How to count in Tok Pisin
Enter a number and get it written in full in Tok Pisin.
Language overview
Tok Pisin is an English creole language spoken in Papua New Guinea. With about 4 million speakers, it is one of Papua New Guinea’s official languages, the two others being English and Hiri Motu. Tok Pisin is also known as New Guinea Pidgin, Melanesian Pidgin English and Neo-Melanesian, and counts about 120,000 speakers.
Tok Pisin numbering rules
- Digits from zero to nine are specific words where one can recognize English digit names in their pronunciation, namely siro [0], wan [1], tu [2], tri [3], foa [4], faiv [5], sikis [6], seven [7], et [8], and nain [9].
- The tens are built from the multiplier number, followed by the ending -pela (which also transforms the digits into adjectives), then the word ten, except for ten itself: ten [10], tupela ten [20], tripela ten [30], fopela ten [40], faipela ten [50], sikispela ten [60], sevenpela ten [70], etpela ten [80], and nainpela ten [90].
- From eleven to ninety-nine, the numbers are built by saying the ten, then the digit separated by a space, with the exception of ten which becomes wanpela ten (e.g.: wanpela ten tu [12], sikispela ten seven [67]).
- The hundreds are built by putting the multiplier unit before the word hundred (handet): wan handet [100], tu handet [200], tri handet [300]… The thousands follow the same structure, the word for thousand being tausen: tausen [1,000] (with no one unit), tu tausen [2,000], tri tausen [3,000]…
- One million is said wan milien and the millions follow the same rule as the thousands.
Books
Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin English Dictionary
by C. A. Volker, editors Oxford University Press Australia (2008)
[
Amazon.com, 
Fnac.com]
Tok Pisin The easy way
by Frank Mihalic, editors Wantok Publications Inc. (1982)
[ Amazon.com]
Numbers list
| 1 – wan 2 – tu 3 – tri 4 – foa 5 – faiv 6 – sikis 7 – seven 8 – et 9 – nain | 10 – ten 11 – wanpela ten wan 12 – wanpela ten tu 13 – wanpela ten tri 14 – wanpela ten foa 15 – wanpela ten faiv 16 – wanpela ten sikis 17 – wanpela ten seven 18 – wanpela ten et | 19 – wanpela ten nain 20 – tupela ten 30 – tripela ten 40 – fopela ten 50 – faipela ten 60 – sikispela ten 70 – sevenpela ten 80 – etpela ten 90 – nainpela ten | 100 – wan handet 1,000 – tausen one million – wan milien |
English-based creoles and pidgins
Tok Pisin.
Other supported languages
Supported languages by families
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the following select box, or from the full list of supported languages.