Kyrgyz numbers: count from 0 to 1000

Numbers 0 to 10

Start here. These ten words appear inside almost every larger number, so learning them well pays off quickly.

нөл

nöl0 — zero

бир

bir1 — one

эки

eki2 — two

үч

üch3 — three

төрт

tört4 — four

беш

besh5 — five

алты

alty6 — six

жети

jeti7 — seven

сегиз

segiz8 — eight

тогуз

toguz9 — nine

он

on10 — ten

The tens, hundred and thousand

Each ten has its own word rather than a regular ending, so it helps to learn them as a set. Once you know these, most numbers up to a thousand fall into place.

жыйырма

jyiyrma20 — twenty

отуз

otuz30 — thirty

кырк

kyrk40 — forty

элүү

elüü50 — fifty

алтымыш

altymysh60 — sixty

жетимиш

jetimish70 — seventy

сексен

seksen80 — eighty

токсон

tokson90 — ninety

жүз

jüz100 — hundred

миң

miñ1000 — thousand

Building bigger numbers

Kyrgyz numbers are built by simply saying the parts in order, from largest to smallest, with no extra words in between. Say the tens, then the ones; say the hundreds, then the rest.

он бир

on bir11 — literally “ten one”

жыйырма беш

jyiyrma besh25 — twenty five

кырк тогуз

kyrk toguz49 — forty nine

жүз он

jüz on110 — hundred ten

эки жүз элүү алты

eki jüz elüü alty256 — two hundred fifty six

миң тогуз жүз токсон

miñ toguz jüz tokson1990 — one thousand nine hundred ninety

Ordinal numbers: first, second, third

To say first, second, third and so on, add an ending in the -нчы / -нчи / -нчу / -нчү family. Which vowel appears follows Kyrgyz vowel harmony, so listen for the pattern rather than memorising each form alone.

биринчи

birinchifirst

экинчи

ekinchisecond

үчүнчү

üchünchüthird

төртүнчү

törtünchüfourth

бешинчи

beshinchififth

онунчу

onunchutenth

Practise with real quantities

• Count objects around you out loud, from бир to он.
• Say your age, phone digits and today’s date in Kyrgyz.
• Read prices aloud when you shop: bigger number first, then the rest.
• Pair each number with a noun, for example “эки китеп” (two books), so it sticks in context.