Information about counting in Swahili, a Bantu language spoken in much of east Africa by about 140 million people.
If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.
| Numeral | Cardinal numbers | Ordinal numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | sifuri | |
| 1 | moja | kwanza |
| 2 | mbili | pili |
| 3 | tatu | wa tatu |
| 4 | nne | wa nne |
| 5 | tano | wa tano |
| 6 | sita | wa sita |
| 7 | saba | wa saba |
| 8 | nane | wa nane |
| 9 | tisa | tisa |
| 10 | kumi | kumi |
| 11 | kumi na moja | kumi na moja |
| 12 | kumi na mbili | kumi na mbili |
| 13 | kumi na tatu | kumi na tatu |
| 14 | kumi na nne | kumi na nne |
| 15 | kumi na tano | kumi na tano |
| 16 | kumi na sita | kumi na sita |
| 17 | kumi na saba | kumi na saba |
| 18 | kumi na nane | kumi na nane |
| 19 | kumi na tisa | kumi na tisa |
| 20 | ishirini | ishirini |
| 21 | ishirini na moja | |
| 22 | ishirini na mbili | |
| 23 | ishirini na tatu | |
| 24 | ishirini na nne | |
| 25 | ishirini na tano | |
| 26 | ishirini na sita | |
| 27 | ishirini na saba | |
| 28 | ishirini na nane | |
| 29 | ishirini na tisa | |
| 30 | thelathini | |
| 40 | arobaini | |
| 50 | hamsini | |
| 60 | sitini | |
| 70 | sabini | |
| 80 | themanini | |
| 90 | tisini | |
| 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 | |
| 1,000 | elfu moja | |
| 1,000,000 | milioni | |
| once | mara moja | |
| twice | mara mbili |
Hear a recording of the Swahili cardinal numbers by EasySwahili
Hear a recording of the Swahili ordinal numbers by EasySwahili
Information about Swahili | Phrases | Numbers | Time | Tower of Babel | Books about Swahili on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]
Information about Swahili numbers
http://www.reddit.com/r/swahili/comments/22cc5f/numbers_in_swahilixpost_from_rlearnswahili/
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/swahili.html
http://www.swahiliguide.com/counting-with-swahili-numbers
http://mylanguages.org/swahili_numbers.php
http://learn101.org/swahili_numbers.php
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
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