1
Numbers 0 to 5
Arabic A1 · Unit 9
GoalCount from zero to five in Arabic words and read the Eastern Arabic numerals.
New words
صِفْر (ṣifr) · 0 · zeroوَاحِد (wāḥid) · 1 · oneاِثْنَان (ithnān) · 2 · twoثَلَاثَة (thalātha) · 3 · threeأَرْبَعَة (ʾarbaʿa) · 4 · fourخَمْسَة (khamsa) · 5 · five
Explanation
Arabic has two sets of digits. The Western digits 0 1 2 3 are the ones you know. The Eastern Arabic numerals ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ are used in many Arabic countries, on signs, books and screens. Both sets are written from left to right, even inside Arabic text. Two numerals can confuse you: the zero is a dot ٠ and the five is a small circle ٥. Learn each number as a word too: ṣifr, wāḥid, ithnān, thalātha, ʾarbaʿa, khamsa. In ʾarbaʿa the ع is the tight ʿayn sound.
| Digit | Eastern | Say | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ٠ | ṣifr | صِفْر |
| 1 | ١ | wāḥid | وَاحِد |
| 2 | ٢ | ithnān | اِثْنَان |
| 3 | ٣ | thalātha | ثَلَاثَة |
| 4 | ٤ | ʾarbaʿa | أَرْبَعَة |
| 5 | ٥ | khamsa | خَمْسَة |
Worked examples
Count on your fingers, starting with one. Press each card.
Count the books: wāḥid, ithnān, thalātha, ʾarbaʿa. There are four.
Do not mix up the dot and the circle. The dot is zero, the circle is five.
Class activity
Finger counting. Count your fingers, then the stairs or the buttons around you, in Arabic from zero to five. Then write the Eastern numerals ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ in a row from left to right, and the Arabic word under each one.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is it one of the numbers 0 to 5 from this lesson?
…
No. It is سَبْعَة (sabʿa), “seven”. You meet it in the next lesson.
2
Write 2, 4 and 5 in Eastern Arabic numerals.
٢ ٤ ٥
3
How many apples are there? Say the number in Arabic.
ثَلَاثَة (thalātha), three.
4
Which Eastern numeral looks like a dot and which like a small circle?
٠ is the dot (zero) and ٥ is the circle (five).
5
Read the word and write the digit: خَمْسَة.
5 (٥).