NUMERALS

Numbers can be used as numerical adjectives and nouns. Numerals may be classified into cardinal numerals, ordinal numerals, multiplicative numerals, relative numerals and collective numerals.

CARDINAL NUMERALS

Cardinal numerals are the numbers, which state quantity. All cardinal numbers are indeclinable except for all numbers ending in ένα (one), τρία (three), τέσσερα (four), which decline for gender and case.  The declensions are below.

• The cardinal ένας, μία, ένα (one) occurs only in the singular.
• The feminine genitive form, μεανής, may sometimes occur instead of μιας, when it is nominalised.
• The numeral ένας is an adjective and agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and case.
• The cardinal ένας, μία, ένα is also used as the indefinite article.
• ¹Here you can find when to use this "ν."
• ²The feminine indefinite articles can be accent in two places. In this case you choose which one to use, but the one in the brackets are less common but very much in use.

 

• Declension of the numeral three
• This numeral is an adjective and agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and case
• The masculine and feminine genders are not distinguished

 

• Declension of the numeral four
• This numeral is an adjective and agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and case
• The masculine and feminine genders are not distinguished

 

Numerals from 13 to 19 are written as one word, while numbers 21 and above are written with two or more words.

The cardinal hundreds 200 to 1000 follow the pattern of the numeral διακόσιοι (200).

·         The genitive case may show the stress on the third to last syllable, i.e., διακόσιων.

·         The accusative masculine may show the stress on the third to last syllable, i.e., διακόσιους.

·         The cardinal hundreds, 200 to 1000, are adjectives and agree with modified nouns in gender and case.

 

Cardinal numerals 2000 to 999,000 are formed with the plural of the feminine numeral noun (η) χιλιάδα ‘unit or group of 1000’ preceded by the cardinal numerals 2 to 999 inclusive, for example, δύο χιλιάδες (2000), είκοσι χιλιάδες (20,000).  The numeral χιλιάδα is declined as a feminine noun in -α.

 

Thousands from 2000 and up are always cited in the feminine gender. Thus, inflected cardinal numerals modifying the noun (η) χιλιάδα are always in the feminine gender regardless of the modified noun:

                        δύο χιλιάδες άντρες-2000 men
                        δύο χιλιάδες γυναίκες-2000 women
                        δύο χιλιάδες παιδιά-2000 children

Cardinal numerals from 1000 to 1999 use the cardinal adjective χίλιοι, χίλιες, and χίλια (1000) declined below.

 

The cardinal numeral (το) εκατομμύριο (million) and its compounds, (το) δισεκατομμυριο (billion), (το) τρισεκατομμυριο (trillion) etc are neuter nouns.  They are inflected for case and number and agree with the modified nouns only in case.

                        ένα εκατομμύριο άντρες-1,000,000 men
                        δύο εκατομμύρια γυναίκες-2,000,000 women
                        τριών εκατομμυρίων παιδιών-3,000,000 children’s

Τhe declension of εκατομμύριο follows:

 

The cardinal numeral for zero is a neuter noun, which are inflected for case. It only occurs in the singular number.  When it is necessary to pluralise the numeral, the nominalised adjective μοναδικό may be used.  It is decline below.

 

The cardinal numeral 2 and those from 5 to 1999 are not inflected.  The numeral δύο may occasionally show a genitive plural form δυονών.

                        πενήντα πέντε άντρες-55 men
                        πενήντα πέντε γυναίκες-55 women
                        πενήντα πέντε παιδιά-55 children

The uninflected numerals may occur as adjective or be nominalised.

                        Ο γιατρός έχει δύο παιδιά.-The doctor has two children.
                        Ο τυχερός του αριθμός είναι δεκατέσσερις.-His lucky number is 14.

The numeral two preceded by και (and) and the definite article means “both.”

                        Να τα πάρουμε και τα δύο αυτοκίντα.-We shall take both cars.

Phrases with numeral 2 preceded by χίλια pr by certain other cardinals express a large indefinite number.

                        Χίλια δύο δικαιολογίες.-So many excuses.

GENERAL NOTES ON CARDINAL NUMERALS

The cardinal numerals 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 have alternate forms: μία/μια, δύο, δυο, επτά/εφτά, οκτώ/οχτώ and εννέα/εννιά.

In rote counting or in quoting a numeral, inflected numerals are always cited in the neuter gender and treated as an uninflected form, except the thousands which are always cited in the feminine gender.

When an inflected cardinal modifies a noun, the millions occur in the neuter, thousands occur in the feminine, but the hundreds agree with noun in gender.

Cardinal numbers repeated twice or preceded by the preposition από indicate distribution.

                        Φεύγουμε τέσσερις τέσσερις.-We left in fours.
                        Φάγαμε από τρεις κεφτέδες.-We ate three meatballs each.

The cardinal numerals from 11 to 19 are spelt as one word.

ORDINAL NUMERALS

Ordinal numerals are adjectives derived from cardinal numerals, which indicate order.  The ordinal numerals indicate number serially or relatively. All ordinal numbers end in -τος or -στος except for δεύτερος (second), έβδομος (seventh) and όγδοος (eighth).

The feminine form of ordinal numerals, which are stressed on the third to last syllable, may occasionally show the stress on the second last syllable, mostly when they are nominalised, for example, τέταρτη and τετάρτη, έβδομη and εβδόμη, and όγδοη and ογδόη.

Ordinal numerals show the declension patterns adjectives in -ος, -η, -ο and agree with the modified noun in gender, number and case. The declension is show with example of καλός.

Ordinal numerals, primarily those indicating large numbers, are frequently substituted by cardinal numerals preceded by the definite article, for example, Ο δεκαέξι instead of ο δέκατος έκτος.

In writing, the ordinal numerals may be abbreviated by suffixing the cardinal numerals with the appropriate endings of the ordinal, for example, η 2^η εβδομάδα.

In a unit of two ordinals, both are inflected, for example, εικοστή πέμπτη Μαρτίου.

In Greek, the functions of the comma and the period are reversed with respect to English.  That is, the period is used to mark the 1000’s while the comma is used to mark the integral from decimals.

A table of the cardinal and ordinal numerals can be found here.

THE ADJECTIVE ΜΙΣΟΣ

The adjective μισός follows the declension pattern of καλός and agrees with modified noun in gender, number and case.

                        Ο μισός αιώνας-half a century
                        Η μισή δουλειά-half a job

With other numerals, mainly 1 to 19, the adjective shows an uninflected form -μισι (after a vowel) or -ήμισι (after a consonant).  The suffixed form remains uninflected, except for the compounds of 3 and 4 which inflect only for gender.

                        πεντέμισι αγώνες/καρέκλες/τόπια-five and a half games/chairs/balls
                        τριάμισι τόπια-three and a half balls
                        τρεισήμισι καρέκλες-three and a half chairs

The adjective μισός suffixed to the numerals ένας or μία show the inflected forms –μισης or μιση.

                        ενάμισης χρόνος
                        ενάμιση χρόνου
                        μιάμιση μέρα
                        μιάμισης μέρα

Numerals combined with the adjectives μισός do not always occur in compound form.  Such combinations may also be expressed analytically, i.e. ενάμισης or ένα και μισός.

SPECIAL USES OF CARDINAL AND ORDINAL NMERALS

A) Telling Time

The cardinal numerals are for telling time.  Numerals telling the hour are in the feminine gender and those telling minutes are seconds are in the neuter gender.  This is because ώρα (hour) is in the feminine gender and λεπτό (minute) and δευτερόλεπτο (second) are in the neuter gender.

Time after the hour (big hand being between 12 and 6) is expressed by και (and) and time before the hour (big hand being between 6 and 12) is expressed by παρά (to, of).  The quarter hour is expressed by τέταρτο, the neuter form of τέταρτος (quarter). The half hour is expressed by the adjective μισός (half) in the feminine or by a compound form of μισός with the cardinal numeral.  Examples are below with literal translation.  Notice that the hour is expressed first and then the minutes.

                        5:55-έξι παρά πέντε-six (hr) to five (min)
                        6:00-έξι (η ώρα)-six (the hour)
                        6:05-έξι και πέντε- six (hr) and five (min)
                        6:30-έξίμισι or έξι και μισό- six (hr) and thirty (min)

Adverbial expression of time are expressed with στις (σε + τις, the accusative plural form of the feminine article) followed by the numeral, except for one o’clock in which case the numeral is preceded by στη (σε + τη, the accusative singular form of the feminine article).

                        στις δύο και τέταρτο-at 2:14
                        στη μια και πέντε-at 1:05

The day is divided into two: before and after noon.  In English, am (ante meridian) and pm (post meridian) are used respectively.  The Greek equivalent are πμ (πριν το μεσημέρι) for am and μμ (μετά το μεσημέρι) for pm.

B) Giving Time

Cardinal numerals followed by the genitive case of the month are generally used to indicate the days of the month.  Inflected numerals show the feminine gender since η (η)μέρα (day) is a feminine noun.  The ordinal numeral is always used the first of the month.

                        Η πρώτη Σεμπτεβρίου-First of September
                        Η τριάντα μια του Αυγούστου-31^st of August

The genitive case of the masculine definite article, του, may precede the name of the month.  The definite article is not omitted when the name of the month occurs in the modern form, in -ης.

                        Έξη Απριλίου or έξη του Απριλίου-6^th of April
                        Τρεις του Απρίλη-3^rd of April

Adverbial expressions of dates are indicated by στις plus the numeral in the feminine gender, if inflected, and the genitive case of the name of the month.

For the first day of the month, the accusative feminine form of the ordinal (πρώτη) preceded by the definite article την or sometimes στην are used.

                        Την πρώτη Απριλίου-on the 1^st of April
                        Στις έντεκα Αυγούστου-on the 11^th of August
But                   Από τις 15 Μαΐου ώς τις 16 Μαΐου-From the 15^th of May to the 16^th of May

Years are generally indicated by the cardinal numerals. Since the modified word, το έτος (year), is a neuter noun, the inflected numerals are cited in the neuter gender and treated as uninflected.  The neuter singular article or στα (σε + τα) preceding the numeral indicates the time relation.

                        Το χίλια εφτακόσια ογδόντα ένα-1781
                        Το δύο χιλιάδες τέσσερα-2004
                        Στα χίλια εφτακόσια ογδόντα ένα-in (the year) 1781
                        Του χίλια εφτακόσια ογδόντα ένα-of (the year) 1781

C) Stating the Age

Cardinal numerals in the genitive case, if inflected, plus the genitive case of nouns, such as ο χρόνος (the year), το έτος (the year), ο μήνας (the month) etc are used to indicate one’s age or the age of an object.

                        Ενός χρονού or ενός έτους-one years old
                        Δύο χρονών or δύο ετών-two years old
                        Τριών μηνών-three months old
                        Πέντε η μερών-five days old

In this usage, χρώνων can drop its final ν, while ετών retains the final ν.

D) Fraction and Decimals

In fractions, the cardinal numerals are used for the numerator and the ordinal numerals are used for the denominator.  The inflected cardinal numerals and all ordinal numerals are cited in the neuter gender.

                        ¾-Ένα τέταρτο-one quarter
                        2/4-Δύο τέταρτα-two quarters

Decimals follow the same pattern.  The comma is used to indicate the decimal point.

                        0,1-ένα δέκατο-one tenth
                        0,001-ένα χιλιοστό-one thousandth

                        3 4/5-τρία και τέσσερα πέμπτα-three and four fifths
                        3,25-τρία και είκοσι πέντε εκατοστά-three and twenty five hundredths

MULTIPLICATIVE NUMERALS

Multiplicative number show how many times something is. All multiplicative numerals end in "-πλός," are derived from the cardinal numerals.  They correspond to the English multiplicative adjectives such as double, triple etc.  They decline like the adjective καλός.

RELATIVE NUMERALS

Relative numerals are adjective ending in “πλάσιος” and are derived from the cardinal numerals.  They correspond to the English relative numerals such as twofold or twice as many etc.  The relative numerals decline like ωραίος and agree with the modified noun in gender, number and case.

Relative numerals may be substituted by phrases such as δυο φορές μεγαλύτερος, twice as big, etc.  For example, διπλάσια πισίνα versus πισίνα δυο φορές μεγαλύτερη.

COLLECTIVE NUMERALS

Collective numerals are abstract nouns derived from the corresponding cardinals by means of special suffixes to express groips of units, such as δωδεκάδα ‘dozen’, το εκατοστάρικο ‘100 drachma note.’

COLLECTIVE NUMERALS IN -άδα AND IN -άρα

Collective numerals in -άδα indicate a definite number of people or things, while those in -αριά indicate an approximate number.  Collective numerals in -άδα and in -αριά are abstract feminine nouns.  They follow the declension patterns of isosyllabic feminine noun in -α.

A) Collective Numerals In -άδα

Δυάδα, τριάδα, τετράδα, πεμτάδα, εκατοντάδα, χιλιάδα

The numerals εκατοντάδα, χιλιάδα, μυριάδα (10 000) usually occur in the plural.  The plural form of the numeral noun χιλιάδα preceded by a cardinal numeral, for example, δυο χιλιάδες servers as a cardinal numeral.

A) Collective Numerals In -αριά

Collective numerals in -αρία are multiples of five, ten and hundred.  They occur in the singular and are almost always preceded by the indefinite pronoun καμιά (some, about).

Δεκαριά (~10), δωδεκαριά (~12), διακοσιαριά (~200)

The form εκατοστή (~100) may occur as an alternative form instead of εκατοσταριά.

When a collective numeral is in construction with a noun, the noun only agrees wit h the numeral only in case, for example,

                        Αγώρασα μια δωδεκάδα αυγά-I bought a dozen eggs
                        Είχαμε καμιά τριανταριά πελάτες-We had approximately thirty customers

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