Numbers

1  moja
2  mbili
3  tatu
4  nne
5  tano
6  sita*
7  saba*
8  nane
9  tisa*
10  kumi*

* Most numbers agree with the class of the noun they describe, which means that you'll come across watatu, vitatu, matatu, and mitatu as well as just tatu (3).  The numbers 6, 7, 9 and 10 DO NOT change or take prefixes.

The number two (mbili) is slightly different, because in other forms the stem becomes -wili, e.g. wawili, viwili, mawili and miwili.

Watoto wawili    2 children
Miti mitatu         3 trees
Maneno manne  4 words
Vitabu vitano     5 books

Don't worry about these for the moment - just be prepared to recognise a number in a slightly different form.

After 10, the numbers continue "ten and one", "ten and two" etc.

11  kumi na moja
12  kumi na mbili
13  kumi na tatu
14  kumi na nne   etc.   Until.....

20  ishirini      (21 - ishirini na moja, 22 -  ishirini na mbili etc.)
30  thelathini
40  arobaini
50  hamsini
60  sitini
70  sabini
80  themanini
90  tisini

If you’re wondering why these numbers are so different from the numbers 1 – 10, it’s because they’re all Arabic.  So are 6, 7, and 9 (this is why they don’t agree with nouns).  So sita (6) and sitini (60) come from the same (Arabic) word, whereas tano (5) and hamsini (50) don’t.  If you speak Arabic, this is quite fun. If not, you just have to spend a bit longer learning the vocabulary.....sorry.

100         mia

1000       elfu

100,000  laki

1,000,000  milioni