Swahili Numbers

1  moja

2  mbili

3  tatu

4  nne

5  tano

6  sita*

7  saba*

8  nane

9  tisa*

10  kumi*

* Most numbers agree with the class of the noun they describe, which means that you'll come across watatu, vitatu, matatu, and mitatu as well as just tatu (3).  The numbers 6, 7, 9 and 10 DO NOT change or take prefixes.

The number two (mbili) is slightly different, because in other forms the stem becomes -wili, e.g. wawili, viwili, mawili and miwili.

Watoto wawili    2 children

Miti mitatu         3 trees

Maneno manne  4 words

Vitabu vitano     5 books

Don't worry about these for the moment - just be prepared to recognise a number in a slightly different form.

After 10, the numbers continue "ten and one", "ten and two" etc.

11  kumi na moja

12  kumi na mbili

13  kumi na tatu

14  kumi na nne   etc.   Until.....

20  ishirini      (21 - ishirini na moja, 22 -  ishirini na mbili etc.)

30  thelathini

40  arobaini

50  hamsini

60  sitini

70  sabini

80  themanini

90  tisini

If you’re wondering why these numbers are so different from the numbers 1 – 10, it’s because they’re all Arabic.  So are 6, 7, and 9 (this is why they don’t agree with nouns).  So sita (6) and sitini (60) come from the same (Arabic) word, whereas tano (5) and hamsini (50) don’t.  If you speak Arabic, this is quite fun. If not, you just have to spend a bit longer learning the vocabulary.....sorry.

100         mia

1000       elfu

100,000  laki

1,000,000  milioni