Arabic Numbers 1-10 and How to Count

Level: Beginner. Counting from one to ten in Arabic is easy to say but has one rule that surprises English speakers: for three to ten, the number takes the opposite gender to the thing you are counting. Learn the ten words first, then the polarity rule, and you can count almost anything.

The rule

A number (ʿadad) that counts a noun behaves differently depending on its size. There are three groups.

One and two agree. The number وَاحِد (wāḥid, one) acts like an adjective: it follows the noun and matches its gender — كِتَابٌ وَاحِدٌ (kitābun wāḥidun, one book), بِنْتٌ وَاحِدَةٌ (bintun wāḥidatun, one girl). For “two” you rarely need a separate word at all, because Arabic has a dual ending: كِتَابَانِ (kitābāni) already means “two books”. The word اِثْنَان (ithnān, two) is added only for emphasis.

Three to ten flip gender (polarity). This is the key rule. With a masculine noun, the number 3-10 takes the feminine form, the one with the tā marbūṭa ending; with a feminine noun, it takes the masculine form, with no such ending. So ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ (thalāthatu kutubin) is “three books” — كِتَاب (kitāb) is masculine, so the number wears the feminine tā marbūṭa — while ثَلَاثُ بَنَاتٍ (thalāthu banātin) is “three girls”, where the number drops it. This reverse agreement is called polarity.

The counted noun is plural and genitive. After 3-10, the thing you count is plural and in the genitive case, normally indefinite, which you hear as an -in ending: كُتُبٍ (kutubin), بَنَاتٍ (banātin). So the pattern is: number + plural noun in the genitive.

The numbers 1-10

The forms above (with the tā marbūṭa ending on 3-10) are the ones you use when you recite numbers on their own and when you count a masculine noun. Drop that ending to count a feminine noun.

Polarity side by side

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ ثَلَاثَةُ بَنَاتٍ (thalāthatu banātin) → ✅ ثَلَاثُ بَنَاتٍ (thalāthu banātin). بِنْت (bint) is feminine, so the number 3 drops the tā marbūṭa.
• ❌ خَمْسُ رِجَالٍ (khamsu rijālin) → ✅ خَمْسَةُ رِجَالٍ (khamsatu rijālin). رَجُل (rajul) is masculine, so the number 5 keeps the tā marbūṭa.
• ❌ ثَلَاثَةُ كِتَابٍ (thalāthatu kitābin, singular) → ✅ ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ (thalāthatu kutubin). After 3-10 the noun must be plural.
• ❌ ثَلَاثَةُ الكُتُبِ (thalāthatu l-kutubi) → ✅ ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ (thalāthatu kutubin). The counted noun is normally indefinite (with -in), not with الـ (al-).
• ❌ وَاحِدٌ كِتَابٌ (wāḥidun kitābun) → ✅ كِتَابٌ وَاحِدٌ (kitābun wāḥidun). “One” comes after its noun, like an adjective.

A short conversation

A: كَمْ كِتَابًا عِنْدَكَ؟ (kam kitāban ʿindaka?) — How many books do you have? B: عِنْدِي خَمْسَةُ كُتُبٍ. (ʿindī khamsatu kutubin.) — I have five books. A: وَكَمْ أُخْتًا؟ (wa-kam ukhtan?) — And how many sisters? B: عِنْدِي ثَلَاثُ أَخَوَاتٍ. (ʿindī thalāthu akhawātin.) — I have three sisters.

Usage notes

• “How many” takes the singular. After كَمْ (kam, how many) the noun is singular and in the accusative with -an: كَمْ كِتَابًا (kam kitāban), not a plural. The number answers with the plural.
• Build the plural first. Because 3-10 need a plural, you must know the noun’s plural, and many are “broken” (irregular): كِتَاب (kitāb) to كُتُب (kutub), وَلَد (walad) to أَوْلَاد (awlād), رَجُل (rajul) to رِجَال (rijāl). Learn the plural with the word.
• Case endings move with the sentence. The -u, -a, -i you hear on the number (thalāthatu, thalāthata, thalāthati) change with the number’s role in the sentence; in speech many endings are dropped, but they matter in careful or written Arabic.

Compared with higher numbers

• 11 and 12 use a different structure again, and from 11-99 the counted noun becomes singular accusative (أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كِتَابًا — aḥada ʿashara kitāban — eleven books), so the plural-genitive rule here is only for 3-10. Keep going in the Arabic grammar section once 1-10 feel solid.
• Polarity builds on noun gender in Arabic: if you cannot yet tell a masculine noun from a feminine one, review that first, because the whole rule depends on it.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Build the foundation it rests on: noun gender in Arabic
• Back to the Arabic grammar section
• New here? Start with Start Learning Arabic Here