The Egyptian decade words 20–90 all end in ـين -īn: عشرين، تلاتين، أربعين through تسعين. They precede a singular counted noun, remain the same with masculine and feminine nouns, and do not alternate for grammatical case in everyday speech.
This is mainstream Cairene usage (informal). It preserves real number grammar—the singular counted noun and numeral-before-noun order—without the ـون/ـين case contrast of formal MSA. The decades also form the second half of compound numbers such as 25, treated on the compound-numbers page.
The decade inventory
| Value | Egyptian form | Cairene reading |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | عشرين | ʿishrīn |
| 30 | تلاتين | talatīn |
| 40 | أربعين | ʾarbaʿīn |
| 50 | خمسين | khamsīn |
| 60 | ستين | sittīn |
| 70 | سبعين | sabaʿīn |
| 80 | تمانين | tamanīn |
| 90 | تسعين | tisaʿīn |
Several forms are specifically Egyptian: تلاتين has ت rather than formal ث, and everyday تمانين differs from formal ثمانين. The forms are not careless versions of a written standard; they are the inherited everyday numeral paradigm.
المشروع محتاج تلاتين يوم كمان.
il-mashrūʿ moḥtāg talatīn yōm kamān.
The project needs another thirty days.
القاعة فيها تمانين كرسي.
il-ʾāʿa fīha tamanīn kursi.
The hall has eighty chairs—literally ‘eighty chair.’
Rule 1: use one singular counted noun
Like 11–19, the decades take a singular noun even though the English translation is plural. The noun follows the numeral.
قرينا عشرين كتاب السنة دي.
ʾarēna ʿishrīn kitāb is-sana di.
We read twenty books this year.
عندها ستين صورة على الموبايل.
ʿandaha sittīn ṣūra ʿala l-mobāyl.
She has sixty photos on her phone.
The first counted noun كتاب is masculine; صورة is feminine. Both stay singular. Do not use the plural كتب or صور after an exact decade.
This rule also holds for familiar measures:
المحطة على بعد أربعين كيلو.
il-maḥaṭṭa ʿala boʿd ʾarbaʿīn kīlo.
The station is forty kilometers away.
استناني عشرين دقيقة بس.
istannāni ʿishrīn daʾīʾa bass.
Wait for me for just twenty minutes—addressed to a man.
Rule 2: gender does not change the decade
Every decade is gender-invariant. Use the same عشرين with masculine طالب and feminine طالبة, and the same سبعين with masculine موظف and feminine موظفة.
في الكورس عشرين طالب وعشرين طالبة.
fi l-kōrs ʿishrīn ṭālib wi-ʿishrīn ṭālba.
There are twenty male students and twenty female students in the course.
الشركة عينت خمسين موظف وخمسين موظفة.
ish-sherka ʿayyinit khamsīn muwaẓẓaf wi-khamsīn muwaẓẓafa.
The company hired fifty male and fifty female employees.
The lexical gender contrast remains in the noun, but there is no “feminine twenty” or “masculine fifty.” Gender becomes relevant again in the units of certain compound numbers, which is why a phrase like 23 belongs to a separate tier.
Rule 3: Egyptian keeps ـين in every syntactic position
Formal MSA distinguishes nominative عشرون from accusative/genitive عشرين (formal). Everyday Egyptian has generalized the ـين form. Subject, object, and prepositional contexts all use عشرين.
عشرين واحد حضروا الاجتماع.
ʿishrīn wāḥid ḥaḍaru l-igtimāʿ.
Twenty people attended the meeting.
قابلت عشرين عميل الأسبوع ده.
ʾābilt ʿishrīn ʿamīl il-ʾusbūʿ da.
I met twenty clients this week.
اتكلمت مع عشرين عميل.
itkallimt maʿ ʿishrīn ʿamīl.
I spoke with twenty clients.
The numeral is identical in all three. Likewise, the counted noun has no MSA accusative tanwīn: عميل, not عميلًا, in the Cairene production baseline.
Rule 4: definiteness, approximation, and focus take scope over the quantity
A bare phrase such as تلاتين كتاب introduces an indefinite quantity. The article can make a known quantity phrase definite: التلاتين كتاب “the thirty books.” Approximation normally precedes the numeral, while بس after the phrase limits it.
راجعنا حوالي سبعين طلب.
rāgaʿna ḥawāli sabaʿīn ṭalab.
We reviewed about seventy applications.
معايا أربعين جنيه بس.
maʿāya ʾarbaʿīn ginēh bass.
I only have forty pounds.
In the first sentence, حوالي makes the count approximate. In the second, بس restricts the amount. Neither scope word changes طلب or جنيه from singular.
When a decade stands alone, context supplies the omitted unit: عندي خمسين can mean “I have fifty [pounds]” in a money conversation. Avoid omission if the unit could be misunderstood.
Prices and time
Money and time make the decade pattern frequent in daily conversation.
القميص ده بكام؟
il-ʾamīṣ da bi-kām?
How much is this shirt?
بتمانين جنيه، ولو اتنين بمية وخمسين.
bi-tamanīn ginēh, wi-law itnēn bi-miyya wi-khamsīn.
Eighty pounds, or two for one hundred and fifty.
The price preposition بـ attaches to the numeral: بتمانين. The singular unit جنيه follows the first amount and is omitted after the second because it remains obvious.
الطريق ياخد حوالي تسعين دقيقة.
iṭ-ṭarīʾ yākhod ḥawāli tisaʿīn daʾīʾa.
The journey takes about ninety minutes.
For clock time, Egyptian normally uses the hour number—الساعة تمانية “eight o’clock”—rather than treating 80 as a time. Decades appear naturally with duration nouns such as دقيقة and with ages: عنده أربعين سنة “he is forty years old.”
Careful and fast pronunciation
In careful citation, تسعين may be articulated as tisaʿīn. In fast connected Cairene, the first short vowel commonly drops, giving tisʿīn. The numeral’s consonants and grammatical ـين remain; edited spelling does not create a different paradigm.
خدته بتسعين جنيه.
khadto bi-tisʿīn ginēh.
I got it for ninety pounds—fast connected pronunciation of تسعين.
This differs from true lexical contrasts such as Egyptian تلاتين versus formal ثلاثون. Rate changes timing; register changes the numeral paradigm.
Common Mistakes
Using a plural counted noun
❌ اشتريت عشرين كتب.
Incorrect—an exact decade takes a singular counted noun.
✅ اشتريت عشرين كتاب.
ishtarēt ʿishrīn kitāb.
I bought twenty books.
Making a special feminine decade
❌ في الكورس عشرينة طالبة.
Incorrect—decades do not change for the counted noun’s gender.
✅ في الكورس عشرين طالبة.
fi l-kōrs ʿishrīn ṭālba.
There are twenty female students in the course.
Importing the MSA nominative into casual Egyptian
❌ عشرون واحد حضروا.
Register mismatch—عشرون is formal MSA, not the everyday Cairene decade form.
✅ عشرين واحد حضروا.
ʿishrīn wāḥid ḥaḍaru.
Twenty people attended.
Putting the cardinal after its noun
❌ استنيت دقيقة عشرين.
Incorrect for ‘twenty minutes’; this order can sound like a label or an afterthought.
✅ استنيت عشرين دقيقة.
istannēt ʿishrīn daʾīʾa.
I waited twenty minutes.
Key Takeaways
- The Egyptian decades are عشرين، تلاتين، أربعين، خمسين، ستين، سبعين، تمانين، تسعين.
- Put a decade before one singular counted noun.
- The decade does not change for masculine versus feminine nouns.
- Everyday Egyptian uses ـين in every syntactic position and adds no MSA case ending to the noun.
- Approximation and limitation surround the whole quantity without changing its internal grammar.
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