Learning Turkish numbers is essential.

Whether you are haggling at a bazaar in Istanbul, asking which bus to take in Ankara, or just trying to pay for your tea, you need to know your numbers.

The good news? Turkish numbers are incredibly logical.

Unlike a language like French (where 99 is “four-twenty-ten-nine”) or English (where “eleven” doesn’t sound like “ten-one”), Turkish follows a very strict, simple pattern.

Once you memorize the first ten numbers, you can pretty much count to a billion with very little effort.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about counting in Turkish, from the basics to huge numbers, and how to use them like a local.

The basics: numbers 0-10

Before we do anything complex, you have to memorize the single digits. These are the building blocks for every other number in the language.

Here is the list of cardinal numbers from zero to ten:

Once you have these locked in your memory, the rest is just simple addition.

Teens and tens: 11-99

In Turkish, you do not need to learn special words for “eleven” or “twelve.”

To form numbers between 11 and 19, you simply say Ten (On) followed by the Unit number.

• 11 = On bir (Ten one)
• 12 = On iki (Ten two)
• 13 = On üç (Ten three)

It is that simple. You do not use the word “and” (ve). You just say the two numbers side-by-side.

Multiples of ten

To count higher, you need to learn the multiples of ten. They are unique words, so you will need to memorize this small list:

Putting it together

Now, combine the “Tens” word with the “Unit” word.

If you want to say 25, you take Yirmi (20) and Beş (5).

25 = Yirmi beş.

If you want to say 87, you take Seksen (80) and Yedi (7).

87 = Seksen yedi.

Here is a quick dialogue example of asking for a price in a shop:

Hundreds, thousands, and millions

When we get to bigger numbers, the logic stays exactly the same.

100 is Yüz. 1000 is Bin.

To say 200, 300, or 400, you simply put the number in front of Yüz.

• 200 = İki yüz (Two hundred)
• 300 = Üç yüz (Three hundred)
• 900 = Dokuz yüz (Nine hundred)

Important Rule: For 100 and 1000, we do not say “One hundred” (Bir yüz). We just say Yüz. The same applies to Bin.

• 100 = Yüz (Correct) / Bir yüz (Incorrect)
• 1000 = Bin (Correct) / Bir bin (Incorrect)

Examples of large numbers

Let’s break down the current year, 2023:

Two thousand - twenty - three.

İki bin - yirmi - üç.

How about a bigger number, like 150,000?

One hundred fifty - thousand.

Yüz elli bin.

The word for Million is Milyon and Billion is Milyar. These are very easy for English speakers to remember!

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third)

Ordinal numbers show the position of something (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

In Turkish, you create these by adding a suffix to the number. The suffix changes based on Vowel Harmony (a core rule in Turkish).

The suffix is: -(i)nci, -(ı)ncı, -(u)ncu, or -(ü)ncü.

• 1st (Bir): Bir + inci = Birinci
• 2nd (İki): İki + nci = İkinci (Since iki already ends in a vowel, we drop the ‘i’ from the suffix)
• 3rd (Üç): Üç + üncü = Üçüncü
• 4th (Dört): Dörd + üncü = Dördüncü (Note: the ‘t’ softens to a ‘d’)
• 10th (On): On + uncu = Onuncu

When writing numerals, Turks use a period (dot) after the number to indicate it is ordinal.

• 1. = 1st
• 2. = 2nd

Grammar rule: singular nouns after numbers

This is the most common mistake beginners make, so pay close attention!

In English, if you have more than one item, you make the noun plural (One car, two cars).

In Turkish, you do NOT make the noun plural after a number.

The number already tells us there is more than one, so adding the plural suffix (-lar/-ler) is redundant.

• Correct: İki araba (Two car)

• Incorrect: İki arabalar (Two cars)

• Correct: Beş kişi (Five person)

• Incorrect: Beş kişiler (Five people)

This rule makes learning Turkish much easier - you don’t have to worry about plurals when counting!

Pronunciation and telephone numbers

To sound more natural, you should know about a few regional and colloquial habits.

Shortening “Bir”

In conversational Turkish, especially in Istanbul and western regions, the word Bir (one) is often shortened to just Bi’.

You will hear this constantly when people are using “bir” as an indefinite article (meaning “a” or “an”).

Giving telephone numbers

If you make friends in Turkey, you will need to swap numbers. Turks have a specific rhythm for saying phone numbers.

They usually group digits in a 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 pattern.

Let’s imagine a number: 0555 123 45 67.

In English, we might read each digit individually. In Turkish, they read them as blocks of hundreds and tens:

• 0555 (Sıfır beş yüz elli beş)
• 123 (Yüz yirmi üç)
• 45 (Kırk beş)
• 67 (Altmış yedi)

If you read the numbers one by one (bir, iki, üç…), people might get confused because they are waiting for the rhythm!

Summary

Counting in Turkish is straightforward.

There are no strange math equations to do in your head.

Just remember these key points:

1. Memorize 0-10 perfectly.
2. For 11-99, just say the Tens word followed by the Unit word (e.g., Yirmi bir).
3. Do not pluralize nouns after a number (e.g., Üç kedi, not kediler).
4. Use the 3-3-2-2 grouping method for phone numbers.