10. Numerals

10.1 Numerals and case governance

The numeral адзі́н, ‘one’, is used just like an adjective, following the same rules. It declines to match the case and gender of the noun it describes. See Chapter 5 for more details. The numerals два, ‘two’, тры, ‘three’, and чаты́ры, ‘four’, as well as або́два, ‘both’, all decline to agree with the case of the noun that they govern. Два and або́два also decline to match the gender of their corresponding nouns. Like adjectives, the accusative animate forms of these numerals coincide with the genitive forms for masculine objects.

When the numerals два, тры, чаты́ры, and або́два are used as either the subject or the inanimate direct object of a clause, the nouns that they govern take a special form. For feminine nouns, this form is identical to the genitive singular. For masculine and neuter nouns, it is formed by appending either ы** or і to the root, depending on whether the root has a palatized or non-palatized ending and on other spelling rules. any modifying adjectives are declined for the nominitive plural.

10.2 The number ‘one’

The number адзі́н, ‘one’, declines as follows.

The plural form адны́ is used with nouns that have no singular form, as well as with certain idiomatic constructions.

The word адзі́н is also used in certain constructions to mean each other.

10.3 The number ‘two’ and

the word ‘both’

The number два, ‘two’, declines as follows.

The word або́два, ‘both’, declines as follows.

10.4 ‘Three’ and ‘four’

The numbers тры, ‘three’, and чаты́ры, ‘four’, decline as follows.

10.5 ‘Five’ and up

These numbers all decline like сувя́зь, as shown in Section 2.9, including сем, ‘seven’, and во́сем, ‘eight’, even though they do not end in a ь.

10.6 ‘Forty’,

‘ninety’, and ‘one’ ‘hundred’

The words со́рак, ‘forty’, дзевяно́ста, ‘ninety’, and сто, ‘one’ ‘hundred’, decline as follows.

10.7 ‘Fifty’,

‘sixty’, ‘seventy’, and ‘eighty’

These numbers decline like пяцьдзеся́т, ‘fifty’. These words have two roots, both of which decline. Because of this, although the main accent falls on the final syllable, there is a quieter accent on the end of the first root.

10.8 Two hundred and

beyond

These numbers also have two roots, which both decline. The number дзве́сце, two hundred, has only one accent. The numbers тры́ста, three hundred, чаты́рыста, four hundred, and пяцьсо́т, five hundred, have only one accent in the nominative and accusative cases, but two accents in the rest of the cases. The numbers шэсцьсо́т, six hundred, семсо́т, seven hundred, восемсо́т, eight hundred, and дзевяцьсо́т, nine hundred, have two accents throughout all their forms.

10.9 Collective numerals

These numbers are used with nouns that do not have a singular form, and in certain cases with animate nouns. The collective numerals have adjectival endings for the oblique cases. When a collective numeral is in the nominative or accusative case, the noun that it governs takes the genitive plural case. For oblique cases, the noun takes the same case as the numeral. as always, the accusative animate form is the same as the genitive.

The words дво́е, тро́е, and чацвё́ра can be used with nouns that only have a plural form.

These numerals can also be used to denote a number of people. They are especially used with men, workers, children, and words that decline like the neuter nouns of **Section## 2.6 **.

There is along with these words the word або́е, which means ‘both’.

10.10 Ordinal numerals

These adjectives are used as ordinal numbers.