Russian Cardinal Numbers

Russian cardinal numbers are the numbers used for counting and expressing quantity.

Table of Contents

They answer the question:

“How many?”

Examples include:

Cardinal numbers are used in many everyday situations such as:

Learning cardinal numbers is the foundation for understanding Russian numbers.

Russian Cardinal Numbers 1–20

The first twenty numbers should be memorized because they are used to form larger numbers.

You can also view the full number chart here:

Russian numbers follow a clear pattern.

Examples:

21 = двадцать один
24 = двадцать четыре
37 = тридцать семь
48 = сорок восемь
59 = пятьдесят девять

The structure is generally:

ten + unit

Examples:

42 = сорок два
67 = шестьдесят семь

These combine with the numbers 1–9 to create larger numbers.

Example:

45 = сорок пять

Russian hundreds follow a consistent pattern.

Examples:

100 = сто
200 = двести
300 = триста

These numbers combine with other numbers to form larger values.

Example:

245 = двести сорок пять

Examples:

1,000 = тысяча
2,000 = две тысячи
10,000 = десять тысяч

Russian numbers continue to follow predictable patterns as they increase.

Example sentences:

У меня три книги.
(I have three books.)

Цена пятьдесят рублей.
(The price is fifty rubles.)

В классе двадцать студентов.
(There are twenty students in the class.)

You can practice Russian numbers using the interactive tools below.

Example: 1234

Further reference: Gramota.ru on numerals.