Number words

Number words are adjectives that imply a specific number of items:

• पञ्च पाण्दवाः
  pañca pāṇdavāḥ
  the five sons of Pandu
  

Sanskrit's number words generally follow the patterns of the stems we have seen already. Many of these number words are the same regardless of the gender of the noun they describe:

• पञ्च पाण्दवाः
  pañca pāṇdavāḥ
  the five sons of Pandu (masculine)
  

• पञ्च फलानि
  pañca phalāni
  five fruits (neuter)
  

• पञ्च नद्यः
  pañca nadyaḥ
  five rivers (feminine)
  

In this lesson, we'll learn about Sanskrit's number words and how to use them.

eka

eka (“one”) uses the normal pronoun endings. When eka refers to one item, it uses the singular. But eka can also be used in the sense of “a small number” or “a few” of something. When eka has this meaning, it is used in the dual and plural.

Here are the forms of eka in the masculine gender:

dvi

dvi (“two”) is used only in the dual. The stem dvi is used in compounds and certain suffixes, but when we add endings, we actully use the stem dva stem (or dvā for the feminine) instead.

Here are the masculine endings for dvi:

tri

tri is always used in the plural. In the masculine, it uses the normal -i stem endings, except that the case 6 plural is trayāṇām:

The feminine form of tri uses the stem tisṛ with the basic nominal endings. But in the case 6 plural, it uses the ending -ṇām instead:

Finally, the neuter follows the usual pattern of the -i stems:

catur

catur (“four”) uses the strong stem catvār in cases 1 and 8. Otherwise, it generally uses the basic nominal endings:

In the feminine, catur uses the feminine stem catasṛ. This stem is used like tisṛ above:

The neuter endings are below. In this neuter form, we lengthen the last vowel of the stem, but we don't insert a new nasal sound:

pañcan to daśan

The numbers pañcan (“five”) to daśan (“ten”) use the same forms regardless of gender.

The forms of pañca (“five”) are below. The stems saptan (“seven”), navan (“nine”), and daśan (“ten”) all follow the same pattern as pañcan:

ṣaṣ (“six”) follows a similar pattern, but the last ṣ of ṣaṣ causes many sandhi changes:

aṣṭa (“eight”) also follows a similar pattern, but it has some optional forms that are more irregular:

ekādaśa to navadaśa

You can see the numbers 11 to 19 in the examples below. All of them use the same endings as daśa:

• एकादश
  ekādaśa
  eleven
  

• द्वादश
  dvādaśa
  twelve
  

• त्रयोदश
  trayodaśa
  thirteen
  

• चतुर्दश
  caturdaśa
  fourteen
  

• पञ्चदश
  pañcadaśa
  fifteen
  

• षोडश
  ṣoḍaśa
  sixteen
  

• सप्तदश
  saptadaśa
  seventeen
  

• अष्टादश
  aṣṭādaśa
  eighteen
  

• नवदश
  navadaśa
  nineteen
  

viṃśati to navati

All of the numbers belew are used in the feminine singular:

• विंशतिः
  viṃśatiḥ
  twenty
  

• त्रिंशत्
  triṃśat
  thirty
  

• चत्वारिंशत्
  catvāriṃśat
  forty
  

• पञ्चाशत्
  pañcāśat
  fifty
  

• षष्टिः
  ṣaṣṭiḥ
  sixty
  

• सप्ततिः
  saptatiḥ
  seventy
  

• अशीतिः
  aśītiḥ
  eighty
  

• नवतिः
  navatiḥ
  ninety
  

śata to koṭi

All of these numbers are used in the singular. All of these stems are neuter, except for koṭi, which is feminine.

• शतम्
  śatam
  one hundred
  

• सहस्रम्
  sahasram
  one thousand
  

• अयुतम्
  ayutam
  ten thousand
  

• लक्षम्
  lakṣam
  one hundred thousand (i.e. one lakh)
  

• प्रयुतम्
  prayutam
  one million
  

• कोटिः
  koṭiḥ
  ten million (i.e. one crore)