Grammar · Building Sentences · 8 min
Counting Things
Arabic's strangest number rule is Hebrew's strangest number rule
Every Hebrew speaker has been corrected at least once: not שלוש שקל — שלושה שקלים! That maddening rule — masculine nouns take the numeral that looks feminine — is called gender polarity, and it is not a Hebrew quirk. It is a Proto-Semitic inheritance, and Arabic has it in exactly the same form. For once, the hardest rule in the new language is one you were drilled on in kindergarten.
| # | Arabic | Translit | Hebrew | Sound shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | ثَلَاثَة | thalātha | שְׁלוֹשָׁה | ث ↔ ש |
| 4 | أَرْبَعَة | arbaʿa | אַרְבָּעָה | identical |
| 5 | خَمْسَة | khamsa | חֲמִשָּׁה | خ ↔ ח |
| 6 | سِتَّة | sitta | שִׁשָּׁה | س ↔ ש |
| 7 | سَبْعَة | sabʿa | שִׁבְעָה | س ↔ ש |
| 8 | ثَمَانِيَة | thamāniya | שְׁמוֹנָה | ث ↔ ש |
| 9 | تِسْعَة | tisʿa | תִּשְׁעָה | ت ↔ ת |
| 10 | عَشَرَة | ʿashara | עֲשָׂרָה | ش ↔ שׂ |
There is a second rule riding along, and it is also shared. After 3–10, the counted noun is plural: ثَلَاثَة أَوْلَاد "three boys." But from 11 upward, Arabic switches to the singular: عِشْرُون سَنَة, literally "twenty year." Sound familiar? Hebrew preserves traces of the very same rule: עשרים שנה, מאה איש, שלושים יום — singular, exactly where Arabic demands it.
3–10: plural noun
- ثَلَاثَة أَوْلَادת'לאת'ת אולאדthalāthat awlād
three boys
שלושה ילדים شْلُوشَا يِلَادِيمshlosha yeladim
Before its noun the ة sounds as ־ת: thalāthat — Hebrew's construct שלושת, as in שלושת הילדים!
- ثَلَاث بَنَاتת'לאת' בנאתthalāth banāt
three girls
שלוש בנות شَالُوش بَانُوتshalosh banot
Say them aloud: thalāth banāt ↔ שלוש בנות. It is very nearly the same phrase.
- خَمْسَة كُتُبח'מסת כתבkhamsat kutub
five books
חמישה ספרים خَامِيشَا سْفَارِيمkhamisha sfarim
كُتُب is a broken plural of كِتَاب — plural by rearranging the vowels inside, where Hebrew adds ־ים outside.
- أَرْبَع سَنَوَاتארבע סנואתarbaʿ sanawāt
four years
ארבע שנים أَرْبَا شَانِيمarba shanim
سَنَة ↔ שָׁנָה, the same word; feminine in both, so both take the bare numeral: أَرْبَع = ארבע.
11 and up: singular noun
- عِشْرُون سَنَةעשרון סנהʿishrūn sana
twenty years
עשרים שנה إِسْرِيم شَانَاesrim shana
Hebrew uses the singular here too — עשרים שנה, not שנים. The old Semitic rule peeking through both languages.
- مِئَة رَجُلמאת רג'לmiʾat rajul
a hundred men
מאה איש مِئَا إِيشme'a ish
מֵאָה ↔ مِئَة, the same word — and Biblical Hebrew even has the construct מְאַת, matching Arabic miʾat exactly.
- خَمْسِين شَيْكِلח'מסין שיכלkhamsīn shēkel
fifty shekels (Levantine)
חמישים שקל خَامِيشِيم شِكِلkhamishim shekel
Levantine, like street Hebrew, uses the ־īn form everywhere. And שקל is the root ש-ק-ל "to weigh" — Arabic's own ث-ق-ل "weight" (as in مِثْقَال) is its regular cognate.
At the market: prices
Money
- بِكَم هٰذَا؟בכם האד'א?bikam hādhā?
How much is this? (MSA)
בכמה זה? بِخَامَا زِي؟bekhama ze?
The same construction as Israeli בכמה זה — בְּ + כמה, بِ + كَم.
- قَدَّيْش هَادَا؟אדיש האדא?addēsh hāda?
How much is this? (Levantine)
כמה זה? كَامَا زِي؟kama ze?
The ق becomes a glottal stop in urban Levantine: qaddēsh → addēsh.
- بِعَشَرَة شَوَاكِلבעשרת שואכלbi-ʿasharat shawākil
for ten shekels
בעשרה שקלים بَاءَاسَارَا شْكَالِيمba'asara shkalim
Ten is in the 3–10 range, so the noun is plural: شَوَاكِل, the broken plural of شَيْكِل.
- غَالِي!ע'אלי!ghālī!
Expensive!
יקר! يَاكَار!yakar!
Prices "go up" in both languages — compare עליית מחירים. But treat it as a look-alike: the regular cognate of Hebrew עָלָה is Arabic عَلَا "to rise," while غَالِي comes from a different root, غ-ل-و "to exceed."
Telling time
- السَّاعَة وَاحِدَةא-סאעה ואחדהas-sāʿa wāḥida
It's one o'clock.
השעה אחת هَاشَاءَا أَخَاتhasha'a akhat
שָׁעָה ↔ سَاعَة, the same word — and Arabic keeps two variants of the old Semitic "one": وَاحِد and أَحَد. The second is exactly Hebrew אֶחָד.
- السَّاعَة خَمْسَة وَنُصّא-סאעה ח'מסה ונץis-sāʿa khamse w-nuṣṣ
It's five thirty. (Levantine)
השעה חמש וחצי هَاشَاءَا خَامِش ڤَاخِتْسِيhasha'a khamesh vakhetsi
Street time-telling is number + وَنُصّ "and a half" — the same recipe as חמש וחצי. Formal MSA would say السَّاعَة الْخَامِسَة وَالنِّصْف.
Step back and admire the symmetry: the polarity flip, the plural after 3–10, the singular after 20 — every oddity of counting in Arabic has its double in Hebrew, because both are shards of one Proto-Semitic counting system. Mastering the Arabic rule will quietly sharpen your Hebrew too; from now on, שלושה שקלים will come out of you with unusual conviction.