Language/Swahili-individual-language/Vocabulary/Counting-and-Numbers

Here is a short guide on how to count in Swahili from one to a million.

0-9

First, let's start from 0-9 (zero to nine).

0 - Sufuri	1 - Moja	2 - Mbili	3 - Tatu	4 - Nne
5 - Tano	6 - Sita	7 - Saba	8 - Nane	9 - Tisa

Tens (10-90)

Next, we shall look at the tens i.e 10-90 (ten to ninety).

10 - Kumi	20 - Ishirini	30 - Thelathini	40 - Arobaini	50 - Hamsini
60 - Sitini	70 - Sabini	80 - Themanini	90 - Tisini

The compound numbers like 11, 25, 76 etc are formed by saying the ten and the corresponding digit for example 11 would be "kumi na moja" which literally translates to "ten and one", 25 would be "ishirini na tano" and in English it translates to "twenty and five" literally! Hence, 99 would be "tisini na tisa".

Hundreds (100 - 1000)

Now let's look at the hundreds. These are simply formed by placing the corresponding digit or number after the word hundred in Swahili "Mia". For example, 700 (seven hundred) in Swahili would be (Mia) + (our corresponding number which in our case is 7).....Hence, it would be "Mia saba"

100 - Mia moja	200 - Mia mbili	300 - Mia tatu	400 - Mia nne
500 - Mia tano	600 - Mia sita	700 - Mia saba	800 - Mia nane	900 - Mia tisa

The hundreds are different from how we name the tens when compounded. Saying the hundred and the corresponding digit will only work with the single digits 1-9 for example, 108 would be "Mia moja na nane" literally "one hundred and eight" but when it comes to the 'hundreds plus a tens' like 150, 690 we do not include the and i.e 'na' for example 150 would NOT be "Mia moja na hamsini" BUT rather "Mia moja hamsini" and 690 would be "Mia sita tisini".

Thousands

Finally, thousands are formed exactly like the hundreds but we place the word "Elfu" which means thousand before the corresponding number or digit for example 1007 would be "Elfu moja na saba" which in English would translate as "One thousand and seven", 3840 would be "Elfu tatu mia nane na arobaini" literally in English it translates as "Three thousand eight hundred and forty", 6587 would be "Elfu sita mia tano themanini na saba" and the literal translation in English would be a bit different from how we say it normally "Six thousand five hundred eighty and seven". Please note that the and 'na' attaches itself to the last digit and that is why a number like 9362 in Swahili is "Elfu tisa mia tatu sitini NA mbili" while 9950 would be "Elfu tisa tisini NA hamsini"

1000 - Elfu moja	2000 - Elfu mbili	3000 - Elfu tatu	4000 - Elfu nne	5000 - Elfu tano
6000 - Elfu sita	7000 - Elfu saba	8000 - Elfu nane	9000 - Elfu tisa	100000 - Laki moja	1000000 - Milioni moja

Other Lessons

• Count to 10
• At the Post Office
• Seasons
• Time
• Sport
• Countries and Continents
• Art
• Days of the Week
• Body
• Animal