How to count in Tok Pisin, an English-based creole spoken in Papua New Guinea.
For numbers beyond ten, the numbers eleven, twelv, tetin, etc are usually used. Sometimes with the suffix -pela. The other numbers (wanpela ten wan, wanpela ten tu, etc) are used mainly in situations where there is a lot of background noise, such as on an aeroplane, to ensure there is no ambiguity.
The ordinal numbers are written either as one word (nambawan, nambatu, etc) or as separate words.
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 | Ordinal |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | nating, not, ziro | |
| 1 | wan, wanpela | namba wan |
| 2 | tu, tupela | namba tu |
| 3 | tri, tripela | namba tri |
| 4 | foa, fopela | namba foa |
| 5 | faiv, faipela | namba faiv |
| 6 | sikis, sikispela | namba sikis |
| 7 | seven, sevenpela | namba seven |
| 8 | et, etpela | namba et |
| 9 | nain, nainpela | namba nain |
| 10 | ten, tenpela | namba ten |
| 11 | wanpela ten wan, eleven | |
| 12 | wanpela ten tu, twelv, twelpela | |
| 13 | wanpela ten tri, tetin | |
| 14 | wanpela ten foa, fotin | |
| 15 | wanpela ten faiv, fiftin | |
| 16 | wanpela ten sikis, sikistin | |
| 17 | wanpela ten seven, seventin | |
| 18 | wanpela ten et, etin | |
| 19 | wanpela ten nain, naintin | |
| 20 | tupela ten, twenti | |
| 21 | tupela ten wan | |
| 22 | tupela ten tu | |
| 23 | tupela ten tri | |
| 24 | tupela ten foa | |
| 25 | tupela ten faiv | |
| 26 | tupela ten sikis | |
| 27 | tupela ten seven | |
| 28 | tupela ten et | |
| 29 | tupela ten nain | |
| 30 | tripela ten, teti | |
| 40 | fopela ten, foti | |
| 50 | faipela ten, fifti | |
| 60 | sikispela ten, sikisti | |
| 70 | sevenpela ten, seventi | |
| 80 | etpela ten, eti | |
| 90 | nainpela ten, nainti | |
| 100 | wan handet | |
| 101 | wan handet wan | |
| 1,000 | tausen | |
| 10,000 | ten tausen | |
| 100,000 | wan handet tausen | |
| 1 million | wan milien |
Information about counting in Tok Pisin
https://www.languagesandnumbers.com/how-to-count-in-tok-pisin/en/tpi/
https://www.tokpisin.info/cardinal-numbers-tok-pisin/
https://www.tokpisin.info/tok-pisin-phrasebook/
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
Information about Tok Pisin | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel
Betawi, Bislama, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinook Jargon, Dominican Creole, Fanagalo, Haitian Creole, Kituba, Kristang, Manado Malay, Mauritian Creole, Ndyuka, Norfuk, Papiamento, Pijin, Sango, Saramaccan, Sierra Leone Creole, Sranan, Tok Pisin
Alphabetical index | Language family index
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