Gulf Arabic Grammar
...G.2.1. Definite Article ...G.2.2 Personal Pronouns ...G.2.3 Possessive Pronouns ...G.2.4. Possessives with maal- ...G.2.5 Commands and Requests ...G.2.6 Broken Plural ...G.2.7 Plural -aat ...G.2.8 Plural -iin ...G.2.9 Plural -iyya ...G.3.1 The Construct State - iDaafat ...G.3.2 The Dual Form ...G.3.3 Adjectives ...G.3.4 Personal Pronoun Suffixes ...G.3.5 Prepositions ...G.3.6 To Have, 3ind- ...G.3.7 Past Tense I ...G.4.1 More on Adjectives ...G.4.2 Comparison Forms ...G.4.3 Numbers: Cardinals and Ordinals ...G.4.4 Telling the Time ...G.4.5 Question Words ...G.4.6 This, That, These (Demonstrative Pronouns) ...G.4.7 Past Tense II

Gulf Arabic Grammar - Numbers: Cardinals & Ordinals

Cardinal Numbers

	Masculine	Feminine
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	waa7id ithneyn thalaath arba3 xams sitt sab3 thimaan tis3 3ashar	waa7da thintayn or ithnatayn thalaatha(t) arba3a(t) xamsa(t) sitta(t) sab3a(t) thimaaniya(t) tis3a(t) 3ashra(t)

Use numbers 1 and 2 with plural nouns, agreeing with the gender of the noun. They usually follow the noun.

yoom waa7id – one day (lit. day one)
7ujra waa7da – one room (lit. room one)

For numbers 3-10, use plural nouns, disagreeing with the gender of the noun; they precede the noun, e.g.

xamsat awlaad – 5 boys
thimaan banaat – 8 girls
arba3at mawaatir – 4 cars
thimaaniyat biibaan – 8 doors (baab, pl. biibaan – door)
sab3 diraaysh – 7 windows (diriisha, pl. diraayish – window)

If the plural of the noun begins with a vowel then the hidden –t appears, as in the first example above and as in the following two:

thalaathat ashhur – 3 months
tis3at awraag – 9 sheets of paper, 9 leaves

Ordinal Numbers

	Masculine	Feminine
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th	awwal thaani thaalith raabi3 xaamis saadis saab3 thaamin taasi3 3aashr	uula, awwala thaaniya(t) thaaltha(t) raab3a(t) xaamsa(t) saadsa(t) saab3a(t) thaamina(t) taasi3a(t) 3aashra(t)

Example of usage of the ordinal numbers from 1 to 10:

marra – time, occasion
(1) il-marra il-uula – the first time (the number must agree in gender with the noun)
(2) awwal marra – the first time (use the masc. number regardless of the gender of the noun following; do not use the definite articile il- when the numeral is in front of the noun)

7urma, pl. 7ariim – woman
(1) il-7urma ith-thaaniya – the second woman
(2) thaani 7urma – the second woman
(3) thaaniya il-7ariim fi-S-Saff – the second woman in (the) line (the second of the women; if they are more than two women in line)

sibaag – race (competition)
(1) is-sayyaara ir-raabi3a fi-s-sibaag ith-thaalith – the fourth car in the third race
(2) raabi3 sayyaara fi-s-sibaag ith-thaalith – the fourth car in the third race
(3) raabi3a is-sayyaaraat fi thaani sibaag - the fourth car in the third race

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xaamis kutubii – the fifth of my books (You can also say: xaamis min kutubii)

ziyaara, pl. ziyaaraat – visit
fii ziyaaratik ith-thaalitha ila giTar – on your third visit to Qatar

xudh thaalith shaari3 3ala l-yimiin – Take the third street to the right.

Exception to pattern (3) above: awwal (first) and aaxir (last) are used in the masculine form, thus:

awwal is-sayyaaraat – the first of the cars
not uula is-sayyaaraat

aaxir il-7achi – in the last (part) of the talk
not aaxira il-7achi