Overall, there are two different counting systems in the Igbo language, a 20 based one (older version) and a 10 (decimal) based one (newer version). The lessons on this page mostly focus on the newer 10 based counting system, meaning the numbers are described based on the multiples of 10 instead of multiples 20. However, I did give examples of how to say both 20 and 400 using both systems.
Numbers
Ordinal
Numbers – ọnụọgụgụ
count – gụọ
0 zero – ncha/ adịgị / okpokoro / efu (Note: Many disagree about the meaning of zero in Igbo.)
1 one – otu / ofu
2 two – abụọ
3 three – atọ
4 four – anọ
5 five – ise
6 six – isii /isi
7 seven – asaa / asa
8 eight – asatọ
9 nine – itoolu
10 ten – iri
11 eleven – iri na otu
12 twelve – iri na abụọ
13 thirteen – iri na atọ
14 fourteen – iri na anọ
15 fifteen – iri na ise
16 sixteen – iri na isii
17 seventeen – iri na asaa
18 eighteen – iri na asatọ
19 nineteen – iri na itoolu
20 twenty – iri abụọ (10 based) / ọgụ (20 based)
21 twenty one – iri abụọ na otu
22 twenty two – iri abụọ na abụọ
23 twenty three – iri abụọ na atọ
24 twenty four – iri abụọ na anọ
25 twenty five – iri abụọ na ise
26 twenty six – iri abụọ na isii
27 twenty seven – iri abụọ na asaa
28 twenty eight – iri abụọ na asatọ
29 twenty nine – iri abụọ na itoolu
30 thirty – iri atọ
35 thirty five – iri atọ na ise
40 forty – iri anọ
50 fifty – iri ise
60 sixty – iri isii
70 seventy – iri asaa
80 eighty – iri asatọ
90 ninety – iri itoolu
100 one hundred – otu nnarị / otu narị (Note: Many argue about whether 100 is spelled narị or nnarị.)
101 one hundred one – otu narị na otu
200 two hundred – narị abụọ
223 two hundred twenty three – narị abụọ na iri abụọ na atọ
300 three hundred – narị atọ
400 four hundred – narị anọ (10 based) / nnụ (20 based)
500 five hundred – narị ise
600 six hundred – nari isii
700 seven hundred – narị asaa
800 eight hundred – narị asatọ
900 nine hundred – narị itoolu
1000 one thousand – otu puku
1001 one thousand one – otu puku na otu
2000 two thousand – puku abụọ
2017 two thousand seventeen – puku abụọ na iri na asaa
2018 two thousand eighteen – puku abụọ na iri na asato
3000 three thousand – puku atọ
3452 three thousand four hundred fifty two – puku atọ na narị anọ na iri ise na abụọ
10, 000 one ten thousand – puku iri
40, 000 forty thousand – puku iri anọ
100, 000 one hundred thousand – puku narị
1,000, 000 one million – otu nde
1,000,000,000 one billion – otu ijeri
Ordinal
1st first – nke mbụ
2nd second – nke abụọ
3rd third – nke atọ
4th fourth – nke anọ
5th fifth – nke ise
6th sixth – nke isii
7th seventh – nke asaa
8th eighth – nke asatọ
9th ninth – nke itoolu
10th tenth – nke iri
13th thirteenth – nke iri na atọ
30th thirtieth – nke iri atọ
300th three hundredth – nke nari atọ
3000th three thousandth – nke puku atọ
once – otu ugboro / otu mgbe (Note: Some argue about the meaning of once in Igbo.)
twice – ugboro abụọ
three times – ugboro atọ
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