Russian Grammar

Counting in Russian (cardinal numbers)

 Lesson comments

Cardinal numbers are simple words like one, two, three, four, etc. Know them enables you to count objects. Even if you don’t plan to learn as much math as the famous Russian mathematician Nikolay Lobachevsky knew, the sooner you start learning Russian numerals the better. You will use them in everyday life for counting, telling time and date, shopping or riding a bus. Look at the list of cardinal numbers below and take some time to get used to them.

Counting from 1 to 10

1
один  [ah-deen]
2
два  [dvah]
3
три  [tree]
4
четыре  [che-ti-ryeh]
5
пять  [pyat']
6
шесть  [shest']
7
семь  [syem]
8
восемь  [voh-syem]
9
девять  [dyeh-vit']
10
десять  [dyeh-sit']

Counting from 11 to 20

You can notice a simple pattern here. The numbers 11-19 are formed by adding "-надцать" to the corresponding numbers 1-9.

11
одиннадцать  [ah-dee-nat-sat']
12
двенадцать  [dvi-nat-sat']
13
тринадцать  [tree-nat-sat']
14
четырнадцать  [chye-tir-nat-sat']
15
пятнадцать  [pyat-nat-sat']
16
шестнадцать  [shes-nat-sat']
17
семнадцать  [sim-nat-sat']
18
восемнадцать  [vahsim-nat-sat']
19
девятнадцать  [divit-nat-sat']
20
двадцать  [dvat-sat']

Counting by tens

10
десять  [dye-sit']
20
двадцать  [dvat-sat']
30
тридцать  [treet-sat']
40
сорок  [soh-rahk]
50
пятьдесят  [pit-dee-syat]
60
шестьдесят  [shes-dee-syat]
70
семьдесят  [syem-dee-syat]
80
восемьдесят  [voh-sim-dee-syat]
90
девяносто  [di-vee-nohs-tah]
100
сто  [stoh]

Counting by hundreds

100
сто  [stoh]
200
двести  [dvyes-tee]
300
триста  [tree-stah]
400
четыреста  [chye-ti-ryeh-stah]
500
пятьсот  [pit-soht]
600
шестьсот  [shis-soht]
700
семьсот  [sim-soht]
800
восемьсот  [vah-sim-soht]
900
девятьсот  [dee-vit-soht]
   1000   
тысяча  [ti-si-chah]

Saying compound and large numbers

Compound numbers in Russian are formed same as in English. For examle, to say twenty-one (21) you need to combine twenty (20) and one (1).

21 
двадцать один  [dvat-sat' ah-deen]
22 
двадцать два  [dvat-sat' dvah]
23 
двадцать три  [dvat-sat' tree]
1000000 
миллион  [mee-lee-ohn]
2000000 
два миллиона  [dvat mee-lee-ohnah]

Other sites that teach numerals: An English article about Cardinal Numbers, Russian Cardinal Numbers







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