Lesson 16 · كَمْ
Counting things: how many?
To ask “how many?”, use كَمْ (kam) with a singular noun ending in -an: كَمْ كِتَابًا عِنْدَكَ؟ (How many books do you have?). To answer, put the number before a plural noun: ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ (three books).
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
كَمْ كِتَابًا عِنْدَكَ؟kam kitaaban ʿindaka?How many books do you have? (to a man)
عِنْدِي ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍʿindii thalaathatu kutubinI have three books.
كَمْ وَلَدًا عِنْدَهُ؟kam waladan ʿindahuu?How many children does he have?
عِنْدَهُ أَرْبَعَةُ أَوْلَادٍʿindahuu arbaʿatu awlaadinHe has four children.
فِي الْفَصْلِ عَشَرَةُ طُلَّابٍfil-faṣli ʿasharatu ṭullaabinThere are ten students in the class.
اشْتَرَيْتُ خَمْسَ بُرْتُقَالَاتٍishtaraytu khamsa burtuqaalaatinI bought five oranges.
الْأُسْبُوعُ سَبْعَةُ أَيَّامٍal-usbuuʿu sabʿatu ayyaaminA week is seven days.
عِنْدِي ثَلَاثُ أَخَوَاتٍʿindii thalaathu akhawaatinI have three sisters.
Key points
- Numbers 3 to 10 do something unusual: they take the opposite gender to the noun. With a masculine noun the number has ـة: ثَلَاثَةُ أَقْلَامٍ (three pens). With a feminine noun it doesn’t: ثَلَاثُ سَيَّارَاتٍ (three cars).
- One and two come after the noun: كِتَابٌ وَاحِدٌ (one book). Or simply use the dual from Lesson 15: كِتَابَانِ (two books).
- The noun after 3 to 10 is plural and ends in -in: خَمْسَةُ رِجَالٍ (five men), سَبْعُ بَنَاتٍ (seven girls).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “five pens”.
خَمْسَةُ أَقْلَامٍ khamsatu aqlaamin
قَلَمٌ is masculine, so the number takes ـة.
Say “four cars”.
أَرْبَعُ سَيَّارَاتٍ arbaʿu sayyaaraatin
سَيَّارَةٌ is feminine, so the number has no ـة.
Ask a man “How many brothers do you have?”
كَمْ أَخًا عِنْدَكَ؟ kam akhan ʿindaka?