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Indo-Iranian · भारत

Numbers in
हिन्दी Hindi

लाख = 10⁵, करोड़ = 10⁷
12 minread
7sections
1,00,000= 1 lakh
1,00,000
एक लाख
ek lākh — one hundred thousand
00

The big picture

Hindi numbers are famously hard. Almost every number from 1 to 99 is its own unique word — you can't predict chālīs (40) from chār (4), or sattāvan (57) from sāt (7). Past 100, things compose like English. The structural twist is the Indian numbering system: numbers group by लाख (10⁵) and करोड़ (10⁷), with commas placed differently than Western format.

i
If you only remember one thing: the 1–99 range is essentially a memorization table — there are no shortcuts. The reward: once you cross 100, the system becomes additive and predictable, with sau (hundred), hazār (thousand), lākh, karod as building blocks.
01

Zero to twenty

All 21 cards below are unique words. The teens (11–19) loosely echo their unit-digit roots (tīn → terah, chār → chaudah) but with enough sound changes that they're best memorized as individual items.

0
शून्य
shūnya
1
एक
ek
2
दो
do
3
तीन
tīn
4
चार
chār
5
पाँच
pā̃ch
6
छह
chhah
7
सात
sāt
8
आठ
āṭh
9
नौ
nau
10
दस
das
11
ग्यारह
gyārah
12
बारह
bārah
13
तेरह
terah
14
चौदह
chaudah
15
पंद्रह
pandrah
16
सोलह
solah
17
सत्रह
satrah
18
अठारह
aṭhārah
19
उन्नीस
unnīs
20
बीस
bīs
i
Devanagari digits exist too. Hindi has its own numerals — ०, १, २, ३, ४, ५, ६, ७, ८, ९ — but Arabic-Indic digits (0–9) are far more common in everyday writing, including in India. You'll mostly see standard digits in newspapers, signs, and texting. Devanagari numerals appear in religious or formal contexts.
02

21 – 99: the irregular zone

Every tens word (30–90) is unique, and every compound (21–99) is its own fused form. The compounds echo their parts but with consonant changes, vowel shifts, and sound substitutions you can't predict. Most learners just memorize them in chunks of ten.

The tens (all unique)

20
बीस
bīs
30
तीस
tīs
40
चालीस
chālīs
50
पचास
pacās
60
साठ
sāṭh
70
सत्तर
sattar
80
अस्सी
assī
90
नब्बे
nabbe

A taste of the compounds (also all unique)

21
इकीस
ikīs
22
बाईस
bāīs
25
पच्चीस
pacīs
29
उनतीस
unatīs
31
इकतीस
ikatīs
47
सैंतालीस
saiñtālīs
57
सत्तावन
sattāvan
68
अड़सठ
aṛsaṭh
76
छिहत्तर
chhihattar
89
नवासी
navāsī
98
अट्ठानवे
aṭṭhānave
99
निन्यानवे
ninyānave
9 + 90, but you'd never guess this from nau + nabbe
!
No shortcuts. Unlike Mandarin's sì-shí-qī (4-10-7 = 47) or Italian's quarantasette (40+7), Hindi's 47 is सैंतालीस (saiñtālīs) — recognizably related to sāt (7) and chālīs (40), but with so much sound change it has to be memorized as a unit. Multiply by 80 numbers. This is the price of admission.
03

100+: composition returns

Past 100, Hindi becomes additive again. सौ (sau) = 100. हज़ार (hazār) = 1,000. Just stack them with the 1–99 vocab you already memorized.

100
एक सौ
ek sau
200
दो सौ
do sau
500
पाँच सौ
pā̃ch sau
900
नौ सौ
nau sau
1,000
एक हज़ार
ek hazār
3,000
तीन हज़ार
tīn hazār
10,000
दस हज़ार
das hazār
99,000
निन्यानवे हज़ार
ninyānave hazār
122
एक सौ बाईस
ek sau bāīs
100 + 22 (still need to know 22 = bāīs)
4,120
चार हज़ार एक सौ बीस
chār hazār ek sau bīs
4,000 + 100 + 20
i
Standard commas hold up to 999. For numbers below 100,000, Hindi uses the same comma convention as English: 4,120. Past that point — once you cross लाख — the comma placement switches to the Indian system. We'll cover that next.
04

लाख & करोड़

The structural pivot. Indian-style numbers group not by 10³ (Western: thousand → million → billion) but by adding new unit-words at 10⁵ (लाख) and 10⁷ (करोड़). Comma placement matches the grouping: 1,00,000, not 100,000.

Western · groups of 3
100,000
one hundred thousand
10³thousand
10⁶million
10⁹billion

Each new "-illion" word multiplies the previous by 1,000. Commas every three digits.

Indian · groups of 2 after the thousand
1,00,000
एक लाख
10³हज़ार hazār
10⁵लाख lākh
10⁷करोड़ karod

Comma after the thousand, then every two digits after that. 1,00,000 is one lakh; 10,00,000 is ten lakh.

1,00,000
एक लाख
ek lākh — 10⁵
2,00,000
दो लाख
do lākh
"million"
10,00,000
दस लाख
das lākh — 10 lakhs
1,00,00,000
एक करोड़
ek karod — 10⁷
10,00,00,000
दस करोड़
das karod — 100 million
"billion"
1,00,00,00,000
सौ करोड़
sau karod — 100 crore = 1 billion
!
Mental comma drill. If an English speaker says "one million," that's 1,000,000 (six zeros). The Indian re-comma: 10,00,000 — read as दस लाख ("ten lakh"). Same number, different chunking. The skill is recognizing the chunks.
i
Lakh / crore are widely used. Indian English speakers will say "twenty lakh rupees" or "two crore people" in casual conversation. These are not formal-only terms — they're the everyday way of expressing 10⁵ and 10⁷ across most of South Asia.
05

Ordinals

First three are irregular: पहला (pehlā), दूसरा (dūsrā), तीसरा (tīsrā). From 4th onward, add a -वाँ suffix to the cardinal. And like adjectives, they agree in gender with the noun — masculine takes -ā, feminine takes -ī.

irreg
1st
पहला
pehlā / pehlī (fem.)
irreg
2nd
दूसरा
dūsrā / dūsrī
irreg
3rd
तीसरा
tīsrā / tīsrī
4th
चौथा
chauthā
5th
पाँचवाँ
pā̃chvā̃
irreg
6th
छठा
chaṭhā
7th
सातवाँ
sātvā̃
8th
आठवाँ
āṭhvā̃
9th
नौवाँ
nauvā̃
10th
दसवाँ
dasvā̃
!
Gender agreement is mandatory. "Second turn" with masculine मोड़ (turn): दूसरा मोड़ (dūsrā moṛ). "Third floor" with feminine मंज़िल: तीसरी मंज़िल (tīsrī manzil). The -ā/-ī ending shifts to match.
06

Things to remember

Five rules that frame the challenge.

1.
1-99 is a memorization table. No compositional shortcuts. Every tens word and every compound is unique. The good news: there are only ~99 of them, and they're frequency-weighted to be common.
2.
100+ is additive. सौ (sau) = 100, हज़ार (hazār) = 1,000. Just stack: chār hazār ek sau bīs = 4,120.
3.
लाख = 10⁵, करोड़ = 10⁷. Western "million" = दस लाख (ten lakh). Western "billion" = 100 crore. No 1-to-1 word match.
4.
Commas shift past 1 lakh. 4,120 looks the same in both systems. But 100,000 (Western) is 1,00,000 in Indian — comma after the thousand, then every two digits.
5.
Ordinals add -वाँ with gender agreement. Except पहला, दूसरा, तीसरा, छठा (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th), which are irregular. Match the noun's gender: -ā masc, -ī fem.
Drill it

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