Numbers and Punctuation

Devanagari has its own set of numeral characters and punctuation marks. While many Hindi texts today use Western (Arabic) numerals, Devanagari numerals still appear on currency, official documents, railway signs, and traditional texts.

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Devanagari Numerals

Devanagari	Western	Hindi Name	Pronunciation
०	0	शून्य	shoonya
१	1	एक	ek
२	2	दो	do
३	3	तीन	teen
४	4	चार	chaar
५	5	पाँच	paanch
६	6	छह	chhah
७	7	सात	saat
८	8	आठ	aath
९	9	नौ	nau

Tip: Notice that some Devanagari numerals resemble their Western counterparts — ० looks like 0, and ३ is close to 3. Use these similarities as memory aids.

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Numbers 11–20

Hindi numbers from 11 to 20 are unique words, not simple combinations like "ten-one". This is one of the trickier aspects of Hindi counting.

Number	Devanagari	Hindi Name	Pronunciation
11	११	ग्यारह	gyaarah
12	१२	बारह	baarah
13	१३	तेरह	terah
14	१४	चौदह	chaudah
15	१५	पंद्रह	pandrah
16	१६	सोलह	solah
17	१७	सत्रह	satrah
18	१८	अठारह	aṭhaarah
19	१९	उन्नीस	unnees
20	२०	बीस	bees

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Tens (10–100)

Number	Devanagari	Hindi Name	Pronunciation
10	१०	दस	das
20	२०	बीस	bees
30	३०	तीस	tees
40	४०	चालीस	chaalees
50	५०	पचास	pachaas
60	६०	साठ	saaṭh
70	७०	सत्तर	sattar
80	८०	अस्सी	assee
90	९०	नब्बे	nabbe
100	१००	सौ	sau

Cultural Note: Unlike English and many other languages, Hindi has a unique word for every number from 1 to 100. While there are patterns, each number has its own specific pronunciation. This makes Hindi numbers one of the most challenging aspects for learners — but Indians learn them through constant repetition from childhood.

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Larger Numbers

Hindi uses some number groupings that differ from Western systems: