Numbers
35
Swahili numbers are of either Bantu or Arabic origin. Numbers of Bantu origin take adjectival prefixes; those borrowed from Arabic take none. (Note that although kumi is of Bantu origin, it does not take a prefix.)

A
When counting, Class 9-10 prefixes are used with the Bantu stems, listed in the lefthand column:

Bantu stems
Class 9/10 form
English

-moja
moja
one

-wili
mbili
two

-tatu
tatu
three

-nne
nne
four

-tano
tano
five

 
sita
six

 
saba
seven

-nane
nane
eight

 
tisa
nine

***
kumi
ten

 
kumi na moja
eleven

 
kumi na mbili
twelve

 
kumi na tatu
thirteen

 
kumi na nne
fourteen

 
kumi na tano
fifteen

 
kumi na sita
sixteen

 
kumi na saba
seventeen

 
kumi na nane
eighteen

 
kumi na tisa
nineteen

 
ishirini
twenty

 
ishirini na moja
21

 
thelathini
thirty

 
thelathini na mbili
32

 
arobaini
forty

 
arobaini na tatu
43

 
hamsini
fifty

 
hamsini na nne
54

 
sitini
sixty

 
sitini na tano
65

 
sabini
seventy

 
sabini na sita
76

 
themanini
eighty

 
themanini na saba
87

 
tisini ninety tisini na nane
98

 
mia moja one hundred mia moja na tisa
109

 
mia mbili na hamsini
250

 
mia tatu thelathini na tano
335

 
elfu moja
1,000

 
elfu moja mia tatu
1,300

 
elfu moja ishirini na nane
1,028

 
elfu tatu na tisa
3,009

 
elfu tisa mia tisa tisini na tisa
9,999

 
kumi elfu
10,000

 
kumi elfu na moja
10,001

 
kumi elfu hamsini na tatu
10,053

 
kumi na moja elfu
11,000

 
ishirini elfu mia nane kumi na tano
20,815

 
laki moja
100,000

*** Note that kumi is of Bantu origin, but does not take a prefix.

B

After 10,000 it is common to let the number precede elfu: kumi elfu, ten thousand. By doing so, confusion is avoided. Note that: kumi na moja elfu is 11,000, while kumi elfu na moja is 10,001, and elfu moja kumi na moja is 1,011
There is no such number as "elfu kumi na moja"; this would not be understood.
A variation of mia tisa is sometimes heard, tisa mia: elfu moja tisa mia themanini na nane, 1988.

C
In compound numbers, only the units, or the tens when no unit follows,are preceded by NA: kumi na tano 15 thelathini na tisa 39 mia mbili sitini na nne 264 mia mbili na sitini 260 kumi elfu mia tano sabini na mbili 10,572 kumi elfu mia tano na sabini 10,570 laki moja arobaini elfu mia nne na kumi 140,410 laki tatu sitini elfu mia tano sitini na moja 360,561

D
When a number modifies a noun, the Bantu number stem takes the appropriate adjectival prefix: mtu mmoja one person mitego miwili two traps majembe matatu three hoes vitanda vinne four beds miezi mitano five months maswali manane eight questions Also: viti kumi na kimoja eleven chairs watoto kumi na watatu thirteen children magari ishirini na manne twentyfour vehicles

But Swahili speakers often neglect the prefixes on the units, particularly on number eleven.
E
"One of several" is expressed by mojawapo:

aina mojawapo one of the kinds

mnyama mmojawapo one of the animals

kiwanda kimojawapo one of the factories

Katika viwanda vilivyopo mjini, kimojawapo ni cha viatu.
Among the factories in town, one (of them) is a shoe (factory).

F
Ordinal numbers are expressed with an A phrase plus the cardinal number (see also paragraph 30.A.4). "First" and "second" take special forms: jambo la kwanza the first thing (matter) mwezi wa pili the second month siku ya tatu the third day mstari wa sita the sixth line ukurasa wa thelathini the thirtieth page i.e. page 30.