In Arabic, compound numbers from 21 to 99 are formed by stating the unit first, followed by the conjunction و (and), and then the tens. Instead of saying "twenty-five," you say "five and twenty."
The counted item that follows these numbers must always be singular and accusative.
| The manager bought twenty-five staplers. | اشترى المدير خمسا وعشرين دباسة.ishtarâ al-mudîru khamsan wa 'ishrîna dabbâsatan |
Notice that the tens behave like regular masculine plural nouns. They end in ـون when they are the subject of the sentence, and change to ـين when they are the object of a verb or follow a preposition. The conjunction و ensures the tens share the grammatical case of the units.
| I found sixty-six receipts during the inventory. | وجدت ستة وستين إيصالا خلال الجرد.wajadtu sittatan wa sittîna îsâlan khilâla l-jardi |
Gender Agreement: Numbers 1 and 2
When forming a compound number, the units 1 (واحد/واحدة) and 2 (اثنان/اثنتان) match the gender of the noun you are counting.
| The manager checked fifty-one documents yesterday. | فحص المدير واحدا وخمسين مستندا أمس.fahasa al-mudîru wâhidan wa-khamsîna mustanadan amsi. |
| We have exactly forty-two staplers in the inventory. | عندنا اثنتان وأربعون دباسة في الجرد تماما.indanâ ithnatâni wa-arba'ûna dabbâsatan fî l-jardi tamâman |
Gender Disagreement: Numbers 3 through 9
For compound numbers ending in 3 through 9, the unit takes the opposite gender of the singular counted noun. The tens do not change for gender.
- If the noun is masculine, use the feminine form of the unit.
- If the noun is feminine, use the masculine form of the unit.
| The employee is still writing thirty-four reports in the inventory. | ما زال الموظف يكتب أربعة وثلاثين تقريرا في الجرد.mâ zâla l-muwazzafu yaktubu arba'atan wa thalâthîna taqrîran fî l-jard |
| There are seventy-four rulers in the box. | يوجد أربع وسبعون مسطرة في الصندوق.yûjadu arba'un wa sab'ûna mistaratan fî as-sundûq. |
| The company reduced seventy-five expenses this month. | قللت الشركة من خمس وسبعين نفقة هذا الشهر.qallalati ash-sharikatu min khamsin wa-sab'eena nafaqatan hâdha ash-shahra |