Hebrew Numbers 1 to 10

Numbers in Hebrew are a rather confusing topic, especially for English speakers. In English we have two types of numbers: cardinal and ordinal: one and first, two and second, seventeen and seventeenth, and so on. That's pretty simple and straightforward (or at least they seem simple if English is your first language). They are all gender neutral, and the ordinal numbers are derived from their cardinal form with a simple addition of the -th suffix.

Let's start using this as basis for Hebrew. First of all, we need to add another "dimension": grammatic gender. Numbers in Hebrew are, strictly speaking, nouns, and they can be masculine or feminine:

It's worth mentioning that the "default" form for nouns is feminine. When you count, it's אַחַת, שְׁתַּיִם, שָׁלוֹשׁ, אַרְבַּע, etc.

Also, note the following:

• For most of numerals you say just אַרְבָּעָה בָּנִים or אַרְבַּע בָּנוֹת - which is the way you're used to say it: "four sons", "four daughters".
• For ONE, you put the numeral after the object: בֵּן אֶחָד (one son), בַּת אַחַת (one daughter.)
• For TWO, the stand-alone number changes into its combinational form (a.k.a. Nismakh): שְׁנֵי בָּנִים, שְׁתֵּי בָּנוֹת (two sons, two daughters.)

Zero is אֶפֶס and it doesn't have masculine or feminine form. Nothing is nothing.

Ordinal Numbers

Similar to English, there are ordinal numbers in Hebrew. The first one is "first", and it does not look like "one": it's רִאשׁוֹן rather than אַחַת. You may notice that the word רִאשׁוֹן is derived from רֹאשׁ (head), that's why it doesn't look like אַחַת.

Here are all the ordinal numbers 1 to 10 -- you may note that they look pretty much like ordinary adjectives, derived from the cardinal numbers (which are nouns.)

As you can see, ordinal numbers from second to tenth are derived directly from the cardinal numbers.

I would recommend memorizing this part before going any further. Both cardinal and ordinal numbers are essential parts of the vocabulary in any language; but we also can find many ancient and modern Israeli names that include numbers. Let's read some of them—this is also good practice for you:

The next time you read your prayer books or an Israeli tourist guide, you will probably start to understand the meaning of some names.

Look at the phrase וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ. It's a perfect example of an ordinal numeral: it's clearly an adjective, and it behaves like one. It gets the "article" (ha- similar although not equivalent to English the), literally: וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי - "and in the day the seventh", and it has the same gender (masculine) as the word יוֹם (day).

Remark about modern spoken Hebrew:

Also, the good news is that when you're talking about something abstract, you might simplify the grammar as well: "שָׁלוֹשׁ דּוֹלָר" or "עֶשֶׂר שֶׁקֶל" rather than "שְׁלוֹשָׁה דּוֹלָרִים" or "עֲשָׂרָה שְׁקָלִים" (which is "more correct", as your grammar teacher would probably say). It's hard to formalize this as a rule, though. It certainly works with money, in most cases with measurement units too, and in some other cases. I'm not sure whether the same simplification existed in classical Hebrew, though.

As an exercise, read the Passover song "One - who knows?" You will find many numerals there.

Good luck, and see you in the next lesson about numerals!