This is the smartphone version. The earlier and fuller version, which discusses the Indonesian language as well, can be found here.
Lesson 8 Numbers (10-99)
Click to listen to the Malay sentences.
A second reading (by Michelle Nor Ismat, a native speaker)
Try to say out the numbers below in Malay (put your mouse over the number to see if you got it right). If you are using a tactile screen just touch the number. When you are able to do so without looking at the table above you would have mastered this lesson. In which case give yourself a pat on the back on my behalf!
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
If you have mastered counting from one to nine in Lesson 5 you now need to know only two more words (belas and puluh) to be able to count from 10 to 99.
Counting from 11 to 19 in Malay is simple when you remember how 14 to 19 are counted in English (as in four-teen, six-teen, seven-teen, eight-teen, nine-teen). The "teen" in the second syllable is replaced by belas, that's all. But in Malay you also say one-teen (for 11), two-teen (for twelve), three-teen (for 13) and five-teen (for 15). Much more standardized (and therefore easier for the student) than the English version, if you ask me! See the examples in the first column below.
Counting the tens (10, 20, 30, 40, etc.) in Malay is like counting the tens in English (note the second syllable in forty, six-ty, eighty, nine-ty). The "ty" is replaced by puluh, that's all. Study the examples in the second column.
As for all the other numbers in-between 10 and 99 they are formed in exactly the same way as in English . Thus when you have a number such as 47 you only have to say forty (empat puluh) first, then seven (tujuh). You will see examples at the bottom of the table below (I have underlined the part in tens to help you). Good luck!
Counting from 11 to 19
Counting in 10s
11 sebelas
10 sepuluh
12 dua belas
20 dua puluh
13 tiga belas
30 tiga puluh
14 empat belas
40 empat puluh
15 lima belas
50 lima puluh
16 enam belas
60 enam puluh
17 tujuh belas
70 tujuh puluh
18 lapan belas
80 lapan puluh
19 sembilan belas
90 sembilan puluh
More examples:
83 = lapan puluh tiga (literally 80 3)
21 = dua puluh satu (literally 20 1)
36 = tiga puluh enam (literally 30 6)
47 = empat puluh tujuh (literally 40 7)
54 = lima puluh empat (literally 50 4)
65 = enam puluh lima (literally 60 5)
78 = tujuh puluh lapan (literally 70 8)
82 = lapan puluh dua (literally 80 2)
99 = sembilan puluh sembilan (literally 90 9)Practice with numbers:
More practice with numbers:
Try to say the random numbers below (they should change if you come back tomorrow).
27 21
18 54 48 29 73
09
For those who want to know more
When satu is added to another word it is often contracted to se and tagged on to the following word. Thus "satu" puluh (one ten or 10) becomes sepuluh.
This is also the case with sebelas which is a contraction of "satu" belas (remember that in Malay all numbers from 11 to 19 end in belas).
Berapa umur anda? (How old are you)
We are now ready to practise asking and answering questions about a person's age. By the way if there is any centenarian here please kindly excuse me as we have not come to 100 yet! It will be in Lesson 22.
So let's start with the standard question which is Berapa umur anda? (How old are you?) and the standard answer Saya berumur ____ tahun or Umur saya ____ tahun (I am ____ years old). Let's have your age in black and white to make it easier for practice. Like all languages, of course, there is more than one way of asking or answering but we will just stick to one model to make our learning easier.
Saya berumur __ tahun (pada hari ini)
The pada hari ini (meaning "on this day") is just to add a touch of humour, or if you prefer, to be more precise because, who knows, tomorrow could be your birthday and that would make all the difference!For more meaningful practice how about making a few sentences concerning the age of some members of your family? A full list of family members can be found in Lesson 29 (no harm going there now for this purpose). Thus:
Emak saya berumur empat puluh tiga tahun. (My mother is 43 years old.)
Abang saya berumur sembilan belas tahun. (My elder brother is 19 years old.)
Adik perempuan saya berumur tujuh belas tahun. (My younger sister is 17 years old.)
Mary berumur lima puluh lapan tahun. (Mary is 58 years old.)
Suaminya berumur enam puluh dua tahun. (Her husband is 62 years old.)
Please note that you can use the word berusia instead of berumur.
Okay if you want to make this exercise meaningful, study the above sentences which are relevant to you (putting the actual age of the person concerned) and see if you can translate them into Malay.
Good luck.