Learn Arabic: Numbers 20–100

Mastering numbers between 20 and 100 is a vital step in achieving fluency in Arabic. This range is essential for everyday tasks such as handling money, stating your age, or understanding addresses and dates. In this lesson, you will learn the multiples of ten as well as the logic for constructing compound numbers.

One of the most important patterns to recognize is how the tens are formed. Most of these words end with the suffix -ūn, which mirrors the sound of a masculine plural ending. For instance, thirty is thalāthūn (ثَلَاثُونَ) and fifty is khamsūn (خَمْسُونَ). When you move to compound numbers, Arabic follows a specific order: you state the unit first, followed by the word for "and" (wa), and then the ten. Instead of saying "twenty-one," you say wāḥid wa-‘ishrūn (وَاحِد وَعِشْرُونَ), which literally means "one and twenty."

This logic applies all the way up to ninety-nine, or tis‘ah wa-tis‘ūn (تِسْعَة وَتِسْعُونَ). You will also encounter the word for one hundred, which is mi’ah (مِائَة). By learning these structures, you can easily navigate larger figures. For example, if you know forty-four is arba‘ah wa-arba‘ūn (أَرْبَعَة وَأَرْبَعُونَ), you can see how the unit and the ten are linked by the conjunction. Practicing these combinations will help you develop a natural rhythm for counting and identifying quantities in your new language.