Counting from 1 to 20 looks like the easiest thing in any language, and in Ukrainian it almost is — except that two of these numbers carry gender (оди́н is one word but three forms; два splits into два and дві), the teens are fused compounds hiding the words "on ten" inside them, and a handful of them are spelled with an apostrophe or a soft sign that is not optional — leaving it out is a spelling error, not a typo. This page gets the forms and their orthography exactly right, because everything you build on top of numbers — agreement, declension, telling the time — depends on spelling them correctly first.
The core list: 0–20
Here is the whole inventory with stress marked. Read each one aloud, putting the accent on the marked vowel.
| Numeral | Digit | Numeral | Digit |
|---|---|---|---|
| нуль | 0 | одина́дцять | 11 |
| оди́н / одна́ / одне́ | 1 | двана́дцять | 12 |
| два / дві | 2 | трина́дцять | 13 |
| три | 3 | чотирна́дцять | 14 |
| чоти́ри | 4 | п’ятна́дцять | 15 |
| п’ять | 5 | шістна́дцять | 16 |
| шість | 6 | сімна́дцять | 17 |
| сім | 7 | вісімна́дцять | 18 |
| ві́сім | 8 | дев’ятна́дцять | 19 |
| де́в’ять | 9 | два́дцять | 20 |
| де́сять | 10 |
Раху́ймо ра́зом: оди́н, два, три, чоти́ри, п’ять — ось так, мали́й, молоде́ць!
Let's count together: one, two, three, four, five — there you go, little one, well done!
оди́н is not just "one" — it has gender
The number 1 is really an adjective in disguise. It agrees with the noun's gender and stays in the singular, so it takes three nominative forms:
| Gender | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | оди́н | оди́н стіл (one table) |
| feminine | одна́ | одна́ кни́га (one book) |
| neuter | одне́ (also одно́) | одне́ вікно́ (one window) |
The neuter has two variants: одне́ is the everyday standard form; одно́ is also correct but feels slightly more (literary) or bookish. Either is safe; prefer одне́ in speech.
У ме́не лиши́вся ті́льки оди́н квито́к — хто пі́де зі мно́ю на конце́рт?
I've got only one ticket left — who's coming to the concert with me?
Да́й мені́ одну́ хвили́ну, я ті́льки взу́юся.
Give me one minute, I just need to put my shoes on.
два vs дві: "two" also has gender
The number 2 is the only other cardinal in this range that splits by gender:
- два before masculine and neuter nouns: два бра́ти (two brothers), два вікна́ (two windows).
- дві before feminine nouns: дві сестри́ (two sisters), дві кни́ги (two books).
The numbers три, чоти́ри and everything from п’ять up have a single form for all genders — only оди́н and два carry gender.
У ме́не два бра́ти й дві сестри́ — вели́ка роди́на, як на сього́дні.
I have two brothers and two sisters — a big family by today's standards.
На по́лиці стоя́ли два горня́тка й дві ча́шки.
There were two mugs and two cups on the shelf.
Notice the second example: два горня́тка (neuter → два) but дві ча́шки (feminine → дві). Get the noun's gender right and the choice makes itself.
The teens: -на́дцять is "on ten" fused together
The numbers 11–19 all end in -на́дцять, and that ending is the whole story. It is a thousand-year-old contraction of оди́н на де́сяти "one on ten," два на де́сяти "two on ten," and so on. The preposition на "on" plus де́сять "ten" fused into -на́дцять, and the first element shrank:
| Built from |
| Modern teen |
|---|---|---|
| оди́н | оди́н + на + дцять | одина́дцять (11) |
| чоти́ри | чотир + на + дцять | чотирна́дцять (14) |
| п’ять | п’ят + на + дцять | п’ятна́дцять (15) |
Two consequences for you. First, the stress is always on -на́дцять — specifically on the а: одина́дцять, п’ятна́дцять, дев’ятна́дцять. Get into the habit and you will never misstress a teen. Second, два́дцять (20) is the same machinery — "two tens" — but its stress sits on the first syllable, два́дцять, not on -дцять. So 11–19 are end-stressed on -на́дцять, but 20 is front-stressed.
Мені́ ви́повнилося чотирна́дцять, і ба́тько впе́рше дозво́лив іти́ само́му.
I turned fourteen, and my father let me go on my own for the first time.
У ва́гоні було́ всьо́го сімна́дцять паса́жирів — ти́хий ра́нковий по́тяг.
There were only seventeen passengers in the carriage — a quiet morning train.
The orthography traps: apostrophes and soft signs
This is the part that turns A1 numerals into a spelling test. Several of these numbers contain an apostrophe (’) or a final soft sign (ь), and both are mandatory.
The apostrophe marks that the consonant before the я is hard, not softened — you hear a tiny [j] glide. It appears in:
| Numeral | Why |
|---|---|
| п’ять (5) | п + apostrophe + я |
| де́в’ять (9) | в + apostrophe + я |
| п’ятна́дцять (15) | keeps the п’я- of п’ять |
| дев’ятна́дцять (19) | keeps the дев’я- of де́в’ять |
The apostrophe is the character U+2019 (’), the curly right-single-quote, not a straight '. Write п’ять, not пять.
Watch the trap: шість (6) and шістна́дцять (16) have no apostrophe — the і is a full vowel, so nothing needs separating. Learners over-apply the apostrophe and write ш’ість; that is wrong.
The soft sign (ь) ends several of these numerals and softens the final consonant. It is not silent decoration — drop it and you have a different (or non-)word:
- The final ь appears in п’ять (5), шість (6), де́в’ять (9), де́сять (10) and in every -на́дцять teen and -дцять ten (одина́дцять, два́дцять). By contrast сім (7) and ві́сім (8) end in a hard -м with no soft sign — never write сімь or ві́сімь.
— Скі́льки тобі́ ро́ків? — Де́в’ять. А за мі́сяць бу́де де́сять!
— How old are you? — Nine. And in a month I'll be ten!
У кімна́ті шість сті́льців і ві́сім кни́жок — порахува́в дві́чі.
There are six chairs and eight books in the room — I counted twice.
A preview of what numbers do to nouns
You will have noticed that the noun changes shape after a number — два бра́ти but шість сті́льців. That is the big topic of the next levels, but here is the headline so the examples on this page make sense:
- After оди́н → nominative singular: оди́н стіл.
- After два/дві, три, чоти́ри → nominative plural: два столи́, дві сестри́, чоти́ри вікна́.
- After п’ять and up (5–20) → genitive plural: п’ять столі́в, де́сять книг, два́дцять гри́вень.
The full logic — including why 2/3/4 take the nominative plural and not the Russian-style genitive singular — lives on the numeral agreement page and the special counted forms page. For now, just count.
Купи́, будь ла́ска, де́сять яє́ць і п’ять помідо́рів — на вече́рю ви́стачить.
Buy ten eggs and five tomatoes, please — that'll be enough for dinner.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, two things are genuinely new. First, "one" and "two" are gendered — English never forces you to know a noun's gender just to say "one book" versus "one table." You now must: одна́ кни́га but оди́н стіл, дві сестри́ but два бра́ти. Second, English keeps numbers spelling-stable; Ukrainian numbers are an orthography minefield from the very first lesson, with mandatory apostrophes (п’ять) and soft signs (де́сять) that have no English analogue.
For a Russian speaker, the forms are close but the spelling and a few words differ in ways that mark you out instantly. Ukrainian writes the apostrophe (Ukrainian п’ять, де́в’ять vs Russian пять, девять with a soft sign and no apostrophe), spells "four" as чоти́ри (Russian четыре), and "nine" as де́в’ять (Russian девять). The gendered split is the same in both languages for 1 and 2, so that intuition transfers — but the orthography does not.
Common Mistakes
❌ пять / ш’ість
Incorrect — п’ять needs the apostrophe ’ (п + ’ + я); шість has NO apostrophe (the і is a full vowel).
✅ п’ять, шість
five, six — apostrophe in п’ять, none in шість.
❌ оди́н кни́га / два сестри́
Incorrect — оди́н and два/дві are gendered: feminine кни́га takes одна́, feminine сестра́ takes дві.
✅ одна́ кни́га, дві сестри́
one book, two sisters — feminine forms.
❌ чотирна́дцать (no soft sign)
Incorrect — every -на́дцять teen ends in a soft sign: чотирна́дцять.
✅ чотирна́дцять
fourteen — with the final ь.
❌ десять із наголосом деся́ть
Incorrect — the stress on 10 is on the first syllable: де́сять (DE-syat'), not deSYAT'.
✅ де́сять
ten — stressed де́-сять.
❌ п’ятна́дцать з наголосом п’я́тнадцять
Incorrect — the teens are stressed on -на́дцять: п’ятна́дцять, not п’я́тнадцять.
✅ п’ятна́дцять
fifteen — stress on -на́дцять.
Key Takeaways
- Two cardinals are gendered: оди́н / одна́ / одне́ (1) and два / дві (2). 3, 4 and 5+ have one form for all genders.
- The neuter "one" is одне́ (everyday) or одно́ (more bookish); both are correct.
- The teens fuse -на́дцять ("on ten") and are stressed on it: одина́дцять, п’ятна́дцять, дев’ятна́дцять. But два́дцять (20) is front-stressed.
- Orthography is mandatory: apostrophe ’ in п’ять, де́в’ять, п’ятна́дцять, дев’ятна́дцять; no apostrophe in шість, шістна́дцять; a final soft sign ь on де́сять, п’ять and every -на́дцять/-дцять form.
- Numbers reshape the noun: 1 → nom. sg., 2/3/4 → nom. pl., 5+ → gen. pl. — the heart of the agreement rules.
Now practice Ukrainian
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Tens, Hundreds, and Large NumbersA2 — The tens (два́дцять…дев’яно́сто), the hundreds (сто…дев’ятсо́т), and ти́сяча / мільйо́н / мілья́рд — featuring the three irregulars every learner must memorize (со́рок, дев’яно́сто, дві́сті), the -деся́т and -со́т compounding, and the crucial fact that ти́сяча and мільйо́н are NOUNS that govern the genitive plural.
- Numeral–Noun Agreement (The Hard Part)B1 — The notorious three-way rule: after 1 (and …1) the noun is nominative SINGULAR, after 2/3/4 (and …2/3/4) nominative PLURAL with the dual-reflex end-stress (два столи́, дві сестри́), and after 5+ genitive PLURAL — chosen by the LAST digit, and applying only when the whole phrase is nominative or inanimate-accusative.
- Ordinal NumbersA2 — пе́рший, дру́гий, тре́тій (the one soft-stem ordinal), четве́ртий… — ordinals are full ADJECTIVES that agree in gender, number and case, and in compound ordinals only the LAST word is ordinal (два́дцять пе́рший, ти́сяча дев’ятсо́т дев’яно́сто пе́рший), the form behind dates, floors, centuries and the time.
- Noun Forms After Numbers (Preview)A2 — After a number, a Ukrainian noun changes shape three different ways: 1 takes the nominative singular, 2–4 take the nominative plural with a stress that often jumps to the ending (два столи́), and 5 and up take the genitive plural — and the 2–4 rule, using the nominative plural rather than the Russian genitive singular, is a hallmark of correct Ukrainian.
- Grammatical Gender: Masculine, Feminine, NeuterA1 — Ukrainian sorts every noun into three genders — masculine, feminine, neuter — and you can predict which about 90% of the time from the nominative singular ending; gender then drives all adjective, pronoun, and past-tense agreement, so it must be learned with each word.
- Special Counted Forms (2/3/4 and Stress)B2 — After два/три/чотири a Ukrainian noun takes the NOMINATIVE PLURAL — not the Russian genitive singular — and crucially the stress often jumps to the ending and differs from the plain plural (два столи́, три си́ни, дві сестри́): a surviving reflex of the lost dual number, the most distinctively Ukrainian corner of the case system, with the adjective wavering between nominative plural and genitive plural (два нові́ / нови́х столи́).