Counting in Kinyarwanda

Language overview

The Kinyarwanda language is the official language of the Republic of Rwanda. Kinyarwanda is the second most spoken language in the Bantu language family, after Kiswahili. There are approximately 20 million native speakers of Kinyarwanda. It is a sister dialect of Kirundi, the national language of Burundi, and Giha, a dialect spoken in Tanzania, so Burundians and Tanzanians can also understand Kinyarwanda very well.

Kinyarwanda 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 one to nine are rendered by specific words, prefixed with ga- or ka- for two to seven, namely li-mwe [1], ka-bili [2], ga-tatu [3], ka-ne [4], ga-tanu [5], ga-tandatu [6], ka-lindwi [7], munani [8], and icyenda [9].
• Tens are formed starting with the word mirongo, followed by the multiplier digit root prefixed with i, except for ten and twenty: icumi [10], makumyabili [20], mirongo itatu [30], mirongo ine [40], mirongo itanu [50], mirongo itandatu [60], mirongo ilindwi [70], mirongo inani [80], and mirongo icyenda [90].
• Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, followed with the word na (and), or n’ in front of a vowel, then the unit digit with its hyphen dropped (e.g.: cumi n’icyenda [19], mirongo itanu na kane [54]).
• Hundreds are formed starting with the word for hundred (singular: ijana; plural: magana), followed by the multiplier digit root prefixed with a, except for one hundred, eight hundred and nine hundred: ijana [100], magana abili [200], magana atatu [300], magana ane [400], magana atanu [500], magana atandatu [600], magana alindwi [700], magana inani [800], and magana urwenda [900].
• Thousands are formed starting with the word for thousand (igihumbi), followed by the multiplier digit root prefixed with bi, except for one thousand, eight thousand and nine thousand: igihumbi [1,000], igihumbi bibili [2,000], igihumbi bitatu [3,000], igihumbi bine [4,000], igihumbi bitanu [5,000], igihumbi bitandatu [6,000], igihumbi bilindwi [7,000], igihumbi munani [8,000], and igihumbi cyenda [9,000].
• In big compound numbers, all scales are linked with the connector na (and), or n’ in front of a vowel (e.g.: ijana na limwe [101], magana abili na mirongo itatu na kalindwi [237], igihumbi bilindwi na magana alindwi na mirongo ilindwi na kalindwi [7,777]).
• The word for million is miliyoni: miliyoni imwe [1 million].
• The word for billion (10⁹) is miliyaridi: miliyaridi imwe [1 billion].

Write a number in full in Kinyarwanda

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Kinyarwanda. 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

Sources

• Kinyarwanda-English dictionary & phrasebook, by Mawadza, Aquilina & Donatien Nswengiyumva, Hippocrene Books (2016)
• Kinyarwanda - Wort für Wort (für Ruanda und Burundi) (in German), by Karel Dekempe, Reise Know-How editions (2000)

Bantu languages

Gwere, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Makhuwa, Mwani, Nyungwe, Punu, Shona, Soga, Swahili, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Yao, and Zulu.

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.