Counting in Irish

Language overview

The Irish language (Gaeilge), or Irish Gaelic, belongs to the Celtic languages of the Indo-European languages family. Spoken in Ireland and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, it counts about 78,000 speakers.

Irish 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).

• Digits from zero to nine have specific names: neoni [0], aon (or haon when preceded with the particle a) [1], dó [2], trí [3], ceathair [4], cúig [5], sé [6], seacht [7], ocht (or hocht when preceded with the particle a) [8], and naoi [9].
• The tens are: deich [10], fiche [20], tríocha [30], ceathracha [40], caoga [50], seasca [60], seachtó [70], ochtó [80], and nócha [90].
• Teens are formed by starting with the unit, followed by déag or dhéag (for twelve): aon déag [11], dó dhéag [12], trí déag [13], ceathair déag [14], cúig déag [15], sé déag [16], seacht déag [17], ocht déag [18], and naoi déag [19].
• Compound numbers beyond twenty-one are formed starting with the ten, followed by the counting particle a, then the unit (e.g.: fiche a cúig [25], ceathracha a trí [43]).
• Hundreds are formed by stating the multiplier digit before the word for hundred (céad), except for one hundred: céad [100], dó céad [200], trì céad [300], ceathair céad [400], cúig céad [500], sé céad [600], seacht céad [700], ochd céad [800], and naoi céad [900].
• Thousands are formed by stating the multiplier digit before the word for thousand (míle), except for one thousand: míle [1,000], dó míle [2,000], trì míle [3,000], ceathair míle [4,000], cúig míle [5,000], sé míle [6,000], seacht míle [7,000], ocht míle [8,000], and naoi míle [9,000].
• The word for million is milliún.

Write a number in full in Irish

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Irish. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Celtic languages

Breton, Cornish, Irish, Manx Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh.

Other supported languages

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