Counting in Russian

Language overview

Forty-two in Russian Russian (русский язык, transliterated as russkiy yazyk) belongs to the East Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova, it also has the co-official status in other countries, and counts about 164 million speakers. Russian can be written in Latin alphabet or in Cyrillic alphabet.

Russian numbers list

  • 1 – один (odin)
  • 2 – две (dve)
  • 3 – три (tri)
  • 4 – четыре (četyre)
  • 5 – пять (pâtʹ)
  • 6 – шесть (šestʹ)
  • 7 – семь (semʹ)
  • 8 – восемь (vosemʹ)
  • 9 – девять (devâtʹ)
  • 10 – десять (desâtʹ)
  • 11 – одиннадцать (odinnadcatʹ)
  • 12 – двенадцать (dvenadcatʹ)
  • 13 – тринадцать (trinadcatʹ)
  • 14 – четырнадцать (četyrnadcatʹ)
  • 15 – пятнадцать (pâtnadcatʹ)
  • 16 – шестнадцать (šestnadcatʹ)
  • 17 – семнадцать (semnadcatʹ)
  • 18 – восемнадцать (vosemnadcatʹ)
  • 19 – девятнадцать (devâtnadcatʹ)
  • 20 – двадцать (dvadcatʹ)
  • 30 – тридцать (tridcatʹ)
  • 40 – сорок (sorok)
  • 50 – пятьдесят (pâtʹdesât)
  • 60 – шестьдесят (šestʹdesât)
  • 70 – семьдесят (semʹdesât)
  • 80 – восемьдесят (vosemʹdesât)
  • 90 – девяносто (devânosto)
  • 100 – сто (sto)
  • 1,000 – тысяча (tysâča)
  • one million – миллион (million)
  • one billion – один миллиард (odin milliard)

Russian 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 ноль (nolʹ) or нуль (nulʹ) [0], один (odin) [1], две (dve) [2], три (tri) [3], четыре (četyre) [4], пять (pâtʹ) [5], шесть (šestʹ) [6], семь (semʹ) [7], восемь (vosemʹ) [8], and девять (devâtʹ) [9].
  • Ten is десять (desâtʹ). Twenty and thirty are formed adding the suffix дцать (dcatʹ) to respectively two and three: двадцать (dvadcatʹ) [20], тридцать (tridcatʹ) [30]. Forty is irregular: сорок (sorok) [40] (it comes from a special unit to measure valuable furs). From fifty to eighty, tens are formed adding the word for ten (десять, desâtʹ) to the multiplier digit with no space: пятьдесят (pâtʹdesât) [50], шестьдесят (šestʹdesât) [60], семьдесят (semʹdesât) [70], and восемьдесят (vosemʹdesât) [80]. Finally, ninety is formed after the word for hundred (сто (sto)): девяносто (devânosto) [90].
  • From eleven to nineteen, the compound numbers are built by saying the unit digit and a form of the word for ten (надцать, nadcatʹ) with no space: одиннадцать (odinnadcatʹ) [11], двенадцать (dvenadcatʹ) [12], тринадцать (trinadcatʹ) [13], четырнадцать (četyrnadcatʹ) [14], пятнадцать (pâtnadcatʹ) [15], шестнадцать (šestnadcatʹ) [16], семнадцать (semnadcatʹ) [17], восемнадцать (vosemnadcatʹ) [18], and девятнадцать (devâtnadcatʹ) [19].
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the compound numbers are built by saying the ten, then the digit separated by a space (e.g.: двадцать три (dvadcatʹ tri) [23], тридцать пять (tridcatʹ pâtʹ) [35]).
  • Hundreds are built by setting the multiplier digit before the word for hundred which takes different forms: сто (sto) [100], двести (dvesti) [200], триста (trista) [300], четыреста (četyresta) [400], пятьсот (pâtʹsot) [500], шестьсот (šestʹsot) [600], семьсот (semʹsot) [700], восемьсот (vosemʹsot) [800], and девятьсот (devâtʹsot) [900].
  • Thousands are built by setting the multiplier digit before the word for thousand (тысяча, tysâča) which takes a different form after the multipliers two, three and four: тысяча (tysâča) [1,000], две тысячи (dve tysâči) [2,000], три тысячи (tri tysâči) [3,000], четыре тысячи (četyre tysâči) [4,000], пять тысяч (pâtʹ tysâč) [5,000], шесть тысяч (šestʹ tysâč) [6,000], семь тысяч (semʹ tysâč) [7,000], восемь тысяч (vosemʹ tysâč) [8,000], and девять тысяч (devâtʹ tysâč) [9,000].
  • When compound, the thousands are said before the hundreds, the hundreds before the tens, and the tens before the digits (e.g.: три тысячи, четыреста пятьдесят шесть (tri tysâči, četyresta pâtʹdesât šestʹ) [3,456]).
  • The word for million is миллион (million), and the word for billion is миллиард (milliard).

Write a number in full in Russian

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

The Everything Essential Russian Book: All You Need to Learn Russian in No Time The Everything Essential Russian Book: All You Need to Learn Russian in No Time
by , editors Adams Media (2014)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Russian: From Intermediate to Advanced Russian: From Intermediate to Advanced
by , editors Routledge (2014)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Schaum’s Outline of Russian Grammar Schaum’s Outline of Russian Grammar
by , editors McGraw-Hill (2009)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

A Comprehensive Russian Grammar A Comprehensive Russian Grammar
by , editors Wiley-Blackwell (2000)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Modern diccionario ruso-español Modern diccionario ruso-español
by , editors CreateSpace (2014)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

El Ruso: Gramatica Practica El Ruso: Gramatica Practica
by , editors Rubinos (2007)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Guide de conversation russe Guide de conversation russe
by , editors Assimil (2010)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Dictionnaire français-russe et russe-français Dictionnaire français-russe et russe-français
by , editors Larousse (2008)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

East Slavic languages

Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian.

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.