Hindi numbers from zero to ten are short, extremely frequent words. They do not change for gender or case, but the noun after them may change: एक लड़का “one boy,” दो लड़के “two boys,” and दो लड़कों को “to two boys.” Learn the number words as vocabulary first; then learn the noun phrase as a grammatical unit.
Modern Hindi prints both international digits 0–9 and Devanagari digits ०–९. International digits dominate many phones, tickets, bills, and websites, while Devanagari digits still occur in calendars, traditional publications, official material, and stylistic contexts. The spoken number is the same whichever digit set is printed.
The basic forms
| Value | Digits | Hindi | Romanization |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ० | शून्य / सिफ़र | śūnya / sifar |
| 1 | १ | एक | ek |
| 2 | २ | दो | do |
| 3 | ३ | तीन | tīn |
| 4 | ४ | चार | cār |
| 5 | ५ | पाँच | pā̃c |
| 6 | ६ | छह | chah |
| 7 | ७ | सात | sāt |
| 8 | ८ | आठ | āṭh |
| 9 | ९ | नौ | nau |
| 10 | १० | दस | das |
शून्य is the usual neutral or (formal/technical) word for mathematical zero. सिफ़र is also established Hindi, especially when zero is a result or starting point, and ज़ीरो is very common (informal) in scores, phone numbers, technology, and mixed Hindi-English speech. These alternatives differ in register, not in numerical value.
आज तापमान शून्य डिग्री है।
āj tāpmān śūnya ḍigrī hai.
The temperature is zero degrees today.
पहले ओवर के बाद स्कोर दस रन था।
pahle ovar ke bād skor das ran thā.
After the first over, the score was ten runs.
One versus more than one
The numeral itself is invariable: Hindi has no masculine दो and feminine दो. With एक, the noun is singular. With numerals above one, count nouns normally have plural number. That plural may be visible, as in masculine लड़का → लड़के and feminine किताब → किताबें, or invisible, as with nouns whose direct singular and plural happen to look alike.
मेरे पास एक टिकट और दो किताबें हैं।
mere pās ek ṭikaṭ aur do kitābeṃ haiṃ.
I have one ticket and two books.
दरवाज़े पर तीन लड़के आपका इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं।
darvāze par tīn laṛke āpkā intazār kar rahe haiṃ.
Three boys are waiting for you at the door.
बैठक के लिए चार कुर्सियाँ कम हैं।
baiṭhak ke lie cār kursiyā̃ kam haiṃ.
We are four chairs short for the meeting.
English also uses a plural after numbers above one, but Hindi adds an important second distinction: a postposition puts the whole noun phrase into the oblique case. The numeral stays unchanged while a declinable noun takes its oblique plural form.
मैंने दो लड़कों को रास्ता समझाया।
maĩne do laṛkoṃ ko rāstā samjhāyā.
I explained the way to two boys.
इन पाँच किताबों में से एक चुनिए।
in pā̃c kitāboṃ meṃ se ek cunie.
Choose one from these five books. (polite)
Here दो and पाँच do not change. लड़के becomes oblique plural लड़कों before को, and किताबें becomes किताबों before में से. The number belongs before the noun and does not carry the case ending itself.
Units often remain in their counting form
After a numeral, a unit such as किलो, लीटर, or रुपये forms a measure expression. Many borrowed units remain unchanged, and the thing measured follows without an English of: दो किलो आम, literally “two kilo mangoes,” not a structure with का.
मुझे तीन किलो आम और दो लीटर दूध चाहिए।
mujhe tīn kilo ām aur do līṭar dūdh cāhie.
I need three kilos of mangoes and two liters of milk.
ये केले चार रुपये के हैं।
ye kele cār rupaye ke haiṃ.
These bananas cost four rupees each / are at four rupees.
रुपया is a regular masculine noun: एक रुपया, but direct plural दो रुपये. In दस रुपये में, the postposition follows the measure phrase; everyday Hindi conventionally retains रुपये in exact price expressions rather than producing an approximate plural such as रुपयों. By contrast, रुपयों की कमी “a shortage of rupees/money” treats रुपये as an ordinary plural noun and uses oblique रुपयों.
Time, schedules, and dates
For clock hours, use the cardinal plus बजे: तीन बजे, चार बजे, दस बजे. With एक, contemporary Hindi normally says एक बजे, not a singular form of बजे. This expression is fixed.
दुकान नौ बजे खुलती है और दस बजे बंद होती है।
dukān nau baje khultī hai aur das baje band hotī hai.
The shop opens at nine and closes at ten.
आपकी ट्रेन प्लेटफ़ॉर्म तीन से छह बजे निकलेगी।
āpkī ṭren pleṭform tīn se chah baje niklegī.
Your train will leave from platform three at six o’clock. (polite)
The two threes work differently. प्लेटफ़ॉर्म तीन is a label, so the noun precedes the number, like English platform three. छह बजे is a time expression, so the number precedes बजे. Room numbers, bus routes, and numbered items likewise often use noun + number.
In dates, Hindi normally reads the day as a cardinal number in ordinary speech: पाँच मई “5 May,” not automatically पाँचवाँ मई “the fifth May.” The dates, years, and centuries page develops the full pattern.
मेरी अगली जाँच सात मई को है।
merī aglī jā̃c sāt maī ko hai.
My next checkup is on 7 May.
The printed sequence 07/05 is dangerous because international communities do not all order day and month alike. In India it normally means 7 May in a day-month context, but an American reader may take it as July 5. Writing ७ मई or 7 मई removes the ambiguity.
Digits, words, and reading strings
When a number counts something, read it as a whole: १० किताबें is दस किताबें. A phone number, PIN, room code, or score may instead be read digit by digit. Zero in those strings is frequently ज़ीरो (informal) or शून्य (formal).
मेरे कमरे का नंबर दो-शून्य-आठ है।
mere kamre kā nambar do-śūnya-āṭh hai.
My room number is two-zero-eight.
This does not mean “two hundred eight”; the hyphens represent separate digits. Context decides whether a written string names a quantity or identifies an item.
Common Mistakes
❌ मेरे पास दो किताब है।
Incorrect — a count noun above one normally takes plural number, and the plural subject requires हैं.
✅ मेरे पास दो किताबें हैं।
mere pās do kitābeṃ haiṃ.
I have two books.
❌ मैंने तीन लड़के को बुलाया।
Incorrect — before को, a masculine plural noun must be oblique plural.
✅ मैंने तीन लड़कों को बुलाया।
maĩne tīn laṛkoṃ ko bulāyā.
I called three boys.
❌ हमें दो किलो के चावल चाहिए।
Incorrect for the neutral quantity — Hindi does not insert के like English “of” between an exact unit and the substance.
✅ हमें दो किलो चावल चाहिए।
hameṃ do kilo cāval cāhie.
We need two kilos of rice.
❌ बैठक तीन घंटा चली।
Incorrect — घंटा is a count noun and takes direct plural घंटे after three.
✅ बैठक तीन घंटे चली।
baiṭhak tīn ghaṇṭe calī.
The meeting lasted three hours.
Key Takeaways
Memorize शून्य/सिफ़र, एक, दो, तीन, चार, पाँच, छह, सात, आठ, नौ, दस as basic vocabulary. Numerals do not agree, but the noun after them can show singular versus plural and direct versus oblique case. Exact units form compact expressions without का, clock time uses fixed बजे, and labels such as प्लेटफ़ॉर्म तीन place the number after the noun. Both 0–9 and ०–९ are read with the same Hindi words.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Numbers eleven to twentyA1 — Master the lexical Hindi cardinals from eleven to twenty and use them accurately in schedules, transactions, dates, and counted noun phrases.
- Numbers twenty-one to one hundredA1 — Learn the Hindi cardinals from twenty-one to one hundred as a lexical system, with patterns for recognition and accurate use in everyday noun phrases.
- Clock time and durationB1 — Tell clock time, read schedules, and distinguish Hindi expressions for when an event occurs from how long it lasts.
- Money prices weights and measuresB2 — Build natural Hindi quantity phrases for rupees, prices, weight, length, volume, and practical transactions.
- Ordinal numbersA2 — Form and use Hindi ordinals from पहला through लाखवाँ, with agreement, oblique case, dates, rankings, and formal alternatives.