Counting in Hebrew
Language overview
Modern Hebrew (עברית חדשה, ʿivrít ḥadašá) belongs to the Semitic language family, and more precisely to the Canaanite branch. Standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today by about 9 million people, mostly in Israel where it has the status of official language, it has been revived at the end of the 19th century from the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language used for daily life. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858-1922), lexicographer and newspaper editor, was one of the prominent figures of that revival. Written from right to left, Modern Hebrew uses an alphabet of 22 consonants, which makes it an abjad, the vowels being indicated by diacritic marks above or below the consonants.
Hebrew numbers list
- 1 – אַחַת (achat)
- 2 – שְׁתַּיִם (shtayim)
- 3 – שָׁלֹשׁ (shalosh)
- 4 – אַרְבַּע (arba’)
- 5 – חָמֵשׁ (chamesh)
- 6 – שֵׁשׁ (shesh)
- 7 – שֶׁבַע (sheva’)
- 8 – שְׁמוֹנֶה (shmone)
- 9 – תֵּשַׁע (tesha’)
- 10 – עֶשֶׂר (’eser)
- 11 – אֲחַת-עֶשְׂרֵה (achad-’asar)
- 12 – שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְׂרֵה (shneyim-’asar)
- 13 – שְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה (shlosha-’asar)
- 14 – אַרְבַּע-עֶשְׂרֵה (arba’a-’asar)
- 15 – חֲמֵשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה (chamisha-’asar)
- 16 – שֵׁש-עֶשְׂרֵה (shisha-’asar)
- 17 – שְׁבַע-עֶשְׂרֵה (shiv’a-’asar)
- 18 – שְמוֹנֶה-עֶשְׂרֵה (shmona-’asar)
- 19 – תְּשַׁע-עֶשְׂרֵה (tish’a-’asar)
- 20 – עֶשְׂרִים (’esrim)
- 30 – שְׁלֹשִׁים (shloshim)
- 40 – אַרְבָּעִים (arba’im)
- 50 – חֲמִשִּׁים (chamishim)
- 60 – שִׁשִּׁים (shishim)
- 70 – שִׁבְעִים (shiv’im)
- 80 – שְׁמוֹנִים (shmonim)
- 90 – תִּשְׁעִים (tish’im)
- 100 – מֵאָה (mea)
- 1,000 – אֶלֶף (elef)
Hebrew numbering rules
Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).
- Numbers from one to nineteen have two forms: one feminine, used for counting, and one masculine. From twenty on, there is only one form.
- In the masculine form, cardinal numerals are: אֶפֶס (efes) [0], אֶחָד (echad) [1], שְׁנַיִם (shnayim) [2], שְׁלֹשָׁה (shlosha) [3], אַרְבָּעָה (arba’a) [4], חֲמִשָּׁה (chamisha) [5], שִׁשָּׁה (shisha) [6], שִׁבְעָה (shiv’a) [7], שְׁמוֹנָה (shmona) [8], תִּשְׁעָה (tish’a) [9], עֲשָׂרָה (’assara) [10], אֲחַד-עָשָׂר (achad-’asar) [11], שְׁנֵים-עָשָׂר (shneyim-’asar) [12], שְׁלֹשָה-עָשָׂר (shlosha-’asar) [13], אַרְבָּעָה-עָשָׂר (arba’a-’asar) [14], חֲמִשָּׁה-עָשָׂר (chamisha-’asar) [15], שִׁשָּׁה-עָשָׂר (shisha-’asar) [16], שִׁבְעָה-עָשָׂר (shiv’a-’asar) [17], שְׁמוֹנָה-עָשָׂר (shmona-’asar) [18], and תִּשְׁעָה-עָשָׂר (tish’a-’asar) [19].
- Digits from zero to nine in the feminine form used for counting are: אֶפֶס (efes) [0], אַחַת (achat) [1], שְׁתַּיִם (shtayim) [2], שָׁלֹשׁ (shalosh) [3], אַרְבַּע (arba’) [4], חָמֵשׁ (chamesh) [5], שֵׁשׁ (shesh) [6], שֶׁבַע (sheva’) [7], שְׁמוֹנֶה (shmone) [8], and תֵּשַׁע (tesha’) [9].
- The feminine word for ten is עֶשֶׂר (’eser) [10].
- The feminine compound numbers from eleven to nineteen are formed starting with the unit, followed with a form of the word for ten (’esre, עֶשְׂרֵה) linked with a hyphen (maqaf, מקף): אֲחַת-עֶשְׂרֵה (achat-’esre) [11], שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְׂרֵה (shteyim-’esre) [12], שְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה (shlosh-’esre) [13], אַרְבַּע-עֶשְׂרֵה (arba’-’esre) [14], חֲמֵשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה (chamesh-’esre) [15], שֵׁש-עֶשְׂרֵה (shesh-’esre) [16], שְׁבַע-עֶשְׂרֵה (shva’-’esre) [17], שְמוֹנֶה-עֶשְׂרֵה (shmone-’esre) [18], and תְּשַׁע-עֶשְׂרֵה (tesha’-’esre) [19].
- The tens are formed from the root of the multiplier digit with the plural marker im (ים), except for ten itself: עֶשֶׂר (’eser) [10], עֶשְׂרִים (’esrim) [20], שְׁלֹשִׁים (shloshim) [30], אַרְבָּעִים (arba’im) [40], חֲמִשִּׁים (chamishim) [50], שִׁשִּׁים (shishim) [60], שִׁבְעִים (shiv’im) [70], שְׁמוֹנִים (shmonim) [80], and תִּשְׁעִים (tish’im) [90].
- Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the unit prefixed with ו (u’, and) for numbers ending with two or eight, and prefixed with ו (ve’, and) for the others: עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם (’esrim u’shtaim) [22], שִׁבְעִים וָשֶׁבַע (shiv’im ve’sheva) [77], תִּשְׁעִים וּשְׁמוֹנֶה (tish’im u’shmone) [98].
- The hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, followed with the plural form of the word for hundred (מֵאוֹת, meot), except for one hundred and two hundred (which is set in the dual form): מֵאָה (mea) [100], מָאתַיִם (matayim) [200], שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת (shlosh meot) [300], אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת (arba’ meot) [400], חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת (chamesh meot) [500], שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת (shesh meot) [600], שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת (shva meot) [700], שְׁמוֹנֶה מֵאוֹת (shmone meot) [800], and תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת (tsha’ meot) [900].
- The thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit suffixed with ת (t), followed with the plural form of the word for thousand (אֲלָפִים, alafim), except for one thousand and two thousand (which is set in the dual form): אֶלֶף (elef) [1,000], אַלְפַּיִם (alpaim) [2,000], שלושת אלפים (shloshet alafim) [3,000], ארבעת אלפים (arba’at alafim) [4,000], חֲמֵשֶׁת אֲלָפִים (chameshet alafim) [5,000], ששת אלפים (sheshet alafim) [6,000], שבעת אלפים (shiv’at alafim) [7,000], שמונת אלפים (sh’monat alafim) [8,000], and תשעת אלפים (tish’at alafim) [9,000]. From 11,000 and above, the word for thousand goes back to singular (e.g.: אַחַד עָשָׂר אֶלֶף (achad-’asar elef) [11,000]).
- Big scale numbers are: מִילְיוֹן (miliyon) [million, 106], מִילְיַרְדּ (miliyard) [billion, 109], טְרִילְיוֹן (trilyon) [trillion, 1012], קְוַדְרִילְיוֹן (kwadrilyon) [quadrillion, 1015]…
Books
Learn to Read Hebrew in 6 Weeks
by Miiko Shaffier, editors Shefer Publishing (2016)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
The Routledge Introductory Course in Modern Hebrew
by Giore Etzion, editors Routledge (2009)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Teach Yourself to Read Hebrew
by Ethelyn Simon & Joseph Anderson, editors EKS Publishing (2008)
[ Amazon.com]
Español - hebreo para principiantes
by Dr. Johannes Schumann, editors 50Languages LLC (2017)
[ Amazon.com]
Guide de conversation hébreu
editors Assimil (2016)
[ Amazon.com]
40 leçons pour parler l’hébreu moderne
by Laëtitia Lambert & Nira Dimanski, editors Pocket (2010)
[ Amazon.com]
Semitic languages
Amharic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Maltese.
Other supported languages
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.