Turkish numbers: from zero to a million with 23 words

The Turkish number system is completely regular: 23 words and a single rule are enough to build any number. In this article I explain how numbers from 0 to 1,000,000 are formed, how they are used for age, phone numbers and dates of birth, and how ordinal numbers such as “first, second” are built.

1. Basic numbers: 0–10

Number	Turkish	Sounds like
0	sıfır	suh-fuhr
1	bir	beer
2	iki	ee-kee
3	üç	ewch
4	dört	durt
5	beş	besh
6	altı	al-tuh
7	yedi	yeh-dee
8	sekiz	seh-keez
9	dokuz	doh-kooz
10	on	on

2. Tens: 20–90 and big numbers

Number	Turkish	Sounds like
20	yirmi	yeer-mee
30	otuz	oh-tooz
40	kırk	kuhrk
50	elli	el-lee
60	altmış	alt-muhsh
70	yetmiş	yet-meesh
80	seksen	sek-sen
90	doksan	dok-sahn
100	yüz	yewz
1,000	bin	been
1,000,000	bir milyon	beer meel-yon
1,000,000,000	bir milyar	beer meel-yar

The logic: 60, 70, 80 and 90 are not new words. They come from 6, 7, 8 and 9: altı → altmış, yedi → yetmiş, sekiz → seksen, dokuz → doksan. Once you see this link, you will not mix up “altmış” and “yetmiş”. Only yirmi, otuz, kırk and elli have to be learned separately.

3. The rule: from big to small, side by side

A compound number in Turkish is said from the biggest unit to the smallest. There is no “and” between the parts, and each part is written as a separate word.

Number	How it is built	Turkish
11	on + bir	on bir
25	yirmi + beş	yirmi beş
34	otuz + dört	otuz dört
48	kırk + sekiz	kırk sekiz
76	yetmiş + altı	yetmiş altı
89	seksen + dokuz	seksen dokuz
300	üç + yüz	üç yüz
425	dört yüz + yirmi + beş	dört yüz yirmi beş
2026	iki bin + yirmi + altı	iki bin yirmi altı
15,700	on beş bin + yedi yüz	on beş bin yedi yüz

Note: 100 and 1,000 do not take “bir” (one): yüz, bin, not “bir yüz” or “bir bin”. 1,100 is “bin yüz”. Million and billion do take it: bir milyon.

4. The noun after a number stays singular

The number already tells you how many, so the noun after it does not take the plural suffix.

• iki kitap (two books; not “iki kitaplar”)
• beş öğrenci (five students)
• yüz lira (a hundred lira)

5. Asking with numbers: kaç?

The question word for numbers is kaç (how many / how much). To answer, put the number where “kaç” was; the rest of the sentence stays the same.

Question	Answer
Bu sayı kaç? (What number is this?)	Bu sayı on yedi.
Bu kaç lira? (How many lira is this?)	Yüz elli lira.
Kaç yaşındasın? (How old are you?)	Yirmi iki yaşındayım.
Kaç kilosun? (How much do you weigh?)	Yetmiş kiloyum.
Boyun kaç? (How tall are you?)	Bir yetmiş beş. (1.75 m)
Doğum tarihin ne? (What is your date of birth?)	15 Mart 1998 (on beş mart bin dokuz yüz doksan sekiz).
Telefon numaran kaç? (What is your phone number?)	0532 123 45 67

The logic: Kaç yaşındasın? → Yirmi iki yaşındayım. “Kaç” goes, the number comes in; the suffix “-sın” (you) becomes “-ım” (I).

Turkish asks for a phone number with kaç, not “what”: Telefon numaran kaç? Phone numbers are usually read in groups: 0532 123 45 67 → sıfır beş yüz otuz iki, yüz yirmi üç, kırk beş, altmış yedi.

With someone you do not know, use the polite form: Kaç yaşındasınız? Telefon numaranız kaç? Age and weight are personal questions; it is more polite not to ask them when you have just met someone.

6. Ordinal numbers: -(I)ncI

Ordinal numbers such as “first, second” are made by adding -ıncı / -inci / -uncu / -üncü to the number. The vowel of the suffix follows the last vowel of the number (vowel harmony). If the number ends in a vowel, the first vowel of the suffix drops: iki → ikinci, altı → altıncı.

Number	Ordinal	Sounds like
1	birinci	bee-reen-jee
2	ikinci	ee-keen-jee
3	üçüncü	ew-chewn-jew
4	dördüncü	dur-dewn-jew
5	beşinci	beh-sheen-jee
6	altıncı	al-tuhn-juh
10	onuncu	oh-noon-joo
20	yirminci	yeer-meen-jee
100	yüzüncü	yew-zewn-jew

Note: dört → dördüncü. The final t becomes d when a suffix starting with a vowel is added.

In compound numbers, the suffix goes only on the last word: yirmi beş → yirmi beşinci (twenty-fifth).

In writing, an ordinal is shown with a full stop after the figure: 3. kat (third floor), 21. yüzyıl (21st century).

7. Prices and “buçuk”

Prices. Turkish uses the opposite marks to English: a full stop separates thousands and a comma separates decimals. 1.250 TL = bin iki yüz elli lira (1,250 lira). 12,50 TL = on iki lira elli kuruş (12.50 lira).

Half. After a number, “half” is buçuk: iki buçuk saat (two and a half hours), saat üç buçuk (half past three). On its own, “half” is “yarım”: yarım ekmek (half a loaf).

8. Common mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
bir yüz, bir bin	yüz, bin	100 and 1,000 do not take “bir”.
iki kitaplar	iki kitap	The noun after a number is singular.
Kaç yaşın?	Kaç yaşındasın?	Age is asked with “yaşında”.
dörtüncü	dördüncü	t becomes d before a vowel.
yirmibeş	yirmi beş	Numbers are written as separate words.
altmış (for 70)	yetmiş	yedi → yetmiş, altı → altmış.
1,250 TL	1.250 TL	Turkish uses a full stop for thousands.

Check yourself

5 questions

1. 01How do you say 47?

   yetmiş dörtkırk yedidört yedi

   Answer:kırk yedi. Tens first, then units: kırk + yedi.

2. 02How do you say 1,000?

   bir binbinon yüz

   Answer:bin. 100 and 1,000 do not take "bir".

3. 03"Markete gittim, üç ___ aldım." (I went to the shop and bought three loaves.)

   ekmekekmeklerekmeği

   Answer:ekmek. The noun after a number stays singular.

4. 04Question: "___ yaşındasın?" Answer: "Yirmi yaşındayım."

   NeKaçNasıl

   Answer:Kaç. The question word for numbers is "kaç".

5. 05How do you read "4."?

   dörtüncüdörtincidördüncü

   Answer:dördüncü. The suffix is -üncü (the last vowel of dört is ö) and t becomes d.

Next step

Numbers are one of the first topics of level A1. Watch the video, then find your level and continue with the A1 lessons. If you have a question, ask me.