Last updated: 3 weeks ago
22,222 men – How do you write this number in Arabic?
Numbers in Arabic are like solving mathematical puzzles. If you like logical games, this is perfect for you. In the end, it just comes down to two major steps.
In Arabic, the writing of numbers is quite a head calculation task. Singular, plural, which grammatical gender, which case?
In this article, we will analyze a rather tricky number used in the following short sentence:22,222 men came.
This is a tricky sentence because although it looks easy, there are duals and other cool stuff involved.
The entire sentence reads as follows:
.ุฌูุงุกู ุงุซููุงูู ููุนูุดูุฑูููู ุฃูููููุง ููู ูุฆูุชุงูู ููุงุซููุงูู ููุนูุดูุฑูููู ุฑูุฌูููุง
We have two ask ourselves two questions:
- Why do we write ุงุซููุงูู and not ุงุซููููููู? –> see step 1
- Why do we write ุฑูุฌูููุง – in the singular form and with the accusative case? –> see step 2
How do you write numbers correctly in Arabic?
It is good to step back for a second and have a look at the number – ุนุฏุฏ – in detail. Let us break down the number 22,222 into parts:
- A: tells you how to write the number in Arabic.
- B: tells you the numeric value of the number.
- C: tells you how the number eventually sums up over the process.
| A | ุนูุดูุฑูููู | ูู | ุงุซููุงูู | ูู | ู ูุฆูุชุงูู | ูู | ุฃูููููุง | ุนูุดูุฑูููู | ูู | ุงุซููุงูู |
| B | 20 | 2 | 200 | 1000 | 20 | + | 2 | |||
| C | 22,222 | 22,202 | 22,200 | 22,000 | 22 | 2 |
These are the important steps:
Step 1: Identify the grammatical function of the number
In the English sentence, the word men would be the subject.
Arabic, however, works differently: the number itself occupies a certain spot and thus has the grammatical function. So in the Arabic sentence, the word men is NOT the subject. It is the number.
Therefore, the number takes the nominative case (ู ูุฑููููุน) which is the reason why we must use the nominative form of the dual forms. Notice the Aleph: ุงูู
Step 2: Decide what to do with the “English” subject in Arabic
In our example, we need to deal with the word ุฑูุฌูู.
The last number in your chain defines its number, form, and case. Since we have the number 20 right before, we have to treat it as a specification (ุชููู ููููุฒ) in Arabic. Grammatically speaking, in our example, this means we need the singular form in the accusative case (ู ูููุตููุจ).
However, there is still one problem left: How do you know which form you should use for the respective number?
It is actually not that difficult. If you want to go over it: I have extensively covered the rules in both of my books, Arabic for Nerds 1 and 2.
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The Ultimate Tool for Learning Arabic Numbers
Numbers in the Arabic language are like solving mathematical equations. But there is good news: a new online tool – which is of great help to learn the rules: arabic.ba
Wouldnโt this be easier if the classical order is followed instead?
Hi Gerald, This is really good. I like the way you simplify things. Numbers in Arabic is very complicated indeed, but you did a great job here.
Since you are very interested in Arabic, I thought you may appreciate this Arabic Arabic dictionary site “https://www.arabicterminology.com”. It has some really great search features that can help you with your research.
To see how powerful its search is, you can check this blog post.
http://www.alqamoos.org/blog/al-qamoos-english-arabic-dictionary-search-tips-and-tricks
Note. I am not affiliated to this site or know the owner, but I appreciate what you do for Arabic and your passion about it and I thought this could help.
Good luck and please keep blogging about Arabic. Thank you!