Hebrew Numbers 1-10: Counting in Hebrew

Learn to Count Hebrew Numbers from Zero to One Million

The first and most important thing to note when learning the Hebrew numbers 1-10 is that each number has two forms: a masculine and a feminine form. How do you know whether to use the masculine form of the feminine form? By looking at the noun the number is referring too. If the noun is a feminine noun, then you will use the feminine version of the Hebrew number. And if the noun is a masculine noun, then you will use the masculine version of the Hebrew number. If there is no noun connected to the Hebrew number, then it is most common to use the femine form.

The Hebrew number 0 is Efes: אֶפֶס and it doesn’t have a masculine or feminine form.

Cardinal Numbers

Masculine Hebrew Numbers 1-10

1	Echad	אֶחָד
2	Sh’nayeem	שְׁנַיִם
3	Sh’loshah	שְׁלֹשָׁה
4	Arba-ah	אַרְבָּעָה
5	Chameesha	חֲמִשָּׁה
6	Sheesha	שִׁשָׁה
7	Sheev-ah	שִׁבְעָה
8	Sh’monah	שְׁמוֹנָה
9	Teesh-ah	תִּשְׁעָה
10	Ahsarah	עֲשָׂרָה

Feminine Hebrew Numbers 1-10

1	Achat	אַחַת
2	Sh’tayeem	שְׁתַּיִם
3	Shalosh	שָׁלֹשׁ
4	Arbah	אַרְבַּע
5	Chamaysh	חָמֵשׁ
6	Shaysh	שֵׁשׁ
7	Shevah	שֶׁבַע
8	Sh’moneh	שְׁמוֹנֶה
9	Tayshah	תֵּשַׁע
10	Eser	עֶשֶׂר

Masculine Hebrew Numbers 11-19

Number	Transliteration/BMA Translit.	Hebrew
11	Achad Asar	אֲחַד-עָשָׂר
12	Sh’naym Asar	שְׁנֵים-עָשָׂר
13	Sh’loshah Asar	שְׁלֹשָה-עָשָׂר
14	Arba’ah Asar	אַרְבָּעָה-עָשָׂר
15	Chameeshah Asar	חֲמִשָּׁה-עָשָׂר
16	Sheeshah Asar	שִׁשָׁה-עָשָׂר
17	Sheev-ah Asar	שִׁבְעָה-עָשָׂר
18	Sh’monah Asar	שְׁמוֹנָה-עָשָׂר
19	Teesh-ah Asar	תִּשְׁעָה-עָשָׂר

Feminine Hebrew Numbers 11-19

11	Achat Esray	אֲחַת-עֶשְׂרֵה
12	Sh’tayim Esray	שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְׂרֵה
13	Sh’losh Esray	שְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה
14	Arbah Esray	אַרְבַּע-עֶשְׂרֵה
15	Chamaysh Esray	חֲמֵשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה
16	Shaysh Esray	שֵׁש-עֶשְׂרֵה
17	Sh’vah Esray	שְׁבַע-עֶשְׂרֵה
18	Sh’moneh Esray	שְׁמוֹנֶה-עֶשְׂרֵה
19	T’shah Esray	תְּשַׁע-עֶשְׂרֵה

Numbers in Hebrew: Twenty-Ninety

20	Ehsreem	עֶשְׂרִים
30	Sh’losheem	שְׁלֹשִׁים
40	Arba’eem	אַרְבָּעִים
50	Chameesheem	חֲמִשִּׁים
60	Sheesheem	שִׁשִׁים
70	Sheev’eem	שִׁבְעִים
80	Sh’mohneem	שְׁמוֹנִים
90	Teesh’eem	תִּשְׁעִים

We can now count in Hebrew up to 20, but how do we say 21, 47, or 79? Essentially, you combine the tens with the ones to count the number. For example, 21 in Hebrew would be 20 and 1. 20 is Ehsreem and 1 is Achat (feminine). So we would combine these two. But, how do you say the word AND in Hebrew?

Conjunctions in Hebrew (to, from, in, the, etc.) are typically just one letter in front of the word. The conjunction “and” is no exception! To say “and” you put a VAV before the word.

AND = ו

So how do we say 21, 47, or 79?

21 = Ehsreem v’achat

47 = Arba’eem v’ shevah

79 = Sheev’eem v’tayshah

Numbers in Hebrew: One Hundred – One Million

100	May’ah	מֵאָה
200	Matai-yeem	מָאתַיִם
300	Sh’losh May’ot	שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת
400	Arba May’ot	אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת
500	Chamaysh May’ot	חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת
600	Shaysh May’ot	שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת
700	Sh’vah May’ot	שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת
800	Sh’moneh May’ot	שְׁמוֹנֶה מֵאוֹת
900	T’shah May’ot	תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת
1000	Elef	אֶלֶף
10,000	Aseret Alafeem	עֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים
100,000	May’ah Elef	מֵאָה אֶלֶף
1,000,000	Meelyon	מִילְיוֹן

Three digit numbers are written the same way as two digit numbers. Just remember that the “and” or “vav” comes before the last digit.

So how do you say the number 163? That would be may’ah sheesheem v‘shalosh.

Ordinal Numbers

There are both cardinal and ordinal numbers in Hebrew. Cardinal numbers are used for counting and ordinal numbers tell the position of something in a list. Ex. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. It’s important to note that for ordinal numbers greater than 10, cardinal numbers are used instead!

	Masculine		Feminine
First	Rishon	רִאשׁוֹן	Rishona	רִאשׁוֹנָה
Second	Sheinee	שֵׁנִי‎	Sh’neeyah	שְׁנִיָה
Third	Sh’leeshee	שְׁלִישִׁי	Sh’leesheet	שְׁלִישִׁית‎
Fourth	R’vee’ee	רְבִיעִי‎	R’vee’eet	רְבִיעִית
Fifth	Chameeshee	חֲמִישִׁי‎	Chameesheet	חֲמִישִׁית‎
Sixth	Sheeshee	שִׁשִׁי	Sheesheet	שִׁשִׁית
Seventh	Sh’vee’ee	שְׁבִיעִי‎	Sh’vee’eet	שְׁבִיעִית‎
Eighth	Sh’meenee	שְׁמִינִי‎	Sh’meeneet	שְׁמִינִית‎
Ninth	T’shee’ee	תְּשִׁיעִי‎	T’shee’eet	תְּשִׁיעִית
Tenth	Aseeree	עֲשִׂירִי‎	Aseereet	עֲשִׂירִית‎

Did you enjoy the post on counting in Hebrew? There are more posts filled with Hebrew content on the BMA blog!