I can count to a hundred, say how old I am, say a phone number and write one down by ear — and I won't use the plural after a number: iki kitap.
Sayılar: numbers, age, and phone numbers
Sayılar: numbers, age, and phone numbers
Why: to count to a hundred, say your age and your phone number — and understand them when you hear them.
The numbers 0 to 10 and the tens are in the tables. A compound number is a ten and a one: two words, with no hyphen and no “and”. On bir — 11, yirmi beş — 25, doksan dokuz — 99. A hundred is yüz, a thousand bin; no bir before them (English says “one hundred”).
After a number and after kaç (“how many”) the noun stays singular, unlike English: iki kitap “two books”, kaç kalem? The same with tane (“piece”, a counting word): Kaç tane? — Üç tane. If you name the thing too, tane goes between the number and the noun, and the noun stays singular: iki tane kitap.
Age and phone numbers are set phrases; learn them as a whole:
• Kaç yaşındasınız? — Otuz yaşındayım. (How old are you? — I'm thirty.)
• Telefon numaranız kaç? (What's your phone number?) The number is said one digit at a time or in pairs.
Don't mix them up by ear: altı (6) and altmış (60), yedi (7) and yetmiş (70).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “iki kitaplar” → iki kitap
• NOT “yirmibeş”, “yirmi ve beş” → yirmi beş
• NOT “Ben otuz yaş” → Otuz yaşındayım
• NOT “bir yüz” → yüz
Numbers from 0 to 10
Learn these words: the other numbers are built from them.
| Figure | Word |
|---|---|
| 0 | sıfır |
| 1 | bir |
| 2 | iki |
| 3 | üç |
| 4 | dört |
| 5 | beş |
| 6 | altı |
| 7 | yedi |
| 8 | sekiz |
| 9 | dokuz |
| 10 | on |
Tens, a hundred, and a thousand
Don't mix them up by ear: altı (6) and altmış (60), yedi (7) and yetmiş (70).
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 20 | yirmi |
| 30 | otuz |
| 40 | kırk |
| 50 | elli |
| 60 | altmış |
| 70 | yetmiş |
| 80 | seksen |
| 90 | doksan |
| 100 | yüz |
| 1000 | bin |
A compound number: two words, no “and”
The tens first, then the ones.
| Number | How to build it | Word |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | on + bir | on bir |
| 25 | yirmi + beş | yirmi beş |
| 36 | otuz + altı | otuz altı |
| 99 | doksan + dokuz | doksan dokuz |
Lesson notes
Sayılar: numbers, age, and phone numbers
Why: to count to a hundred, say your age and your phone number — and understand them when you hear them.
The numbers 0 to 10 and the tens are in the tables. A compound number is a ten and a one: two words, with no hyphen and no “and”. On bir — 11, yirmi beş — 25, doksan dokuz — 99. A hundred is yüz, a thousand bin; no bir before them (English says “one hundred”).
After a number and after kaç (“how many”) the noun stays singular, unlike English: iki kitap “two books”, kaç kalem? The same with tane (“piece”, a counting word): Kaç tane? — Üç tane. If you name the thing too, tane goes between the number and the noun, and the noun stays singular: iki tane kitap.
Age and phone numbers are set phrases; learn them as a whole:
• Kaç yaşındasınız? — Otuz yaşındayım. (How old are you? — I'm thirty.)
• Telefon numaranız kaç? (What's your phone number?) The number is said one digit at a time or in pairs.
Don't mix them up by ear: altı (6) and altmış (60), yedi (7) and yetmiş (70).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “iki kitaplar” → iki kitap
• NOT “yirmibeş”, “yirmi ve beş” → yirmi beş
• NOT “Ben otuz yaş” → Otuz yaşındayım
• NOT “bir yüz” → yüz