The Hausa words from zero to ten are the foundation for prices, times, ages, dates, and every larger number. They are not merely a list to recite: in a noun phrase, the number normally follows the noun, as in mutane uku “three people” and naira biyar “five naira.” English does the reverse, so natural order deserves as much practice as the forms themselves.
All forms on this page are neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa in both (informal) conversation and (formal) writing. Ordinary boko does not mark their lexical tones or vowel lengths.
After mastering this set, continue to Numbers Eleven to Nineteen and Tens from Twenty to Ninety.
The counting list
| Digit | Hausa | Example count phrase |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | sifili | sifili “zero” |
| 1 | ɗaya | mutum ɗaya “one person” |
| 2 | biyu | mutane biyu “two people” |
| 3 | uku | yara uku “three children” |
| 4 | huɗu | ɗakuna huɗu “four rooms” |
| 5 | biyar | naira biyar “five naira” |
| 6 | shida | kujeru shida “six chairs” |
| 7 | bakwai | kwanaki bakwai “seven days” |
| 8 | takwas | ƙwai takwas “eight eggs” |
| 9 | tara | watanni tara “nine months” |
| 10 | goma | lemu goma “ten oranges” |
The hooked letters in ɗaya and huɗu are not optional decorations. ɗ represents a different consonant from plain d. Write the words as whole Hausa forms rather than reconstructing them from English digits.
Ɗaya, biyu, uku, huɗu, biyar.
One, two, three, four, five.
Shida, bakwai, takwas, tara, goma.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
The noun normally comes first
The learner-safe order for an ordinary counted noun phrase is:
noun + cardinal number
Akwai mutum ɗaya a waje.
There is one person outside.
Mutane biyu suna jiranka.
Two people are waiting for you.
Na sayi littattafai uku.
I bought three books.
Wannan gidan yana da ɗakuna huɗu.
This house has four rooms.
English begins with the number—three books. Hausa normally begins with what is being counted—littattafai uku, literally “books three.” No separate linker na/ta is required merely because a number follows the noun.
Numerals themselves do not change for gender
Ɗaya, biyu, uku, and the other cardinal words are not replaced by feminine forms. The same number follows masculine and feminine nouns.
Na ga yaro ɗaya da yarinya ɗaya.
I saw one boy and one girl.
Musa ya sayi littafi biyu, Aisha kuma ta sayi riga biyu.
Musa bought two books, and Aisha bought two gowns.
The surrounding grammar can still show gender: ya sayi agrees with Musa and ta sayi with Aisha. The numeral biyu stays the same. English also keeps two invariant, but Hausa learners sometimes overgeneralize adjective agreement and invent a gender contrast where cardinal numbers have none.
When a numeral stands alone as “the number two” or as the answer to a count question, it needs no omitted noun to change its form:
A: Mutane nawa suka zo? B: Biyu.
A: How many people came? B: Two.
Lexical plurals and singular-shaped count nouns
With people and animals above one, the normal lexical plural is frequent and is the safest beginner choice: mutane biyu, yara uku, dawakai huɗu.
Yara biyar suna wasa a tsakar gida.
Five children are playing in the courtyard.
Dawakai shida sun iso daga gona.
Six horses arrived from the farm.
Hausa nevertheless also permits a singular-shaped count noun before a plural numeral, including with human nouns. The phrase still denotes a plural group and therefore takes plural agreement elsewhere.
Mutum biyu suna jiranka.
Two people are waiting for you. (singular-shaped count noun with plural clause agreement)
The same flexibility is common with inanimate nouns. Both a singular-shaped count noun and its lexical plural may occur, especially in classifier-like or measurement contexts. Which option is idiomatic depends partly on the noun and construction, so at A1 copy established phrases rather than applying one mechanical rule.
An kawo kujera huɗu domin baƙi.
Four chairs were brought for the guests.
Kujeru huɗu suna kusa da ƙofar.
Four chairs are near the door.
Conventional units commonly remain singular-shaped: naira biyar, shekara uku, wata biyu. This is normal Hausa, not a missing English plural ending.
Na zauna a Kano wata biyu.
I stayed in Kano for two months.
Yaron yana da shekara shida.
The boy is six years old.
Guda presents countable units
Guda means “unit/piece” and is useful when the item is understood or when the speaker presents a count as units. It can occur alone for one, and before a numeral for more.
A: Kofi nawa kike so? B: Guda ɗaya kawai.
A: How many cups do you want? B: Just one.
Mun sayi kwalaben ruwa guda shida.
We bought six bottles of water.
A’a, ba goma ba; guda takwas muke buƙata.
No, not ten; we need eight units.
Do not insert guda everywhere. Littattafai uku is already a complete count phrase. Guda uku is especially useful as a standalone answer or when counting individual units is salient.
Zero is sifili, while babu says none exists
Sifili is the cardinal name “zero,” common in arithmetic, scores, statistics, and digit strings. Babu is an existential negative meaning “there is/are none” or “there is no.” They overlap in real situations but have different grammar.
Uku a ɗebe uku, sifili ke nan.
Three minus three is zero.
Adadin kuskuren ya koma sifili.
The number of errors went down to zero.
Babu littafi a kan teburin.
There is no book on the table.
Do not force sifili into every everyday negative count. When the point is nonexistence, babu is the natural clause. When naming the numerical value 0, use sifili.
Prices and clock hours
Hausa keeps the unit before the number in simple prices:
A: Lemu ɗaya nawa ne? B: Naira goma ne.
A: How much is one orange? B: It is ten naira.
Na biya naira biyar.
I paid five naira.
For a full clock hour, use ƙarfe + numeral. The metal word ƙarfe is conventional in telling time; translating English o’clock word for word will not produce the Hausa expression.
A: Za mu haɗu da ƙarfe nawa? B: Da ƙarfe bakwai.
A: What time shall we meet? B: At seven o’clock.
Shagon yana buɗewa da ƙarfe takwas.
The shop opens at eight o’clock.
Notice the preposition da in da ƙarfe bakwai “at seven.” The internal time phrase still has unit-first order: ƙarfe bakwai, not bakwai ƙarfe.
Reading digits is not naming a quantity
A phone number, code, or account reference can be read one digit at a time. A quantity is built as one cardinal expression. The same written digits can therefore be spoken differently according to the task.
Lambar ta fara da sifili, takwas, uku.
The number begins with zero, eight, three. (digit-by-digit reading)
Akwai abubuwa ɗari biyu da takwas.
There are two hundred and eight items. (one quantity: 208)
At A1, the important contrast is conceptual: do not read a phone number as though it were the price or number of objects, and do not read a quantity as a string of unrelated digits.
Practice
Put the noun or unit before the number.
kwanaki bakwai
seven days
naira goma
ten naira
mutum ɗaya
one person
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English number-first order
❌ uku littattafai
Incorrect — an ordinary Hausa count phrase puts the noun before the numeral.
✅ littattafai uku
three books
2. Omitting hooked ɗ
❌ mutum daya
Incorrect standard spelling — ɗaya begins with hooked ɗ.
✅ mutum ɗaya
one person
3. Making the clause singular because the count noun is singular-shaped
❌ Mutum uku yana jira.
Incorrect — the numeral phrase denotes three people, so the clause needs plural agreement.
✅ Mutum uku suna jira.
Three people are waiting. (singular-shaped count noun, plural clause agreement)
4. Translating o’clock in English order
❌ bakwai ƙarfe
Incorrect — the conventional time unit comes before the numeral.
✅ ƙarfe bakwai
seven o’clock
5. Using sifili for an ordinary existential negative
❌ Sifili littafi a kan teburin.
Incorrect — use the existential negative to say that no book is there.
✅ Babu wani littafi a kan teburin.
There is not a single book on the table.
Key Takeaways
- Learn sifili, ɗaya, biyu, uku, huɗu, biyar, shida, bakwai, takwas, tara, goma as whole forms.
- The normal count order is noun + numeral: yara uku, naira biyar, ƙarfe takwas.
- Cardinals do not change for masculine, feminine, or plural agreement.
- Lexical plurals are learner-safe, but singular-shaped count nouns can also occur with plural numerals; the resulting phrase still controls plural agreement.
- Sifili names zero; babu makes an existential statement that none exists.
- Digit-by-digit reading and naming one quantity are different speaking tasks.
Related Topics
- Numbers Eleven to NineteenA1 — Build the Hausa teens with goma sha plus a unit, keeping the fixed teen pattern distinct from da in numbers above twenty.
- Tens from Twenty to NinetyA1 — Learn the lexical Hausa decade words from ashirin to casa’in and join a unit with da in numbers such as ashirin da uku.
- Counting Nouns with gudaA1 — Use the unit counter guda between a counted expression and its numeral, and distinguish its unit meaning from the ordinary cardinal ɗaya ‘one’.
- Cardinals inside Noun PhrasesA1 — Place Hausa cardinal numbers after the noun and its identifying material but before later adjectives and relative clauses.
- Human versus Nonhuman Plural ReferenceA2 — Learn where humanness and animacy affect Hausa number marking—and where all plural nouns share the same agreement forms.
- Guda as a Unit CounterB1 — Use guda between a countable expression and a numeral to count separate units, emphasize exact quantity, or replace a recoverable noun.