Counting in Persian

Language overview

Forty-two in Persian Persian language (Fārsi, فارسی) is a Western Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Official language of Iran (as Persian), of Afghanistan (as Dari) and Tajikistan (as Tajik), it is spoken by about 85 million people. The Persian script is a modified version of the Arabic script, with 36 characters, including four new letters: peh (پ), tcheh (چ), jeh (ژ), and gāf (گ). Like Arabic, it is written right-to-left in an abjad, a writing system where each symbol stands for a consonant.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 1,000,000 in Persian. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Persian numbers list

  • 1 – ۱ yek (یک)
  • 2 – ۲ do (دو)
  • 3 – ۳ se (سه)
  • 4 – ۴ chahâr (چهار)
  • 5 – ۵ panj (پنج)
  • 6 – ۶ shesh (شش)
  • 7 – ۷ haft (هفت)
  • 8 – ۸ hasht (هشت)
  • 9 – ۹ noh (نه)
  • 10 – ۱۰ dah (ده)
  • 11 – ۱۱ yâzdah (یازده)
  • 12 – ۱۲ davâzdah (دوازده)
  • 13 – ۱۳ sizdah (سیزده)
  • 14 – ۱۴ chahârdah (چهارده)
  • 15 – ۱۵ poonzdah (پانزده)
  • 16 – ۱۶ shoonzdah (شانزده)
  • 17 – ۱۷ hifdah (هفده)
  • 18 – ۱۸ hijdah (هجده)
  • 19 – ۱۹ noozdah (نوزده)
  • 20 – ۲۰ bist (بیست)
  • 30 – ۳۰ si (سی)
  • 40 – ۴۰ chehel (چهل)
  • 50 – ۵۰ panjâh (پنجاه)
  • 60 – ۶۰ shast (شصت)
  • 70 – ۷۰ haftâd (هفتاد)
  • 80 – ۸۰ hashtâd (هشتاد)
  • 90 – ۹۰ navad (نود)
  • 100 – ۱۰۰ sad (صد)
  • 1,000 – ۱۰۰۰ hezâr (هزار)

Persian numerals

The Eastern Arabic numerals are used in conjunction with the Arabic alphabet in the Perso-Arabic script. The shapes of the Persian digits four (۴), five (۵), and six (۶) are different from the shapes used in Arabic.

Zero (0
) in Persian (Sefr)
0
One (1
) in Persian (Yek)
1
Two (2
) in Persian (Do)
2
Three (3
) in Persian (Se)
3
Four (4
) in Persian (Chahâr)
4
Five (5
) in Persian (Panj)
5
Six (6
) in Persian (Shesh)
6
Seven (7
) in Persian (Haft)
7
Eight (8
) in Persian (Hasht)
8
Nine (9
) in Persian (Noh)
9

Persian 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 are specific words, namely sefr (صفر) [0], yek (یک) [1], do (دو) [2], se (سه) [3], chahâr (چهار) [4], panj (پنج) [5], shesh (شش) [6], haft (هفت) [7], hasht (هشت) [8], and noh (نه) [9].
  • The tens are based on the root the digit names, except for ten: dah (ده) [10], bist (بیست) [20], si (سی) [30], chehel (چهل) [40], panjâh (پنجاه) [50], shast (شصت) [60], haftâd (هفتاد) [70], hashtâd (هشتاد) [80], and navad (نود) [90].
  • From eleven to nineteen, compound numbers are formed by suffixing the root of the unit with the word for ten: yâzdah (یازده) [11], davâzdah (دوازده) [12], sizdah (سیزده) [13], chahârdah (چهارده) [14], poonzdah (پانزده) [15], shoonzdah (شانزده) [16], hifdah (هفده) [17], hijdah (هجده) [18], and noozdah (نوزده) [19].
  • Above twenty, compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the unit linked with the connector o (و), and. Thus, we get: bist o panj (بیست و پنج) [25], si o shesh (سی و شش) [36].
  • Hundreds are formed by prefixing the word for hundred by the root of multiplier digit, except for one hundred and two hundreds: sad (صد) [100], devist (دویست) [200], sisad (سيصد) [300], chahârsad (چهار صد) [400], pansad (پانصد) [500], sheshsad (ششصد) [600], heftsad (هفتصد) [700], heshtsad (هشتصد) [800], and nehsad (نهصد) [900].
  • The word for thousand is hezâr (هزار), and the word for million is meyeleyon (میلیون).

Write a number in full in Persian

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

Persian (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars) Persian (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars)
by , editors Routledge (2018)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Persian in Use: An Elementary Textbook of Language and Culture Persian in Use: An Elementary Textbook of Language and Culture
by , editors Leiden University Press (2015)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Complete Persian (modern Persian/Farsi) Complete Persian (modern Persian/Farsi)
by , editors Teach Yourself (2010)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Le persan par les mots et les textes Le persan par les mots et les textes
by , editors L’Asiathèque (2016)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Le persan Le persan
by , editors Assimil (2012)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Manuel de persan (volume 1) : Le persan au quotidien Manuel de persan (volume 1) : Le persan au quotidien
by , editors L’Asiathèque (2012)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Português (Brasil) - persa para principiantes Português (Brasil) - persa para principiantes
by , editors 50Languages Llc (2017)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Iranian languages

Kirmanjki, Northern Kurdish, and Persian.

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.