Numbers 11 and 12
- In this part we will learn the two numbers أحَدَ عَشَرَ “aћada ξashara” (eleven) and اثنا عَشَرَ “ithnā ξashara” (twelve), as they are similar to each other with the exception of declension.
- Before we consider the gender of the number, we need to understand the gender of the noun that is being referred to. If the noun is feminine then the number will also be feminine, likewise with the masculine noun / masculine number. To change the number أحَدَ “aћada” to feminine إحْدى “iћdā” we can add the long vowel Alif (alif maqŝūrah) ألف مقصورة to the word ending, and change the initial Hamzah to be signed with kasrah (إ), and to change the sign of the medial (Hā’) from the fatħah to the sukūn to become إحْدى “iћdā”. The number اثنا “ithnā” can be made feminine by adding the letter ت “t” to be اثنتا “ithnatā”.
- The number should be identical with the numbered noun (that comes after the number) in gender (masculine and feminine). For example:
جاء أحدَ عَشَرَ أُسْتاذًا
Ĵā’a aћada ξashara ustādhan
Eleven professors came
- The number here is masculine because the numbered noun after it is masculine.
- But we say:
جاءت إحدى عشرة أُسْتاذةً
Ĵā’at iћda ξashrata ustādhatan
Eleven lady professors came.
- The number here is feminine because the numbered noun is feminine.
- The same applies to the number اثنا عَشَرَ “ithnā ξashara” (twelve). For example:
ذهب اثنا عشر مُهَنْدِسًا
Dhahaba ithnā ξashara muhandisan
Twelve engineers went out.
- The number here is masculine because the numbered noun after it is masculine.
- But we say:
ذَهَبَت اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ مُهَنْدِسَةً
Dhahabat ithnata ξashrata muhandisatan
Twelve female engineers went out.
- The number here is feminine because the numbered noun is feminine.
- We will now cover the number (أحَدَ عَشَرَ) “aћada ξashara” (eleven) in more detail In-Shā’-Allâh (God-willing).
- The word-ending of the two words أحَدَ “aћada” and إحْدى “iћda” are مَبْنيّة “mabniyah”, i.e. static or indeclinable in all cases of grammar – this means that they do not change their endings in nominative, accusative or genitive case. Let us look at some examples below to illustrate this point:
| Case: | Transliteration: | English: | Arabic: |
| The nominative case | ξUmri aћada ξashara ξāman | I am eleven years old. | عُمْرِي أَحَدَ عَشَرَ عَامًا |
| The accusative case | Ra’aytu iћda ξashrata bintan | I saw eleven girls. | رَأَيْتُ إحدى عَشْرَةَ بِنْتًا |
| The genitive case | Askunu maξa aћada ξashara ŧâliban | I live with eleven students. | أَسْكُنُ مَعَ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ طَالِبًا |
- We will now cover the number اِثْنا عشر “ithna ξashar” (twelve) in more detail In-Shā’-Allâh (God-willing).
- The two words اثْنا “ithna” (masc.) and اثْنتا “ithnata” (fem.) are dual nouns. In the nominative case, we say اثْنا “ithna” and اثْنتا “ithnata” while in the accusative and genitive cases we say اثني “ithnai” and اثنتي “ithnatai”:
| Case: | Transliteration: | English: | Arabic: |
| The nominative case (masculine) | Ĵā’a ithna ξashara ŧâliban | Twelve students came. | جَاءَ اِثْنا عَشَرَ طَالِبًا |
| The nominative case (feminine) | Ĵā’at ithnata ξashrata ŧâlibatan | Twelve female students came. | جاءت اِثْنتا عشْرَةَ طالِبَةً |
| The accusative case (masculine) | Ra’aytu ithnai ξashara ŧâliban | I saw twelve students. | رَأَيْتُ اِثْنَي عَشَرَ طالِبًا |
| The accusative case (feminine) | Ra’aytu ithnatai ξashrata ŧâlibatan | I saw twelve female students. | رَأيْتُ اِثْنَتَي عَشْرَةَ طَالِبَةً |
- The genitive case for the number twelve will take the same form as the example in the table above for accusative case.
Numbers from 13 to 19- الأَعْدَادُ مِنْ ثَلاثَةَ عَشَرَ إلَى تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ
- In this section we will study the numbers from 13 to 19. These numbers have the same rules, therefore we will study them in one section In-Shā’-Allâh (God-willing).
- The composite numbers from 13 to 19 – e.g. (ثَلاثَةَ عَشَرَ) “thalathata ξashara” (thirteen) – are composed of two parts. The gender of each part depends on the gender of the noun that is being referred to. The first part is always opposite to the gender of the noun, and the second part is the same gender as the numbered noun.
- The first part may be feminine (ثلاثة) “thalathata” (three) or may be masculine (ثلاث) “thalatha”. The second part may also be feminine (عَشْرَةَ) “ξashrata” (ten) or may be masculine (عَشَرَ) “ξashara” (ten). As above, the rule we apply here is related to the noun (that comes after the number). Here are some examples:
| Transliteration: | English: | Arabic: |
| Fil-faŝl thalathata ashara ŧâliban | There are thirteen students in the class. | في الفَصْلِ ثلاثةَ عَشَرَ طالِبًا |
| ћađarat thalathu ξashrata mudarrisatan | Thirteen lady teachers attended.
| حَضَرَتْ ثَلاثَ عَشْرَةَ مُدَرِّسَة |
| Dhabaћtu sittata ξashara diikan | I slaughtered sixteen roosters. | ذَبَحْتُ سِتَّةَ عَشَرَ دِيكًا
|
| Hādha al-waladu ξumruhu tisξa ξashrata sanatan | This boy (young man) is nineteen years old.
| هذا الوَلَدُ عُمْرُهُ تِسْعَ عَشْرَةَ سَنَةً
|
- In these examples, the first part of the number is opposite in gender to the numbered noun, while the second part is similar to it.
- Now we will explain the word-ending of the number and the numbered noun.
- The two parts of the composite number for numbers from 13 to 19 – e.g. (ثلاثةَ عشرَ) “thalathata ξashara” (thirteen) – have a fixed vowel, namely (فتحة) short vowel Fatћa, at the end of both parts.
- The numbered noun in this case always ends with a (فتحة) short vowel Fatћa. Take the following examples:
في قَرْيَتِي سَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ عائلَةً
Fi qaryati sabξa ξashrata ξā’ilatan
There are seventeen families in our village.
في فَصْلِي تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ صَدِيقًا
Fi faŝli tisξata ξashara ŝadiiqan
I have nineteen friends in the class.
- [Note that the “n” at the end of ξā’ilatan and ŝadiiqan is the (تنوين) Tanwīn (nunation; the root to pronounce the letter N), but both words end with the short vowel Fatћa]