6. Numerals
Cardinal numbers
| Ones | Ten and over | 20 and over | 30 and over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 siro | 10 (un) des | 20 du des | 30 tri des |
| 1 un | 11 des un | 21 du des un | 31 tri des un |
| 2 du | 12 des du | 22 du des du | 32 tri des du |
| 3 tri | 13 des tri | 23 du des tri | 33 tri des tri |
| 4 nelu | 14 des nelu | 24 du des nelu | 34 tri des nelu |
| 5 lima | 15 des lima | 25 du des lima | 35 tri des lima |
| 6 luka | 16 des luka | 26 du des luka | 36 tri des luka |
| 7 cheti | 17 des cheti | 27 du des cheti | 37 tri des cheti |
| 8 bati | 18 des bati | 28 du des bati | 38 tri des bati |
| 9 tisa | 19 des tisa | 29 du des tisa | 39 tri des tisa |
| Ones | Tens | Hundreds | Thousands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 un | 10 (un) des | 100 (un) sento | 1000 (un) kilo |
| 2 du | 20 du des | 200 du sento | 2000 du kilo |
| 3 tri | 30 tri des | 300 tri sento | 3000 tri kilo |
| 4 nelu | 40 nelu des | 400 nelu sento | 4000 nelu kilo |
| 5 lima | 50 lima des | 500 lima sento | 5000 lima kilo |
| 6 luka | 60 luka des | 600 luka sento | 6000 luka kilo |
| 7 cheti | 70 cheti des | 700 cheti sento | 7000 cheti kilo |
| 8 bati | 80 bati des | 800 bati sento | 8000 bati kilo |
| 9 tisa | 90 tisa des | 900 tisa sento | 9000 tisa kilo |
Greater numbers follow the same logic as above.
10'000 = un des kilo
100'000 = un sento kilo
1'000'000 = un mega
10'000'000 = un des mega
100'000'000 = un sento mega
1'000'000'000 = un giga
The numerals that are greater than one hundred are borrowed from the International System of Units (SI). They are used in scientific words in the whole world.
| Prefix | Symbol | Base 10 | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| kilo | k | 10³ | 1'000 |
| mega | M | 10⁶ | 1'000'000 |
| giga | G | 10⁹ | 1'000'000'000 |
| tera | T | 10¹² | 1'000'000'000'000 |
| peta | P | 10¹⁵ | 1'000'000'000'000'000 |
| exa | E | 10¹⁸ | 1'000'000'000'000'000'000 |
| zeta | Z | 10²¹ | 1'000'000'000'000'000'000'000 |
| yota | Y | 10²⁴ | 1'000'000'000'000'000'000'000'000 |
Cardinal number before noun
Quantity can be expressed with numerals and other quantity-words. They are put before the word or phrase that they qualify.
un sing
– one star
du sing
– two stars
tri sing
– three stars
kam sing
– few stars
men sing
– many stars
un dai kursi
– one big chair
du dai kursi
– two big chairs
tri hau kursi
– three good chairs
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers are created with the particle me.
- un me – first
- du me – second
- tri me – third
- nelu me – fourth
- lima me – fifth
- luka me – sixth
- cheti me – seventh
- bati me – eighth
- tisa me – ninth
- des me – tenth
They are placed before the modified noun like normal adjectives.
un me fen
– the first part
du me fen
– the second part
tri me fen
– the third part
Also the words for previous, next, first and last use the same particle.
pre
'before, precede'
→ preme
'previous, preceding'
pos
'after, follow'
→ posme
'next, following'
shuru
'begin'
→ shurume
'the first'
fin
'end'
→ finme
'the last'
Ordinal numbers are put before cardinal numbers.
un me tri kupa kafe – the first three cups of coffee
Ordinal number after noun
Another way to form ordinal numbers is to place the cardinal number after the noun.
fen un
– part one (the first part)
fen du
– part two (the second part)
fen tri
– part three (the third part)
Classifiers of measurement
The classifier of measurement is a word that occurs between a numeral and a noun. It indicates how the referent of the noun is measured, contained or packaged. Classifiers of measurement is an open class of words, which includes, among many others, litre 'liter', metre 'meter', botle 'bottle', kope 'cup, mug', pake 'package', pote 'pot', sake 'bag, sack', tin 'can, tin' tong 'cask, barrel', van 'bowl'.
du litre jus
– two liters of juice
tri metre kable
– three meters of wire
un kope kafe
– a cup of cofee
du botle vin
– two bottles of wine
tri sake patate
– three sacks of potatoes
nelu tin limon jus
– four cans of lemonade
Fractions
Fractions are formed with the help of the word fen 'part'.
Fractions can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the word fen can be interpreted as a classifier of measurement. Then, for example, du fen tri is interpreted as 'two parts of three (parts)'. Secondly, the last numeral can be understood as an ordinal number that modifies fen. Then, for example, du fen tri is interpreted as 'two thirds'. Both interpretations lead to the same result that du fen tri stands for '2/3' in mathematical symbols.
un fen du
– a half (½)
un fen nelu
– one fourth, one quarter (¼)
tri fen nelu
– three fourths, three quarters (¾)
un fen sento
– one hundredth, one percent (1%)
un fen kilo
– one thousandth, one permille (1‰)
Fractions are connected to their noun head with de ('of').
un fen du de hor
– a half (of an) hour
lima des fen sento de jen
– fifty percent of people
du fen tri de keke
– two thirds of a cake
In addition, there is also a longer pattern for forming fractions. It uses the pattern X de Y fen ('X of Y parts').
un de du fen
– one of two parts, a half (½)
un de nelu fen
– one of four parts, a quarter (¼)
tri de nelu fen
– three of four parts, three quarters (¾)
un de sento fen
– one of hundred parts, a percent, (1%)
un de kilo fen
– one of thousand parts, a permille, (1‰)
Date and time
Days of the week
Days of the week are named after celestial bodies according to the historical international system and they include the word den ('day, 24 hours').
- lunaden – Monday
- marisden – Tuesday
- merkurden – Wednesday
- mushinden – Thursday
- zukraden – Friday
- shaniden – Saturday
- solden – Sunday
Months
Names of the months are made up of the number of the month and mes ('month') is used.
- mes un – January
- mes du – February
- mes tri – March
- mes nelu – April
- mes lima – May
- mes luka – June
- mes cheti – July
- mes bati – August
- mes tisa – September
- mes des – October
- mes des un – November
- mes des du – December
Date format
The date formats use the ordinal number after the noun pattern. The day, month and year ordered from the longest period of time to the shortest, i.e. day first and year last, or vice versa i.e. year first and day last. Month is always in the middle.
nen 2022 mes 9 den 17 ~ den 17 mes 9 nen 2002
There are also two short formats without the year.
mes 9 den 17 ~ den 17 mes 9
Telling time
Time can be told with the word hor ('hour'). The 24 hour clock is the standard.
hor des du
– twelve o'clock
hor des du e tri des
– twelve thirty, half past twelve
hor du des
– eight PM
hor du des e des lima
– quarter past eight PM