Dictionary of Spoken Russian/Russian-English/Section 22

§22. NUMERALS

The number один "one" has pronominal adjective inflection, §16. After it, nouns and adjectives are inflected in the usual way: один большой стол "one big table." When один is the last part of a longer number, the nouns and adjectives are still singular: двадцать один рубль "21 rubles"; я видел сорок одного мальчика "I saw 41 boys." The P forms are used with things that go in pairs, meaning "one pair": у человека одни рукм "a human being has one pair of hands"; also with nouns that occur in P form only: одни часы "one watch or clock."

The numbers два "two," три "three," четыре "four" are inflected as follows:

n	два, две	три	четыре
g, l	двух	трёх	четырёх
d	двум	трём	четырём
i	двумя	тремя	четырмя

The n две is used with F nouns.

The number оба "both" has one set of forms for M and N nouns and one for F:

n	оба	обе
g, l	обоих	обеих
d	обоим	обеим
d	обоими	обеими

When an expression with these numbers is in the n case (including the a of inanimates; see below), the noun is in genitive singular form, a pronominal adjective (§§14-17) before the number is in nominative plural form, and an ordinary adjective before or after the number is in genitive plural or nominative plural form: эти два больших (or большие) стола "these two big tables." When the expression is in some other case, the numeral and the other words agree, the latter in plural form: на этих двух больших столах "on these two big tables." The a of these expressions is like the n when the noun is inanimate: дайте мне ваши три рубля "give me your three rubles"; it is like the g when the noun is animate: вы встретили этих четырёх красивых дёвушек? "did you meet those four pretty young ladies?" However, when the numbers 2, 3, 4 are at the end of a longer number, the a is even with animates like the n: мы видели двадцать два мальчика "we saw 22 boys"; only a pronominal adjective before the number has the a like the g: мы видели ваших двадцать два ученика "we saw your 22 pupils."

The numbers пять "5," шесть "6," семь, "7," восемь "8," девять "9," десять "10," двадцать "20," тридцать "30" inflect like S nouns of the fourth declension, with stress on the endings; the е in восемь is an inserted vowel: g, d, l пяти, восьми, двадцати; i пятью, восьмью, двадцатью. In multiplication there are also i forms stressed on the stem: пятью "5 times," восемью (with inserted vowel) "8 times."

The numbers одиннадцать "11," двенадцать "12," тринадцать "13," четырнадцать "14," пятнадцать "15," шестнадцать [šisnatc'tj] "16," семнадцать "17," восемнадцать "18," девятнадцать "19" have the same inflection, but stress the stem: g, d, l двенадцати, i двенадцатью.

The numbers пятьдесят "50," шестьдесйт [š'zdjisjat] "60," семьдесят "70," восемьдесят "80" inflect both parts, with stress on the ending of the first part, but with hard final [t] in the n forms: g, d, l пятидесяти, i пятьюдесятью.

The numbers сорок "40," девяносто "90," сто "100" have the ending [-a] in all forms except the n, stressed in сорок and сто: сорока, девяноста, ста. In noun-like use сто has also P forms of the third declension: n ста, g сот, d стам, i стами, l стах.

The numbers from 200 to 900 contain сто, inflected as a third declension noun; the stress is on the preceding number only when сто is in S form. In writing, the two words are usually run together. In the n двести "200" both parts are irregular in shape. Thus we have n триста, четыреста, пятьсот, шестьсот, семьсот, восемьсот, девятьсот; g двухсот, восьмисот; d двумстам, восьмистам; i двумястами, восьмьюстами; l двухстах, восьмистах.

In n expressions with the numbers from 5 to 900, nouns and adjectives are in gp form; only a pronominal adjective before the number is np: эти пять больших столов "these five big tables." In the other case forms all the words are in the same case: g от этих пяти больших столов "from these five big tables"; l на этих пяти больших столах "on these five big tables." The a of these expressions is like the n even with animates: я видел пять девушек "I saw five young women"; only a pronominal adjective before the number has a like g with animates: мы встретили этих пять девушек "we met those five young women."

Compound numbers inflect each part: n четыреста шестьдесят восемь рублей "468 rubles," i с четырьмястами шестьюдесятью восьмью рублями "with 468 rubles."

The number тысяча "1,000" is inflected like a F noun of declension one, except that the is is optionally тысячью. Nouns and adjectives that go with it are gp; less commonly, when тысяча is d, i, or l, they are in the same case: тысяча рублей "1,000 rubles"; i с тысячей (тысячью) рублей (less often рублями) "with 1,000 rubles"; две тысячи рублей "2,000 rubles"; пять тысяч рублей "5,000 rubles."

Higher units, like миллион "million," миллиард "thousand millions" (American "billion"), биллион "million millions" (British "billion") are treated as M nouns: миллион рублей "a million rubles," с пяью миллионами рублей "with 5 million rubles."

A number after its noun is approximate: года два "about two years."

Ordinal numbers, such as первый "first," втарой "second," четвёртый "fourth," пятый "fifth," шестой "sixth," сороковой "fortieth," пятидесятый "fiftieth," are regular adjectives; only третий "third" goes by §13. In compound numbers only the last part is ordinal: в тысяча девятсот сорок пятом году "in the year 1945."

There are collective numbers from 2 to 10: двое, трое, четверо, пятего, шестего, семеро, восьмеро, девятего, десятего. The n form are like N nouns; the other cases have P adjective endings, stressed. In n and a expressions accompanying words are in gp form; in the other cases they concord: двое братьев "two brothers," g двоих братьев, d двоим братьям. The a of animates is like the g: он встретил двоих товарищей "he met two comrades." There are a few special expressions such as втроём "three of them together." The collective numbers are used very largely with animate masculines: четверо сыновей "four sons," beside четыре сына. They are used with names of things that occur in pairs, meaning "so many pairs": у обезьян двое рук "monkeys have two pairs of hands." They are used with nouns that are P only: трое часов "three watches or clocks"; from 5 on, however, the ordinary numbers are here also used: пятеро ножниц "5 pairs of scissors" beside пять ножниц; in forms other than n (and a) the ordinary numbers are here more usual: с тремя часами "with three watches."

Fractions are половина "half," треть "third," четверть "quarter," F nouns: три четверти этих людей "three fourths of these people." The other fractions are the F forms of the ordinals (sometimes with част F part added): одна пятая километра "one fifth of a kilometer"; after 2 and higher numbers there are in gp form три пятых километра "three fifths of a kilometer." One often hears such expressions as два с половиной километра "two with a half (that is, two and one half) kilometers."

The number полтора "one and a half," F полторы, in the n (and a) form combines with a noun in gs form: полтора рубля "one and a half rubles," полторы недели "one and one half weeks." In the other cases it is полутора: с полутора рублями "with one and a half rubles"; около полтура тысяч "about one and a half thousand, about 1,500."

The number полтораста "150" has in the cases other than n (and a) optionally the form полутораста; nouns are in the gp form: полтораста рублей "150 rubles," с полутораста (or с полтораста) рублями "with 150 rubles."

For numbers after по, see §3l.