Numbers in Hindi and Marathi for kids: 1–20, the tens, and how to teach them
Hindi and Marathi numbers 1 to 20 and the tens up to 100, with Devanagari digits and pronunciation — plus why these numbers are harder than English ones and a way of teaching them that actually sticks.
The TinyLearn Team5 min read
Many families who speak Hindi or Marathi at home find that their children count confidently in English and hardly at all in the home language. It is rarely a lack of interest. It is that the numbers themselves are harder — and nobody tells parents that.
Here are the numbers, and a way of teaching them that works with their difficulty instead of against it.
The short answer
Hindi and Marathi numbers have their own Devanagari digits (१, २, ३…) and their own words. From 1 to 10 they are as easy as English. From 11 upwards almost every number has its own irregular name, so they have to be learned in small groups rather than worked out from a rule — which is why children need more time with them.
Why they are harder than English
In English, once a child knows twenty, they can build twenty-one to twenty-nine for free: "twenty" plus a number they already know.
Hindi and Marathi mostly do not work that way. The words for 21, 22 and 23 are each shaped differently, and the pattern shifts across decades. A child cannot reliably derive them — they have to know them.
That is not a flaw in the child, or in the language. It just means the teaching has to be different: smaller chunks, more repetition, and no expectation that they will "get the pattern" the way they do in English.
1 to 20
| Digit | Hindi | Marathi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | १ | एक (ek) | एक (ek) |
| 2 | २ | दो (do) | दोन (don) |
| 3 | ३ | तीन (teen) | तीन (teen) |
| 4 | ४ | चार (chaar) | चार (chaar) |
| 5 | ५ | पाँच (paanch) | पाच (paach) |
| 6 | ६ | छह (chhah) | सहा (saha) |
| 7 | ७ | सात (saat) | सात (saat) |
| 8 | ८ | आठ (aath) | आठ (aath) |
| 9 | ९ | नौ (nau) | नऊ (nau) |
| 10 | १० | दस (das) | दहा (daha) |
| 11 | ११ | ग्यारह (gyaarah) | अकरा (akra) |
| 12 | १२ | बारह (baarah) | बारा (baara) |
| 13 | १३ | तेरह (terah) | तेरा (tera) |
| 14 | १४ | चौदह (chaudah) | चौदा (chauda) |
| 15 | १५ | पंद्रह (pandrah) | पंधरा (pandhra) |
| 16 | १६ | सोलह (solah) | सोळा (soḷa) |
| 17 | १७ | सत्रह (satrah) | सतरा (satra) |
| 18 | १८ | अठारह (athaarah) | अठरा (athra) |
| 19 | १९ | उन्नीस (unnees) | एकोणीस (ekoṇees) |
| 20 | २० | बीस (bees) | वीस (vees) |
Notice how close Hindi and Marathi are for most of these. A child learning both is not learning two separate lists — many words differ only by an ending.
The tens
| Digit | Hindi | Marathi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | १० | दस (das) | दहा (daha) |
| 20 | २० | बीस (bees) | वीस (vees) |
| 30 | ३० | तीस (tees) | तीस (tees) |
| 40 | ४० | चालीस (chaalees) | चाळीस (chaaḷees) |
| 50 | ५० | पचास (pachaas) | पन्नास (pannaas) |
| 60 | ६० | साठ (saath) | साठ (saath) |
| 70 | ७० | सत्तर (sattar) | सत्तर (sattar) |
| 80 | ८० | अस्सी (assi) | ऐंशी (ainshi) |
| 90 | ९० | नब्बे (nabbe) | नव्वद (navvad) |
| 100 | १०० | सौ (sau) | शंभर (shambhar) |
The tens are worth learning early, even before every number in between. They give a child landmarks to count towards.
One pattern worth pointing out
There is one helpful regularity. The number just before each ten is built as "one less than" that ten:
- Hindi: उन्नीस (19) sits just before बीस (20); उनतीस (29) sits just before तीस (30). The un- start signals "one short".
- Marathi: एकोणीस (19) and एकोणतीस (29) do the same job with ekoṇ-.
It holds for most of the nines up to the top, with a couple of exceptions. Point it out to children from about five: it turns a set of odd-looking words into something they can partly predict.
How to teach them
1. Get 1–10 solid first. Count real things — rotis, steps, spoons — in the home language, touching each one. The same one-to-one matching that matters in English counting matters here.
2. Teach 11–20 as a block of its own. Spend a week or two on it. Do not rush to 21.
3. Learn the tens as landmarks. Count by tens together: दस, बीस, तीस… It is short, rhythmic and gives structure to everything else.
4. Fill each decade one at a time. 21–29 this week, 31–39 next. Expect it to take months to reach 100, and that is fine.
5. Show the digits alongside. Put ४ next to 4 on a card. Children who see both forms learn early that the same number can be written two ways.
6. Use it in daily life. Floors in a lift, steps on the stairs, rotis on the plate, days until a visit to Nani. A number used for something real is remembered.
Teaching both, or English too
Children can learn to count in two or three languages at once without confusion — that worry is a myth. A sensible split is to keep one language for each routine: counting stairs in Marathi, counting toys in English. Consistency does more than drilling.
If your child is fluent in English numbers and shaky in Hindi or Marathi, that is simply a sign of which language they hear more numbers in. More everyday counting at home fixes it.
Numbers are one of three topics taught in all three languages — the languages page covers the Varnamala and Barakhadi too.
