Prices look compact on a receipt, but their spoken Arabic still contains a complete governed number phrase. ٥ دنانير has the 3–10 pattern, ١٢ دينارًا has a compound numeral plus a singular accusative specification, and ٣٠ دولارًا has a case-marked decade plus that same singular accusative specification. The printed digits do not cancel gender, noun number, or case.
Decimals add a typographic challenge. Arabic documents may use Arabic-Indic digits with ٫ as the decimal separator and ٬ as the thousands separator, while internationally styled documents often use Western digits with a point and comma. These conventions must not be mixed casually, and right-to-left context never reverses the place values inside a numeral.
Decimal and thousands separators
In Arabic-script numerical typography, the two small marks have different jobs:
| Mark | Function | Example | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| ٫ | decimal separator | ١٢٫٥٠ | twelve and fifty hundredths |
| ٬ | thousands separator | ١٢٬٥٠٠ | twelve thousand five hundred |
| . | international decimal point | 12.50 | twelve and fifty hundredths |
| , | international thousands separator | 12,500 | twelve thousand five hundred |
Editorial practice varies by country, software, and institution (formal/technical). A publication may choose Western digits but another separator convention. The essential rule is consistency within one document and an unambiguous legend in data tables.
بلغ متوسط المسافة ١٢٫٥ كيلومترا في اليوم.
balagha mutawassiṭu l-masāfati thnay ʿashara fāṣilata khamsa kīlūmitran fī l-yawm.
The average distance reached 12.5 kilometers per day.
تبلغ كلفة المشروع ١٢٬٥٠٠ دولار، لا ١٢٫٥٠٠ دولار.
tablughu kulfatu l-mashrūʿi thnay ʿashara ʾalfan wa-khamsa miʾata dūlārin, lā thnay ʿashara fāṣila khamsa ṣifr ṣifr dūlār.
The project costs 12,500 dollars, not 12.500 dollars.
The second example contrasts a thousands mark with a decimal mark. The digit string itself keeps the order twelve-thousand-five-hundred; bidirectional layout does not make the rightmost glyph the highest place value.
Two useful ways to read a decimal
A practical technical reading names فاصلة “decimal point” and reads the material after it, often digit by digit when zeros matter: ٣٫٠٥ as ثلاثة فاصلة صفر خمسة. A mathematical or legal reading can instead state place value: ثلاثة وخمسة أجزاء من مئة “three and five parts out of a hundred.”
يقرأ الرمز ٣٫٠٥: ثلاثة فاصلة صفر خمسة.
yuqraʾu r-ramzu thalātha fāṣila ṣifr khamsa(h): thalātha(h) fāṣila(h) ṣifr khamsa(h).
The notation 3.05 is read: three point zero five.
يساوي ٣٫٠٥ ثلاثة وخمسة أجزاء من مئة.
yusāwī thalātha fāṣila ṣifr khamsa(h) thalāthatan wa-khamsata ʾajzāʾin min miʾa(h).
3.05 equals three and five hundredths.
The digit-by-digit version protects the zero in the hundredths place. The place-value version exposes ordinary number grammar: masculine جزء takes polarity-marked خمسة, and أجزاء is plural genitive. Spoken case on a decimal-as-label is often neutralized in practical reading; if legal precision matters, rewriting the value as an explicit fraction removes the ambiguity. For the noun structure inside خمسة أجزاء من مئة and for percentage notation, see Fractions, Ratios, and Percentages.
Currency nouns have lexical gender
The grammatical gender belongs to the currency noun, not to the country or the symbol. Common masculine units include دولار، دينار، ريال، درهم، جنيه. ليرة is feminine. That contrast is visible from three through ten.
دفعت خمسة دنانير لدخول المتحف.
dafaʿtu khamsata danānīra li-dukhūli l-matḥaf.
I paid five dinars to enter the museum.
اشترت الدواء بخمس ليرات فقط.
ʾishtarati d-dawāʾa bi-khamsi līrātin faqaṭ.
She bought the medicine for only five liras.
Masculine دينار selects خمسة; feminine ليرة selects خمس. The first numeral is accusative as the amount paid. The second is genitive after بـ. In both phrases the counted noun is plural genitive, although دنانير—a diptote—shows fatḥa in the indefinite genitive.
One and two use the noun itself as singular or dual, with an agreeing واحد only when emphasis is useful.
ثمن القهوة دينار واحد، وثمن الوجبتين ديناران.
thamanu l-qahwati dīnārun wāḥidun, wa-thamanu l-wajbatayni dīnārān.
The coffee costs one dinar, and the two meals cost two dinars.
The explicit واحد confirms one unit; ديناران already contains the meaning “two dinars,” so adding اثنان would normally be unnecessary.
Eleven through ninety-nine: singular accusative currency
After 11–99, the currency noun is singular accusative. Eleven and twelve have gender agreement in both elements; 13–19 show polarity in the unit and agreement in عشر/عشرة; the decades do not vary for gender but do vary for case.
بلغت رسوم التسجيل اثني عشر دينارا.
balaghat rusūmu t-tasjīli thnay ʿashara dīnāran.
The registration fee came to twelve dinars.
لم تتجاوز الفاتورة اثنتي عشرة ليرة.
lam tatajāwazi l-fātūratu thnatay ʿashrata līra(h).
The bill did not exceed twelve liras.
Both numeral phrases are accusative, so twelve begins with اثني for masculine دينار and اثنتي for feminine ليرة. Their counted nouns are singular accusative. Natural pause suppresses the final short ending on sentence-final ليرة, but the grammatical case remains accusative.
يباع القاموس بثلاثين دولارا في المعرض.
yubāʿu l-qāmūsu bi-thalāthīna dūlāran fī l-maʿriḍ.
The dictionary is sold for thirty dollars at the fair.
After بـ, the decade is oblique ثلاثين, not nominative ثلاثون. Its specification remains singular accusative دولارًا. This split is easy to miss because English has only an invariant thirty dollars.
At one hundred and one thousand, the immediate currency noun is normally singular genitive: مئة دولارٍ، ألف ريالٍ. These are again construct-like number phrases, not the 11–99 specification pattern.
خصصت المؤسسة مئة ألف دولار للمنح الدراسية.
khaṣṣaṣati l-muʾassasatu miʾata ʾalfi dūlārin li-l-minaḥi d-dirāsiyya(h).
The organization allocated one hundred thousand dollars for scholarships.
Reading a price with major and minor units
A decimal price is often clearer when expanded into a major currency unit and its subunit. The subunit is currency-specific: a dollar has one hundred cents, but dinar systems do not all use the same named division. Never guess the subunit merely from the English word dinar.
بلغ سعر الكتاب ١٢٫٥٠ دولارا، أي اثني عشر دولارا وخمسين سنتا.
balagha siʿru l-kitābi thnay ʿashara fāṣila khamsa ṣifr dūlāran, ʾay thnay ʿashara dūlāran wa-khamsīna sintā.
The book cost $12.50, that is, twelve dollars and fifty cents.
The numeral twelve is accusative اثني عشر in this price complement, and دولارًا is singular accusative. The coordinated decade is likewise accusative خمسين, followed by singular accusative سنتًا.
حول المصرف ٧٥٫٢٥ يورو إلى الحساب صباحا.
ḥawwala l-maṣrifu khamsatan wa-sabʿīna fāṣilata khamsa wa-ʿishrīna yūrū ʾilā l-ḥisābi ṣabāḥā.
The bank transferred 75.25 euros to the account in the morning.
Loanword currency names differ in how readily they inflect or pluralize. In financial tables, a fixed currency label or ISO code may follow the figure (technical). In continuous prose, prefer an established Arabic singular and plural where one exists.
Mixed digit-and-word styles
Invoices, advertisements, and official forms routinely combine digits with an Arabic currency word: ٣٥ دولارًا or ٣٥ ريالا. The digit has no visible case ending, but a careful reader supplies the case-appropriate spoken numeral, and the noun still follows the range rule.
كتب الموظف في العقد: ٤٢ ليرة شهريا.
kataba l-muwaẓẓafu fī l-ʿaqdi: thnatayni wa-ʾarbaʿīna līratan shahriyyā.
The employee wrote in the contract: 42 liras per month.
Because this is an amount governed by كتب, the intended careful reading is accusative اثنتين وأربعين ليرةً. The unit digit agrees with feminine ليرة, and the counted noun is singular accusative.
Common Mistakes
Applying one polarity form to every currency
❌ دفعت خمسة ليرات.
Incorrect — ليرة is feminine, so 3–10 use the polarity form خمس.
✅ دفعت خمس ليرات عند الاستلام.
dafaʿtu khamsa līrātin ʿinda l-istilām.
I paid five liras upon delivery.
Keeping the currency plural after eleven
❌ كلف الإصلاح أحد عشر دولارات.
Incorrect — 11–99 take a singular accusative currency noun.
✅ كلف الإصلاح أحد عشر دولارا قبل الضريبة.
kallafa l-ʾiṣlāḥu ʾaḥada ʿashara dūlāran qabla ḍ-ḍarība(h).
The repair cost eleven dollars before tax.
Missing case on feminine twelve
❌ اشتريت البطاقة باثنتا عشرة ليرة.
Incorrect — after بـ, feminine twelve begins with oblique اثنتي.
✅ اشتريت البطاقة باثنتي عشرة ليرة.
ʾishtaraytu l-biṭāqata bi-thnatay ʿashrata līra(h).
I bought the card for twelve liras.
Using a nominative decade after a preposition
❌ يباع الاشتراك بثلاثون دولارا.
Incorrect — بـ requires the oblique decade form ثلاثين.
✅ يباع الاشتراك بثلاثين دولارا سنويا.
yubāʿu l-ishtirāku bi-thalāthīna dūlāran sanawiyyā.
The subscription is sold for thirty dollars per year.
Reversing digits or confusing separators
❌ يقرأ المبلغ ٢٥٫١ هكذا: مئة وخمسة وعشرون.
Incorrect — RTL context does not reverse 25.1 into 125, and ٫ marks a decimal.
✅ يقرأ المبلغ ٢٥٫١ هكذا: خمسة وعشرون فاصلة واحد.
yuqraʾu l-mablaghu khamsa wa-ʿishrūn fāṣila wāḥid hākadhā: khamsa(h) wa-ʿishrūn fāṣila(h) wāḥid.
The amount 25.1 is read like this: twenty-five point one.
Key Takeaways
- ٫ is an Arabic decimal separator and ٬ is an Arabic thousands separator; a right-to-left line does not reverse place value.
- A digit-by-digit reading preserves zeros, while an explicit fractional paraphrase states exact place value.
- Currency gender matters: خمسة دنانير but خمس ليرات.
- After 11–99, use a singular accusative currency noun. Twelve and the decades also change form for case.
- Expand decimal prices into the correct major and minor currency units when precision matters, and verify the real subunit for the currency concerned.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Fractions, Ratios, and PercentagesB1 — Express fractional parts, ratios, one-in-N statistics, percentages, and percentage-point changes with correctly governed Arabic number phrases.
- Distributive and Multiplicative ExpressionsB1 — Express one-by-one distribution, repetitions, per-unit rates, and multiples with repeated numerals, مرة, لكل, ضعف, and أضعاف.
- Numbers 0–10 in IsolationA1 — Read, pronounce, and distinguish the citation and gender-paired forms of Arabic zero through ten before building counted-noun phrases.