Once children know 1–10, three simple patterns take them all the way to 100.
Pattern 1: 11–19
| Number | Arabic |
|---|---|
| 11 | أَحَدَ عَشَرَ |
| 12 | اِثْنَا عَشَرَ |
| 13 | ثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ |
| 14–19 | Number + عَشَرَ |
Pattern 2: the tens (add ـُون)
| 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| عِشْرُون | ثَلَاثُون | أَرْبَعُون | خَمْسُون | سِتُّون | سَبْعُون | ثَمَانُون | تِسْعُون | مِئَة |
Pattern 3: units first
21 = وَاحِدٌ وَعِشْرُونَ (one and twenty). 45 = خَمْسَةٌ وَأَرْبَعُونَ (five and forty). Like the old English “four-and-twenty”.
Full grammar rules (masculine and feminine agreement) come later; for counting, this is enough.
Quran numbers to practise
- 30 juz: ثَلَاثُونَ
- 99 names: تِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ
- 114 surahs: مِئَةٌ وَأَرْبَعَةَ عَشَرَ
Arabic digits
Many Mushafs use Eastern Arabic digits: ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩. Learning them helps your child read page and verse numbers.
Teacher’s tip: count tasbih in Arabic after prayer: 33 is ثَلَاثَةٌ وَثَلَاثُونَ. Daily dhikr becomes daily number practice. See tasbih after prayer.
Related: Numbers 1–10 and ordinal numbers.
