أَحَد عَشَر
ʔaḥad ʕašar
Eleven in Arabic is أَحَد عَشَر (ʔaḥad ʕašar). Wiktionary also lists إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ (ʔiḥdā ʕašrata) and ١١.
Meaning: the cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve (num)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| أَحَد عَشَر | ʔaḥad ʕašar | |
| إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ | ʔiḥdā ʕašrata | |
| ١١ | numeral |
The phrase represents the cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve.
Which one should you use?
The masculine form أَحَد عَشَر is used when counting masculine nouns, whereas the feminine form إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ is used when counting feminine nouns. The numeral ١١ is also used to represent the number.
How do you pronounce it?
ʔaḥad ʕašar
Did you know?
- Arabic has a concept called 'gender polarity' for numbers eleven through nineteen, where the two parts of the number often disagree in gender.
- The word أَحَد is used in the 'Shahada', the Islamic declaration of faith, to emphasize that there is 'none' other than God.
- The word أَحَد in أَحَد عَشَر is the same word used for 'one' when counting, but it also means 'someone' or 'anyone' in a general sentence.
Examples in context
- لَدَيَّ أَحَد عَشَر قَلَمًا.ladayya aḥada 'ashara qalaman.I have eleven pens.
- اشْتَرَيْتُ أَحَد عَشَر كِتَابًا.ishtaraytu aḥada 'ashara kitāban.I bought eleven books.
Example conversation
Sara and Yusuf are counting items in a box.
- سارة Saraكم قلماً في الصندوق يا يوسف؟kam qalaman fi as-sanduq ya Yusuf?How many pens are in the box, Yusuf?
- يوسف Youssefهناك أَحَد عَشَر قلماً هنا.hunaka ahad ashara qalaman huna.There are eleven pens here.
- سارة Saraهل هذا العدد كافٍ؟hal hadha al-adad kafin?Is this number enough?
- يوسف Youssefنعم، هذا يكفي.na'am, hadha yakfi.Yes, this is enough.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “eleven” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
