Cardinal Numbers

Numerals (numbers) designate quantity or order in counting. They are divided into ordinal, collective, fractional and cardinal numbers.

Cardinal numbers designate the number of people or things, and answer the question Сколько? (How many/much?). For example,

двадцать пять карандашей - 25 pencils

The good news is that Russian cardinal numbers only change by cases and do not have gender (except один, полтора, два) or number (except один).

The numeral один agrees with the related noun by gender, number and case, as in:

один карандаш (masculine singular nominative)
одна ягода (feminine singular nominative)
одно окно (neuter singular nominative)

All other numerals, when used in phrases and sentences with the genitive noun, should be put in the nominative. For example,

два друга - two friends (друга is the genitive noun)
пять столов - five tables (пять is the nominative numeral)
двадцать метров - twenty metres

The numerals from 5 to 20 and the numeral 30 change by cases just like nouns of the third declension do.

Declension of the numerals пять, пятнадцать, тридцать

The numerals сорок (40), девяносто (90) and сто (100) have only two forms for all the cases:

• the nominative (сорок, девяносто, сто)
• the genitive, dative, instrumental, prepositional (сорока, девяноста, ста)

When declining the numerals from 50 to 80 and from 200 to 900, two parts of the word change. The example demonstrating that such numerals have two parts is семьдесят (seventy).

Declension of the numerals семьдесят, двести, девятьсот

When declining composite numerals like шестьсот двадцать четыре (624), each word must change.

Declension of the numeral шестьсот двадцать четыре

The numeral тысяча (1,000) declines like nouns of the 1st declension type. The numerals миллион (1,000,000), миллиард (1,000,000,000), триллион (1,000,000,000,000) decline like nouns of the 2nd declension type.

Related Lessons

• Ordinal Numerals
• Declension of Adjectives
  
  
  
  
  
  

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