with
the bigger number (twenty), Arabic says four and twenty (’arba‘a wa ‘ashron), starting with
the smaller number, four (’arba‘a).

To provide practice with these numbers, the teacher can ask the students to say their ages out
loud (or those of friends and relatives!), ask each other their house numbers, or do simple
maths calculations. This will provide plenty of spoken practice.

Numbers one hundred and above

mi’a is one hundred. To make two hundred, mi’a is treated in the dual form which is mi’a +
‫ = ان‬mi’atan in the normative form. There is no masculine or feminine for either number,
only the one form. mi’atin which is mi’a + ‫ ي ن‬in the accusative and genitive form.

Three hundred to nine hundred are made in the same manner as in English: first the low
number + hundred in the singular form, e.g. thalath mi’a (= 300), khamsa mi’a (= 500), sita
mi’a (= 600), thaman mi’a (= 800).

Counting beyond any multiple of a hundred, the hundred will always come first, but the
lower number will be pronounced as it does when it stands by itself: one hundred and twenty
one is mi’a wa wahid wa ‘ashron ( = one hundred and one and twenty).

A thousand (’alf) is treated in the same way as mi’a (a hundred). For example, two thousand
is treated in the dual form which is ’alf +‫’ = ا ن‬alfan. There is no masculine or feminine for
either number, only the one form.

Three thousand and above is made in the same manner as English. The low number +
thousand (in the plural form which is ’alaf), e.g. thalath ’alaf (= 3000); khamsa ’alaf (=
5000).

Other useful ideas for practising numbers are: the teacher can ask the students to work in
pairs and interview each other, finding out details about birthday dates and ages, addresses
and house numbers, telephone numbers, etc for completing a visa application form.

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Further Issues of Gender Agreement with Numbers

The agreement between numbers and their nouns is perhaps the most difficult aspect of
teaching numbers. However, by giving examples using everyday objects such as pencils,
tables, etc, the teacher can make the subject much more easily understood. (Note: if we teach
numbers after we have introduced the broken plural, this is a good opportunity to revise
broken plurals at the same time).

It is important for the teacher to refresh continually students’ memory of the issue of gender
agreement. This is because numbers do agree; the noun and its descriptive adjective changes
to a certain extent with numbers. For example:
adjective agreement with the gender of the noun ‫ﻃﺎﻟﺒﺎت ﺟﻤﻴﻼت‬
number disagreement, female noun and masculine number ‫ﻃﺎﻟﺒﺎت ﺛﻼث أو ﺛﻼث ﻃﺎﻟﺒﺎت‬

A few points should be emphasized in this context:

1 The number comes before the noun.

2 There are female numbers and masculine numbers.
3 The relation between certain numbers and the noun after are based on contradiction of
gender. That is, if the noun is a masculine noun, the numbers should take the
feminine form, while if the noun is feminine the number should take the masculine
form. The exception to this is with numbers one and two, and eleven and twelve,
which behave like adjectives, and agree with the same gender as the noun they go
with, like the adjective after the noun. This will be explained in more detail below.

Students should therefore be reminded to look at the noun and see whether it is masculine or
feminine and then decide what gender of the number they need: the masculine form or the
feminine. The teacher can use flash cards to practise this. ask the students to raise a card
with a number on it and then match it with various objects in the classroom.

After introducing these general points about numbers, the teacher can explain these points in
more detail. First, the teacher can divide the numbers into groups:
1 and 2 are one group
3 to 10 are one group
11 and 12 are one group
13 and above are one group.
The teacher can then provide explanatory detail each group.

The first group of one and two

The teacher should mention two main points:

1 The agreement between the noun and the number.
Number one comes AFTER the noun; so with one we say kitab wahed (“one book”) and
bent wahedah (“one girl”).
2 With two of something we do not need the number two, because it is put in the dual case:
we do not say athnan kitab, but we say kitaban (“two books”), we do not say athnatan
bent, but we say bentan (the dual form of bent; “two girls”).
The rule here is that there is an agreement between the noun and the number. This is treated
like an adjective in terms of agreement with the gender of the noun since it comes after the
noun. The number is the same gender as the noun.

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The second group from three to ten

The main important points are:

1 The numbers of this group come BEFORE the noun.
2 Since these numbers come before the noun they cannot be treated as adjectives.
3 The number should be THE OPPOSITE GENDER of the noun, e.g. a masculine noun
takes a feminine number, and a feminine noun takes a masculine number.
4 The noun after the number should be in the plural form, e.g. thalath banat (“three girls”;
masculine form of the number with feminine noun), and thalathat regal (“three men”; the
feminine form of the number with the masculine noun).

The third group of 11 and 12

1 The number consists of two parts: the low number and ‘ashar (= 10).
2 There is agreement in gender between the noun and the number as with adjectives.
3 The numbers come BEFORE the noun.
4 The second part of the number, ‘ashar, also agrees with the gender of the noun,
masculine masculine and feminine feminine, e.g. ’ahada ‘ashar rajulan (“eleven men”);.
ihda ‘asharah bentan (“eleven girls.”), ithnata ‘asharah bentan (“twelve girls”), and
ithna ‘ashar rajulan (“twelve men.”).

The fourth group from 13 and above

1 The number consists of two parts; the low number and ‘ashar (= 10) or any higher
number.
2 The number comes BEFORE the noun.
3 The first part of the number, the low number, does not agree with the noun in terms of
gender, while the second part of the number, ‘ashar, does agree with the noun after in
terms of gender.
For example, thalathat ‘ashar rajulan (“thirteen men”). Observe the first number,
thalathat, took the feminine form while the noun is masculine rajul (“men”). Observe
‘ashar took the masculine form and the number is masculine (gender agreement like with
adjectives).
Another example: thalath ‘asharat bentan (“thirteen girls”). Observe the number thalath
is masculine while the noun bent is feminine. ‘asharah is feminine and the noun is
feminine too (gender agreement as with adjectives).
4 Note: the noun is singular with the number. The pervious examples actually say in
Arabic “thirteen man” and “thirteen woman.”
5 The first part of the number is the opposite gender of the noun, while the second part of
the number is the same as the gender of the noun.

Ideas for more exercises to practice the use of numbers

The teacher divides the class into two groups. The teacher provides questions for each group,
for example; “What is the meaning of alf lila wa lila?”; “When was the first world war?” etc.
The idea here is to provide practice of numbers and vocabulary.

Another idea is for the teacher to write some words like: ‫ ﺧﺎﻣﺲ‬, ‫ ﻣﺨﺒﺰ‬, ‫ ﺧﻤﻴﺲ‬, ‫ ﺧﻤﺴﺔ‬:
Then the teacher asks the students to pick out the strange word. This exercise provides
practice with learning numbers and the matter of “root”.

Note: teachers can find some flash cards for exercises on numbers on the website.
Written by Nuha Al Sha’ar, SOAS Language Centre, November 2005