LIMBA Palestinian ArabicFree written course · 100 lessons Audio course

A1Unit 1 · Hello! · Lesson 9 of 100

Numbers 1 to 10

wāḥad, tnēn, talāte … ʿashara · shu numrit jawwālak?

Goal: Count from zero to ten, ask for a phone number and give your own.

1

Dialogue

Lina has a new Palestinian SIM card, and Sam wants her number. You will learn the numbers from zero to ten and how to read a phone number aloud.

At the language school. Lina has a new local SIM card, and Sam asks for her number (an invented one).

  1. SamLīna, shu numrit jawwālik?Lina, what's your cell number?
  2. Linaṣifr khamse tisʿa tamānye…Zero five nine eight…
  3. Samṣifr khamse tisʿa tamānye. ṭayyib.Zero five nine eight. OK.
  4. Linatalāte sabʿa wāḥad…three seven one…
  5. Samtalāte sabʿa wāḥad.three seven one.
  6. Linatnēn sitte arbaʿa.two six four.
  7. Samtnēn sitte khamse?two six five?
  8. Linalaʾ, mish khamse. arbaʿa!No, not five. Four!
  9. Samṣifr khamse tisʿa tamānye, talāte sabʿa wāḥad, tnēn sitte arbaʿa. mazbūṭ?0598 371 264. Right?
  10. Linamazbūṭ, ya Sām!Right, Sam!
2

New words

Palestinian ArabicEnglish
ṣifrzero
wāḥadonefor a feminine noun: waḥde; it comes after the noun
tnēntwofor a feminine noun: tintēn
talātethreebefore a plural noun: talat (a later lesson)
arbaʿafourbefore a plural noun: arbaʿ
khamsefivebefore a plural noun: khams
sittesixbefore a plural noun: sitt
sabʿasevenbefore a plural noun: sabʿ
tamānyeeightbefore a plural noun: taman
tisʿaninebefore a plural noun: tisʿ
ʿasharatenbefore a plural noun: ʿashr
numranumber; phone number; size (of clothes, shoes)shu numrit jawwālak? / shu numrit jawwālik? "what is your cell number?" (to a man / to a woman)
3

Grammar

1. From zero to ten

NumberPalestinian Arabic
0ṣifr
1wāḥad
2tnēn
3talāte
4arbaʿa
5khamse
6sitte
7sabʿa
8tamānye
9tisʿa
10ʿashara

These are the forms for counting and for reading numbers. One and two also have a feminine form, waḥde and tintēn. When a number comes before a noun, it changes a little; that comes in a later lesson.

2. Reading a phone number

Read a phone number one digit at a time, with a short pause between the groups.

ṣifr khamse tisʿa tamānye, talāte sabʿa wāḥad, tnēn sitte arbaʿa. 0598 371 264

To ask for a cell number, learn this question as a chunk:

shu numrit jawwālak? What's your cell number? (to a man)
shu numrit jawwālik? What's your cell number? (to a woman)

Sound: ʿ is a voiced sound from deep in the throat; you hear it in arbaʿa, sabʿa, tisʿa and ʿashara. The sounds page of this course explains it.

4

Practice

1Match the Arabic and the number

  1. talāte

  2. sabʿa

  3. tisʿa

  4. tamānye

  5. khamse

  6. ṣifr

2Choose the right word

  1. How do you say 6?

  2. How do you say 10?

  3. Which number is arbaʿa?

  4. You ask Rana for her cell number.

3Complete the sentence

  1. wāḥad, tnēn, ___, arbaʿa = 1, 2, 3, 4

  2. sitte, ___, tamānye = 6, 7, 8

  3. laʾ, mish khamse. ___! = No, not five. Four!

4Put the words in order

  1. Read the first four digits of Lina's number: 0 5 9 8

  2. What's your cell number? (to a man)

5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check

  1. Count from six to ten.

  2. Read this number aloud: 0 5 6 2

6True or false?

  1. Lina's number begins with ṣifr khamse.

  2. Sam first hears khamse instead of arbaʿa.

Well done — your score: .
5

Summary

  • You can count from ṣifr to ʿashara.
  • You can read a phone number digit by digit.
  • You can ask shu numrit jawwālak? or shu numrit jawwālik?
  • You can correct a wrong number: laʾ, mish khamse. arbaʿa!

Unit 1: Hello!

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