Breakdown of عندي ثلاثة عشر كتابا وأربعة عشر قلما.
وwa
and
كتابkitâb
book
قلمqalam
pen
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
عند'inda
at / to have
ثلاثة عشرthalâthata 'ashara
thirteen
أربعة عشرarba'ata 'ashara
fourteen
Questions & Answers about عندي ثلاثة عشر كتابا وأربعة عشر قلما.
Why are "books" and "pens" singular (كتابا and قلما) when there are 13 and 14 of them?
In Arabic, when you count items from 11 up to 99, the counted noun must be singular! So even though we are saying "thirteen books", we literally say "thirteen book" (ثلاثة عشر كتابا). Plural nouns are only used with numbers 3 through 10.
Why is there an extra alif at the end of كتابا (kitaban) and قلما (qalaman)?
Why does ثلاثة (three) have the feminine ة (taa marbuta), but عشر (ten) doesn't?
Numbers 13 to 19 have a special "mixed gender" rule. The first part (the ones digit, like ثلاثة) takes the opposite gender of the noun you are counting. Since كتاب (book) is a masculine word, ثلاثة must be feminine. But the second part (عشر, meaning ten) matches the noun's gender, so it stays masculine. The exact same pattern happens with أربعة عشر قلما!
As a quick refresher, how does عندي mean "I have"?
Arabic doesn't have a direct verb for "to have". Instead, we use the preposition عند (meaning "with" or "at") and attach pronoun endings. By adding the "my" ending (ـي), عندي literally translates to "at me" or "with me", which is the standard way to express "I have".
Learn عندي ثلاثة عشر كتابا وأربعة عشر قلما and more in Arabic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free