In this lesson, we’ll be learning all about numbers in Russian. And, as in the title, we’ll be learning cardinal numbers. That means one, two, three, etc.
Let’s get started already!
Spoiler alert: this lesson is going to be boring.
We’ll start with numbers 0-10.
Because numbers can sometimes be complicated [especially in Russian!], I’ll be writing them all out.
Actually, since there is no audio yet, they have to be written out. 🙂
| 0–10 |
| ноль | zero |
| один [одна, одно, одни] see notes below | one |
| два [две] see notes below | two |
| три | three |
| четыре | four |
| пять | five |
| шесть | six |
| семь | seven |
| восемь | eight |
| девять | nine |
| десять | ten |
Easy, huh? Let’s move on! Numbers 11-20.
| 11–20 |
| одиннадцать | eleven |
| двенадцать | twelve |
| тринадцать | thirteeen |
| четырнадцать | fourteen |
| пятнадцать | fifteen |
| шестнадцать | sixteen |
| семнадцать | seventeen |
| восемнадцать | eighteen |
| девятнадцать | nineteen |
| Pronunciation tip: the letter д is not pronounced in –адцать. So, pronounce одинадцать as одинацать, etc. |
Not too bad? Moving on again. Numbers 21-29.
Making compound numbers is easy. Just add the numbers together.
| 21–29 |
| двадцать один | twenty-one |
| двадцать два | twenty-two |
| двадцать три | twenty-three |
| двадцать четыре | twenty-four |
| двадцать пять | twenty-five |
| двадцать шесть | twenty-six |
| двадцать семь | twenty-seven |
| двадцать восемь | twenty-eight |
| двадцать девять | twenty-nine |
This pattern is the same for 30 and above.
Having learned the above rule, let’s focus on the tens.
| 30–90 |
| тридцать | thirty |
| сорок | forty |
| пятьдесят | fifty |
| шестьдесят | sixty |
| семьдесят | seventy |
| восемьдесят | eighty |
| девяносто | ninety |
None of this is too difficult, right? Moving into the hundreds.
| 100–1,000 |
| сто | one hundred |
| двести | two hundred |
| триста | three hundred |
| четыреста | four hundred |
| пятьсот | five hundred |
| шестьсот | six hundred |
| семьсот | seven hundred |
| восемьсот | eight hundred |
| девятьсот | nine hundred |
| тысяча | one thousand |
| 1,000+ |
| In Russian, there is no need to add an equivalent for one to one hundred and one thousand. See the first and last example below. |
Forming large compound numbers is easy. Just follow the pattern I showed you above.
| сто тридцать два [one hundred (and) thirty-two] |
| четыреста сорок четыре [four hundred (and) forty-four] |
| шестьсот двадцать один [six hundred (and) twenty-one] |
| девятьсот девяносто девять [nine hundred (and) ninety-nine] |
| тысяча пятьсот пятьдесят пять [one thousand five hundred (and) fifty-five] |
Let’s look at тысяча. It declines like a regular noun.
| тысяча [one thousand] | две тысячи [two thousand] | три тысячи [three thousand] | четыре тысячи [four thousand] | пять тысяч [five thousand] |
The final numbers we’ll learn are миллион [million] and миллиард [billion].
Unlikely you’ll need to go beyond that. They also decline.
| миллион [one million] | миллиард [one billion] |
| два миллиона [two million] | два миллиарда [two billion] |
| три миллиона [three million] | три миллиарда [three billion] |
| четыре миллиона [four million] | четыре миллиарда [four billion] |
| пять миллионов [five million] | пять миллиардов [five billion] |
No post would be complete without example sentences.
| Два миллиона долларов – это крупная сумма. Two million dollars is a large sum. |
| Сто тысяч долларов в год? Какая зарплата! One hundred thousand dollars a year? What a salary! |
| В России живёт примерно сто двадцать миллионов человек. About one hundred (and) twenty million people live in Russia. |
| The number один must agree in gender, number and case [but let’s worry about that last one in another post] with the noun that it precedes. |
| один человек [one person] | одна женщина [one woman] | одно солнце [one sun] | одни часы [one watch] |
| The number два changes to две for feminine nouns but doesn’t change for masculine or neuter nouns. |
| два журнала [two magazines] | две книги [two books] | два окна [two windows] |
There exist some weird number rules in Russian.
- Number 1 is followed by the nominative singular (no change).
- Numbers 2-4 are followed by the genitive singular.
- Numbers 5+ are followed by the genitive plural.
We must always follow them!
| Nom. Sing. | Gen. Sing. | Gen. Plur. |
|---|---|---|
| один сад [one garden] | два сада [two gardens] | пять садов [five gardens] |
I did say that after five, you use the genitive plural, that is true, however, in compound numbers, such as twenty-two, thirty-three, forty-one and the like, this rule doesn’t apply.
| In compound numbers [twenty-one, fifty-five, thirty-three, etc.] the final number has to apply the agreement of case. |
| двадцать магазинов [twenty stores] |
| двадцать один магазин [twenty-one stores] |
| двадцать два магазина [twenty-two stores] |
| двадцать три магазина [twenty-three stores] |
| двадцать четыре магазина [twenty-four stores] |
| двадцать пять магазинов [twenty-five stores] |
Wow! A lot of numbers and a lot of weird little rules to apply. I will have some quizzes on this topic soon.
| Last Edit: 11/29/2025. |
My Slavic Studies 