Numbers
A number in Arabic agrees with the counted noun in gender for one and two, reverses gender for three to ten, and follows fixed patterns from eleven to ninety-nine. The number takes its case from its position in the sentence. The counted noun is genitive plural after three to ten and accusative singular after eleven to ninety-nine.
Arabic numbers are the chapter native speakers get wrong most often, which tells you something about its difficulty. Gender agreement reverses in the middle of the sequence and then reverses back, and the counted noun changes case and number three times as you count upward. Both behaviours are regular, and the whole chapter reduces to knowing which band you are in.
Learn: one and two agree
These two follow the counted noun in gender and come after it as descriptions rather than before it.
By the end of this lesson
- Apply the agreement rule for each band of numbers without hesitating.
- Give the case and number of the counted noun in every band.
- Parse a compound number, including the one that is not built.
- Avoid the errors that are near universal in contemporary writing.
Ṭālibun wāḥidun, one student. Ṭālibatun wāḥidatun, one female student. The number is an adjective here, agreeing in gender, case and definiteness like any other.
Understand: three to ten disagree
The number takes the opposite gender to what it counts, and the counted noun is a genitive plural annexed to it.
This is the rule that surprises everyone, and it is worth stating bluntly: a feminine number counts a masculine noun, and a masculine number counts a feminine one. Gender is decided by the singular of the counted noun, not by its plural form.
قَرَأْتُ ثَلَاثَةَ كُتُبٍ
qaraʾtu thalāthata kutubin
I read three books.
Show the i‘rāb
قرأتُ فعل وفاعل، ثلاثةَ مفعول به منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة وهو مضاف، كتبٍ مضاف إليه مجرور وعلامة جره الكسرة الظاهرة.
The singular is kitāb, masculine, so the number carries the tāʾ. Note also that the counted noun is genitive by annexation, not accusative: the number takes the case of the sentence and the counted noun is always genitive in this band.
قَرَأْتُ عَنْ ثَلَاثِ طَالِبَاتٍ
qaraʾtu ʿan thalāthi ṭālibātin
I read about three female students.
Show the i‘rāb
قرأتُ فعل وفاعل، عن حرف جر، ثلاثِ اسم مجرور وعلامة جره الكسرة الظاهرة وهو مضاف، طالباتٍ مضاف إليه مجرور وعلامة جره الكسرة الظاهرة.
The singular is ṭāliba, feminine, so the number drops the tāʾ. Deciding gender from the plural rather than the singular is the commonest way to get this band wrong.
Check yourself
Which form of the number is correct, and what case is the counted noun?
... (خمس / خمسة) رجالٍ
Show the answer
khamsatu rijālin. The counted noun is genitive plural.
The singular of rijāl is rajul, masculine, so the number takes the feminine form with tāʾ. In this band the counted noun is always a genitive plural annexed to the number.
See: eleven to nineteen
Both parts are built on fatḥa and the whole occupies a position, with one exception. The counted noun is an accusative singular.
إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا
innī raʾaytu aḥada ʿashara kawkaban
Indeed I saw eleven stars.
Show the i‘rāb
رأيتُ فعل وفاعل، أحدَ عشرَ اسم عدد مركب مبني على فتح الجزأين في محل نصب مفعول به، كوكبًا تمييز منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة.
Built on the fatḥa of both parts, and therefore given a position rather than a case. The counted noun becomes an accusative singular in this band, which is a complete change from the genitive plural of three to ten.
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا
inna ʿiddata l-shuhūri ʿinda Llāhi ithnā ʿashara shahran
Indeed the number of months with Allah is twelve months.
Show the i‘rāb
إنّ حرف توكيد ونصب، عدةَ اسم إنّ منصوب وهو مضاف، الشهورِ مضاف إليه مجرور، عندَ ظرف مكان منصوب وهو مضاف، اللهِ مضاف إليه مجرور، اثنا خبر إنّ مرفوع وعلامة رفعه الألف لأنه ملحق بالمثنى، عشرَ جزء مبني على الفتح لا محل له، شهرًا تمييز منصوب.
ithnā ʿashara is the exception: its first part is declined like a dual, taking alif for the nominative and yāʾ otherwise, while the second part stays built. Note the alif here because the word is the predicate of inna and therefore nominative.
Twenty to ninety, and the hundreds
The decades take one form for both genders and are declined like a sound masculine plural. Their counted noun is an accusative singular; that of a hundred and a thousand is a genitive singular.
فِي الصَّفِّ عِشْرُونَ طَالِبًا
fī l-ṣaffi ʿishrūna ṭāliban
In the class are twenty students.
Show the i‘rāb
في حرف جر، الصفِّ اسم مجرور، والجار والمجرور متعلقان بمحذوف خبر مقدم، عشرونَ مبتدأ مؤخر مرفوع وعلامة رفعه الواو لأنه ملحق بجمع المذكر السالم، طالبًا تمييز منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة.
ʿishrūna is nominative by wāw as an annexed member of the sound masculine plural class, and the counted noun is accusative. Putting the counted noun into the genitive here, ʿishrūna ṭālibin, is one of the most frequent errors in contemporary writing.
A hundred and a thousand return to annexation: miʾatu rajulin, alfu kitābin, with a genitive singular after them.
Where learners go wrong
Every one of these errors is now common in published Arabic, which is all the more reason to get them right.
- Making three to nine agree. They disagree. Decide the gender from the singular of the counted noun.
- Putting the counted noun of a decade into the genitive. It is an accusative singular: ʿishrūna ṭāliban.
- Treating ithnā ʿashara as fully built. Its first part is declined.
- Reading gender from a broken plural. Kutub looks feminine and is not; the singular kitāb decides.
Sources
The bands, the agreement rules and the parsing of compounds follow these texts.
- Ibn Hishām al-Anṣārī, أوضح المسالك: the bands and the case of the counted noun.
- Ibn ʿAqīl, شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك: compound numbers, the decades, and ithnā ʿashara.
Common questions
Frequently asked
What is the governing rule for gender agreement?
Three bands. One and two agree with the counted noun. Three to ten disagree with it: a feminine number for a masculine noun and a masculine number for a feminine one. Eleven and twelve agree again, and the first part of thirteen to nineteen disagrees while the second part agrees.
How is a compound number from eleven to nineteen parsed?
It is built on the fatḥa of both parts and occupies whatever position its role requires: aḥada ʿashara kawkaban is built, in the position of accusative as an object. The exception is ithnā ʿashara, whose first part is declined like a dual, with alif for the nominative and yāʾ otherwise.
What case is the counted noun?
It varies by band. Three to ten: genitive plural by annexation. Eleven to ninety-nine: accusative singular. One hundred and one thousand: genitive singular by annexation. Getting the band right is most of the work.
How are the decades parsed?
Twenty to ninety are attached to the sound masculine plural class and take wāw for the nominative and yāʾ for the accusative and genitive, with one form for both genders. Their counted noun is an accusative singular: ʿishrūna ṭāliban.
Is it thamāni nisāʾin or thamānī nisāʾin?
When annexed, the yāʾ is kept and the word behaves like a defective noun: thamānī nisāʾin in the nominative and genitive with an estimated vowel, and thamāniya in the accusative with a visible fatḥa. Standing alone and indefinite, the yāʾ drops: thamānin.
How do I read a number written in digits inside a vowelled text?
Read it as the words it stands for and parse those words. A digit has no iʿrāb of its own; it is a symbol for a word, and it is the word that carries the case and the agreement.