🔢 Russian Numbers: Your First Steps to Counting Like a Native!
Imagine you’re learning to count with building blocks. Each block has a special name. In Russian, numbers are just like those colorful blocks—stack them together, and you can count anything from apples to stars!
🎯 The Big Picture
Think of Russian numbers like a magic recipe:
- Small numbers (0–10) = Basic ingredients you memorize
- Teen numbers (11–20) = Special blends with their own names
- Bigger numbers (21–100) = Combine blocks like LEGO pieces
- Giant numbers (100+) = Stack the LEGO towers higher!
- Ordinal numbers = Telling who came first, second, third…
Let’s start our adventure! 🚀
📦 Numbers 0–10: The Foundation Blocks
These are the 10 magic words you’ll use to build ALL other Russian numbers. Learn them like your favorite song!
| Number | Russian | Sounds Like |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | ноль | nol’ |
| 1 | один | ah-DEEN |
| 2 | два | dvah |
| 3 | три | tree |
| 4 | четыре | cheh-TY-reh |
| 5 | пять | pyat’ |
| 6 | шесть | shest’ |
| 7 | семь | syem’ |
| 8 | восемь | VOH-syem’ |
| 9 | девять | DYEH-vyat’ |
| 10 | десять | DYEH-syat’ |
🎵 Memory Trick
“Один, два, три—as easy as A-B-C!”
Think of три (3) like a tree with 3 branches. Easy!
💡 Quick Example
“I have два apples.” = I have 2 apples.
“She has пять cats.” = She has 5 cats.
🔥 Numbers 11–20: The Teen Squad
Here’s where Russian gets creative! The teen numbers have special names that don’t follow simple patterns—but don’t worry, they’re fun once you know the trick.
The pattern: Number + “надцать” (sounds like “naht-saht”)
| Number | Russian | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | одиннадцать | один + надцать |
| 12 | двенадцать | две + надцать |
| 13 | тринадцать | три + надцать |
| 14 | четырнадцать | четыр + надцать |
| 15 | пятнадцать | пят + надцать |
| 16 | шестнадцать | шест + надцать |
| 17 | семнадцать | сем + надцать |
| 18 | восемнадцать | восем + надцать |
| 19 | девятнадцать | девят + надцать |
| 20 | двадцать | два + дцать |
🧙♂️ The Magic Suffix
“надцать” = “teen” in English!
Just like “thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…” Russian adds надцать to the base number.
💡 Quick Example
“I am тринадцать years old.” = I am 13 years old.
“We have двадцать minutes.” = We have 20 minutes.
🧱 Numbers 21–100: Building Bigger Numbers
Now you become an architect! You stack the tens, then add the ones.
The Tens (Your Building Floors)
| Number | Russian | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | десять | DYEH-syat’ |
| 20 | двадцать | dvah-dsaht’ |
| 30 | тридцать | TREE-dsaht’ |
| 40 | сорок | SOH-rok ⚠️ |
| 50 | пятьдесят | pyat’-deh-SYAT |
| 60 | шестьдесят | shest’-deh-SYAT |
| 70 | семьдесят | syem’-deh-SYAT |
| 80 | восемьдесят | VOH-syem’-deh-SYAT |
| 90 | девяносто | dyeh-vya-NOH-stoh ⚠️ |
| 100 | сто | stoh |
⚠️ Watch Out!
- 40 (сорок) and 90 (девяносто) are rebels—they don’t follow the pattern!
- Just memorize these two special ones.
🔧 The Formula
TENS + ONES = Number
двадцать + один = двадцать один (21)
тридцать + пять = тридцать пять (35)
пятьдесят + семь = пятьдесят семь (57)
💡 Quick Examples
двадцать три = 23 (twenty + three)
сорок два = 42 (forty + two)
девяносто девять = 99 (ninety + nine)
🏔️ Numbers 100 and Above: Climbing Higher!
You’ve mastered the small blocks. Now let’s build skyscrapers!
Hundreds
| Number | Russian |
|---|---|
| 100 | сто |
| 200 | двести |
| 300 | триста |
| 400 | четыреста |
| 500 | пятьсот |
| 600 | шестьсот |
| 700 | семьсот |
| 800 | восемьсот |
| 900 | девятьсот |
🔧 The Big Formula
HUNDREDS + TENS + ONES
триста + сорок + два = триста сорок два (342)
пятьсот + двадцать + один = пятьсот двадцать один (521)
Thousands and Beyond
| Number | Russian |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | тысяча (TY-sya-cha) |
| 2,000 | две тысячи |
| 5,000 | пять тысяч |
| 1,000,000 | миллион |
💡 Quick Example
две тысячи двадцать пять = 2025
That’s the year! 🎉
🏆 Ordinal Numbers: Who Came First?
Ordinal numbers tell position: 1st, 2nd, 3rd…
In Russian, ordinals change based on gender (like “he” vs “she”). Here’s the masculine form (most common):
| Ordinal | Russian (Masculine) | Sounds Like |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | первый | PYER-vy |
| 2nd | второй | ftah-ROY |
| 3rd | третий | TREH-ty |
| 4th | четвёртый | chyet-VYOR-ty |
| 5th | пятый | PYA-ty |
| 6th | шестой | shes-TOY |
| 7th | седьмой | syed’-MOY |
| 8th | восьмой | vahs’-MOY |
| 9th | девятый | dyeh-VYA-ty |
| 10th | десятый | dyeh-SYA-ty |
🎯 The Pattern for Higher Ordinals
From 5th onward, just add -ый or -ой to the number base!
| Ordinal | Russian |
|---|---|
| 11th | одиннадцатый |
| 20th | двадцатый |
| 21st | двадцать первый |
| 100th | сотый |
💡 Quick Example
“This is my первый lesson.” = This is my 1st lesson.
“She lives on the пятый floor.” = She lives on the 5th floor.
🎁 Putting It All Together
graph TD A[Russian Numbers] --> B[0-10: Memorize] A --> C[11-20: Add надцать] A --> D[21-100: Tens + Ones] A --> E[100+: Hundreds + Tens + Ones] A --> F[Ordinals: Add -ый/-ой] B --> G[один, два, три...] C --> H[одиннадцать, двенадцать...] D --> I[двадцать один, сорок два...] E --> J[сто двадцать три...] F --> K[первый, второй, третий...]
🚀 You Did It!
You just learned:
- ✅ Numbers 0–10 (the foundation)
- ✅ Numbers 11–20 (the teen squad)
- ✅ Numbers 21–100 (LEGO building)
- ✅ Numbers 100+ (skyscraper mode)
- ✅ Ordinal numbers (who’s first!)
Remember: Russian numbers are like building blocks. Master the small ones, and you can count to infinity!
🎯 Pro tip: Practice counting everyday objects in Russian. See 3 birds? Say “три”! That’s how you become fluent.
Happy counting! Удачи! (Good luck!)