Amharic Numbers 1 to 100: How to Count in Ethiopian

Ask a vendor at Addis Ababa's Merkato how much something costs and you'll get a number in Amharic — fast, clipped, no repetition. If you blank on it, the moment passes. Numbers are the one vocabulary set you genuinely need before you arrive, not after. This guide covers every number from 1 to 100: the Ge'ez numeral characters (፩–፻), the spoken word forms, romanization, and IPA for the sounds that trip up English speakers — plus when modern Ethiopians actually pull out Ge'ez numerals versus just typing 1, 2, 3.

Numbers 1–10: The Foundation

The first ten words are irregular in the same way English "one through twelve" are irregular — you learn them individually. No shortcuts, no patterns to exploit yet.

Ge'ez Numeral	Ge'ez Script	Romanization	IPA	English
፩	አንድ	and	/and/	one
፪	ሁለት	hulet	/hulɛt/	two
፫	ሶስት	sost	/sost/	three
፬	አራት	arat	/arat/	four
፭	አምስት	amst	/amst/	five
፮	ስድስት	sidst	/sidst/	six
፯	ሰባት	sebat	/sɛbat/	seven
፰	ስምንት	semnt	/sɛmnt/	eight
፱	ዘጠኝ	zeteny	/zɛtɛɲ/	nine
፲	አስር	asir	/asir/	ten

A few sounds worth flagging now, before bad habits settle in. ሶስት (sost, "three") ends in a true consonant cluster — both the s and the t are pronounced, with no vowel inserted between them. English speakers instinctively soften this to "sosit" or "soset." Resist that. ዘጠኝ (zeteny, "nine") ends in a palatal nasal /ɲ/ — the same sound as the ñ in Spanish mañana. Approximate it as plain n and you'll be understood, but it's worth getting right early. አምስት (amst, "five") and ስምንት (semnt, "eight") are both three-consonant-cluster endings that take a bit of practice to say at speed.

The Ge'ez numerals ፩ through ፲ are a distinct symbol set, visually unrelated to Arabic digits and unrelated to the Ge'ez letter shapes. They resemble stylized punctuation — descenders, crossbars, enclosed forms. You'll encounter them in church texts, formal printed documents, and traditional mastheads. Understanding them starts with recognizing each character rather than trying to derive them logically.

The Tens: ሃያ to ዘጠና

The tens from 20 to 90 are their own separate vocabulary items. They do not derive mechanically from 1–9 the way English "thirty" comes from "three." You need to learn each one.

Ge'ez Numeral	Ge'ez Script	Romanization	English
፲	አስር	asir	ten
፳	ሃያ	haya	twenty
፴	ሰላሳ	selasa	thirty
፵	አርባ	arba	forty
፶	ሃምሳ	hamsa	fifty
፷	ስልሳ	silsa	sixty
፸	ሰባ	seba	seventy
፹	ሰማኒያ	semaniya	eighty
፺	ዘጠና	zetena	ninety
፻	መቶ	meto	hundred

ሃያ (haya, twenty) and ሰባ (seba, seventy) are the pair most likely to blur together at speed — one starts with /h/, one with /s/, but both are two syllables and both come up constantly in prices. Practice them side by side. ሰማኒያ (semaniya, eighty) is the longest word in the set; the stress falls on the second syllable, se-MA-ni-ya.

How Compound Numbers Work

Amharic builds compound numbers the same way English does: say the ten, then the unit, with no conjunction and no reversal.

Twenty-four is ሃያ አራት (haya arat) — literally "twenty four." No word for "and," no hyphen equivalent.

ሃያ አራት (haya arat) = 24
ሰላሳ ሶስት (selasa sost) = 33
ሰማኒያ ዘጠኝ (semaniya zeteny) = 89

The teens (11–19) are where the combining form appears. አስር (asir, ten) becomes አስራ (asra) when followed by another number — it picks up a final -a as a liaison. This is worth noting because the same edge-change pattern appears in other parts of Amharic grammar.

Ge'ez Script	Romanization	English
አስራ አንድ	asra and	11
አስራ ሁለት	asra hulet	12
አስራ ሶስት	asra sost	13
አስራ አራት	asra arat	14
አስራ አምስት	asra amst	15
አስራ ስድስት	asra sidst	16
አስራ ሰባት	asra sebat	17
አስራ ስምንት	asra semnt	18
አስራ ዘጠኝ	asra zeteny	19

If you've been working through the 33 base consonants of the Ge'ez alphabet, you'll already recognize most of these characters. The numbers are a great opportunity to reinforce the fidel shapes you've been memorizing — each numeral word anchors a handful of characters in a memorable context.

Hundreds and Thousands

መቶ (meto) is one hundred. Two hundred is ሁለት መቶ (hulet meto). Same additive pattern: say the multiplier, then the unit.

One thousand is አንድ ሺ (and shi), or simply ሺ (shi) when context is clear. Ten thousand is አስር ሺ (asir shi). These come up constantly in birr transactions — Ethiopia's currency runs into the thousands for hotel rates, electronics, and transportation. Getting comfortable with ሺ (shi) alongside the 1–100 set gives you workable coverage for most real transactions.

Ge'ez Script	Romanization	English
መቶ	meto	100
ሁለት መቶ	hulet meto	200
ሺ / አንድ ሺ	shi / and shi	1,000
አስር ሺ	asir shi	10,000

When Ethiopians Use Ge'ez Numerals vs Arabic Digits

Ethiopians today use both, but the contexts don't overlap much.

Arabic digits (1, 2, 3...) are the default for price tags, receipts, phone numbers, digital interfaces, social media posts, and government ID numbers. If you're texting about a meeting at 3pm or posting a price in a Facebook marketplace group, Arabic digits are what you'll type.

Ge'ez numerals (፩, ፪, ፫...) appear in Ethiopian Orthodox liturgical texts and manuscripts, formal government proclamations that follow traditional typographic conventions, and printed newspaper mastheads or chapter headings that signal cultural continuity. The Ethiopian National Archives and institutions like the British Library hold manuscript collections where Ge'ez numerals appear throughout.

For learners, the practical division is this: recognize Ge'ez numerals well enough to read a chapter heading or a church text, but know that you'll almost never need to write them yourself in everyday life. Knowing ፩ through ፲ covers most situations you'll encounter in the wild.

One place the Ge'ez numeral system genuinely still matters in daily life is dates written in formal Ethiopian documents. Ethiopia's calendar runs seven or eight years behind the Gregorian calendar, and official proclamations that follow traditional typographic conventions often print dates using Ge'ez numeral characters rather than Arabic digits.

Ordinal Numbers: First, Second, Third

Ordinal numbers — first, second, third — are formed by adding the suffix -ኛ (-gna) to the cardinal number. The pattern is regular once you know the cardinals.

Ge'ez Script	Romanization	English
አንደኛ	andegna	first
ሁለተኛ	huletegna	second
ሶስተኛ	sostegna	third
አራተኛ	arategna	fourth
አምስተኛ	amstegna	fifth

You'll hear ordinals constantly in contexts like floor numbers in hotels (ሁለተኛ ፎቅ, huletegna foq, "second floor"), bus stops, and ranked lists. አንደኛ (andegna, "first") also means "excellent" or "the best" in casual speech — you'll hear it used as a compliment.

Numbers in Everyday Ethiopian Contexts

Numbers show up in a few specific contexts that are worth knowing before you travel.

Ages. Ethiopians often ask ages quite directly in conversation — it is not considered impolite. The pattern for stating age is: number + ዓመቴ (amate) meaning "my years." ሃያ ስምንት ዓመቴ ነው (haya semnt amate new) means "I am twenty-eight years old." Age comes up naturally after the initial Amharic greetings exchange, which usually includes questions about family and background.

Time. Ethiopian time runs six hours offset from international clock time — 1:00am in Ethiopia is 7:00 in the Ethiopian system, because the day is counted from dawn. If someone says ሰባት ሰዓት (sebat se'at), that means the seventh hour, which is 1:00pm by a Western clock. You don't need to master this on day one, but knowing that ሰዓት (se'at) means "hour" or "o'clock" helps you catch time references in conversation.

Telephone numbers. Ethiopian phone numbers are typically ten digits. When locals read them aloud, they read in pairs — ዘጠና ሶስት (zetena sost) for 93, for example. If you need to give or receive a number, knowing the digits 0–9 cold lets you follow a dictated number at normal speed.

Zero is ዜሮ (zero) — borrowed directly from the international term. You'll use it primarily for telephone numbers and digital contexts.

Making Numbers Stick

Rote drilling works, but market context is faster. Find Ethiopian market or cooking videos on YouTube, listen for price amounts, and pause to repeat them. You'll catch ሃምሳ ብር (hamsa birr, "fifty birr") in a market scene well before you'd retain it from a flashcard. Then reverse: when handling an actual birr amount, say the number aloud in Amharic before paying.

Ordinals come faster once you're comfortable with the cardinals — knowing the -gna suffix unlocks the whole set automatically. The connection between cardinals and ordinals is one of those moments where Amharic's underlying consistency becomes visible.

The Learn Amharic app from Brightwood Apps covers numbers alongside the full fidel curriculum, with native-speaker audio for every form — so you hear the final consonant clusters of ሶስት (sost) and አምስት (amst) pronounced naturally rather than reconstructing them from romanization alone.