Counting and understanding how to pronounce each number may seem a piece of cake to you. But do you know how the numbers in Malay sound like? How do we count in the Malay language?
If you’re planning to work in Malaysia or even live in that Southeast Asian country, you must know the basics of Malay numbers and counting. Apart from greetings, you may not realize it but our daily lives do revolve around numbers! Try observing from today – you’ll see how questions like what is today’s date, when will the meeting be held, how many of that do you want and how much is the price is frequently being asked every single day. In the Malaysian culture, the scenario is exactly the same. In today’s blog, we’ll see and learn how numbers sound in Malay as well as the basic steps to count in Malay.
Malay Numbers & Counting: The Basics You Need To Know
The first lesson will introduce you to the numbers in Malay. One tip you can do when learning Malay numbers for the first time is by buying a children’s book. It’s the most effective way for you to understand and grasp the basics of pretty much everything in the language. Now, let’s see the Malay words for numbers:
| MALAY | ENGLISH |
| 0 Kosong | Zero |
| 1 Satu | One |
| 2 Dua | Two |
| 3 Tiga | Three |
| 4 Empat | Four |
| 5 Lima | Five |
| 6 Enam | Six |
| 7 Tujuh | Seven |
| 8 Lapan | Eight |
| 9 Sembilan | Nine |
| 10 Sepuluh | Ten |
If you understand how English numbers work, or you’re a native English speaker (which is even better), then this lesson to learn Malay numbers will be easy for you! As a native Malay speaker myself (and having English as my second language), the Malay numbers and counting system are quite similar to English.
| PLACE VALUE | DIGIT VALUE | MALAY SPELLING |
| Sa (Ones) | 9 | Sembilan |
| Puluh (Tens) | 12 | Dua belas |
| Ratus (Hundreds) | 400 | Empat ratus |
| Ribu (Thousands) | 7,000 | Tujuh ribu |
| Puluh ribu (Ten thousand) | 90,000 | Sembilan puluh ribu |
| Ratus ribu (Hundred thousand) | 300,000 | Tiga ratus ribu |
| Milion (Millions) | 9,000,000 | Sembilan juta |
Counting Chart: Numbers 1 To 100 In Malay
| 1 Satu (One) | 2 Dua (Two) | 3 Tiga (Three) | 4 Empat (Four) | 5 Lima (Five) |
| 6 Enam (Six) | 7 Tujuh (Seven) | 8 Lapan (Eight) | 9 Sembilan (Nine) | 10 Sepuluh (Ten) |
| 11 Sebelas (Eleven) | 12 Dua belas (Twelve) | 13 Tiga belas (Thirteen) | 14 Empat belas (Fourteen) | 15 Lima belas (Fifteen) |
| 16 Enam belas (Sixteen) | 17 Tujuh belas (Seventeen) | 18 Lapan belas (Eighteen) | 19 Sembilan belas (Nineteen) | 20 Dua puluh (Twenty) |
| 21 Dua puluh satu (Twenty one) | 22 Dua puluh dua (Twenty two) | 23 Dua puluh tiga (Twenty three) | 24 Dua puluh empat (Twenty four) | 25 Dua puluh lima (Twenty five) |
| 26 Dua puluh enam (Twenty six) | 27 Dua puluh tujuh (Twenty seven) | 28 Dua puluh lapan (Twenty eight) | 29 Dua puluh sembilan (Twenty nine) | 30 Tiga puluh (Thirty) |
| 31 Tiga puluh satu (Thirty one) | 32 Tiga puluh dua (Thirty two) | 33 Tiga puluh tiga (Thirty three) | 34 Tiga puluh empat (Thirty four) | 35 Tiga puluh lima (Thirty five) |
| 36 Tiga puluh enam (Thirty six) | 37 Tiga puluh tujuh (Thirty seven) | 38 Tiga puluh lapan (Thirty eight) | 39 Tiga puluh sembilan (Thirty nine) | 40 Empat puluh (Forty) |
| 41 Empat puluh satu (Forty one) | 42 Empat puluh dua (Forty two) | 43 Empat puluh tiga (Forty three) | 44 Empat puluh empat (Forty four) | 45 Empat puluh lima (Forty five) |
| 46 Empat puluh enam (Forty six) | 47 Empat puluh tujuh (Forty seven) | 48 Empat puluh lapan (Forty eight) | 49 Empat puluh sembilan (Forty nine) | 50 Lima puluh (Fifty) |
| 51 Lima puluh satu (Fifty one) | 52 Lima puluh dua (Fifty two) | 53 Lima puluh tiga (Fifty three) | 54 Lima puluh empat (Fifty four) | 55 Lima puluh lima (Fifty five) |
| 56 Lima puluh enam (Fifty six) | 57 Lima puluh tujuh (Fifty seven) | 58 Lima puluh lapan (Fifty eight) | 59 Lima puluh sembilan (Fifty nine) | 60 Enam puluh (Sixty) |
| 61 Enam puluh satu (Sixty one) | 62 Enam puluh dua (Sixty two) | 63 Enam puluh tiga (Sixty three) | 64 Enam puluh empat (Sixty four) | 65 Enam puluh lima (Sixty five) |
| 66 Enam puluh enam (Sixty six) | 67 Enam puluh tujuh (Sixty seven) | 68 Enam puluh lapan (Sixty eight) | 69 Enam puluh sembilan (Sixty nine) | 70 Tujuh puluh (Seventy) |
| 71 Tujuh puluh satu (Seventy one) | 72 Tujuh puluh dua (Seventy two) | 73 Tujuh puluh tiga (Seventy three) | 74 Tujuh puluh empat (Seventy four) | 75 Tujuh puluh lima (Seventy five) |
| 76 Tujuh puluh enam (Seventy six) | 77 Tujuh puluh tujuh (Seventy seven) | 78 Tujuh puluh lapan (Seventy eight) | 79 Tujuh puluh sembilan (Seventy nine) | 80 Lapan puluh (Eighty) |
| 81 Lapan puluh satu (Eighty one) | 82 Lapan puluh dua (Eighty two) | 83 Lapan puluh tiga (Eighty three) | 84 Lapan puluh empat (Eighty four) | 85 Lapan puluh lima (Eighty five) |
| 86 Lapan puluh enam (Eighty six) | 87 Lapan puluh tujuh (Eighty seven) | 88 Lapan puluh lapan (Eighty eight) | 89 Lapan puluh sembilan (Eighty nine) | 90 Sembilan puluh (Ninety) |
| 91 Sembilan puluh satu (Ninety five) | 92 Sembilan puluh dua (Ninety five) | 93 Sembilan puluh tiga (Ninety five) | 94 Sembilan puluh empat (Ninety five) | 95 Sembilan puluh lima (Ninety five) |
| 96 Sembilan puluh enam (Ninety six) | 97 Sembilan puluh tujuh (Ninety seven) | 98 Sembilan puluh lapan (Ninety eight) | 99 Sembilan puluh sembilan (Ninety nine) | 100 Seratus (One hundred) |
Malay Numbers – How To Count More Than 100
Here’s the list that will guide you on how to say numbers more than 100 in Bahasa Malaysia.
1,518 = Seribu lima ratus lapan belas
Just like English, the numbers in Malay are pronounced and counted from left to right. Let me break down the place values of each of the digits and translate them for you:
Place value of 1 = 1000 – ribu (thousands)
Place value of 5 = 500 – ratus (hundreds)
Place value of 1 = 10 – puluh (tens)
Place value of 8 = 8 – sa (ones)
Now let’s take a look at the next lesson on how to say numbers (100 and above) in Bahasa Melayu.
| DIGIT | MALAY | ENGLISH |
| 100 | Seratus | One hundred |
| 101 | Seratus satu | One hundred and one |
| 150 | Seratus lima puluh | One hundred and fifty |
| 199 | Seratus sembilan puluh sembilan | One hundred and ninety-nine |
| 1,000 | Seribu | One thousand |
| 1,001 | Seribu satu | One thousand and one |
| 1,017 | Seribu tujuh belas | One thousand and seventeen |
| 1,919 | Seribu sembilan ratus sembilan belas | One thousand nine hundred and nineteen |
| 10,000 | Sepuluh ribu | Ten thousand |
| 10,050 | Sepuluh ribu lima puluh | Ten thousand and fifty |
| 10,516 | Sepuluh ribu lima ratus enam belas | Ten thousand five hundred and sixteen |
| 15,000 | Lima belas ribu | Fifteen thousand |
| 100,000 | Seratus ribu | One hundred thousand |
| 150,014 | Seratus lima puluh ribu empat belas | One hundred fifty thousand and fourteen |
| 150,500 | Seratus lima puluh ribu lima ratus | One hundred fifty thousand and five hundred |
| 1,000 000 | Sejuta | One million |
| 1,000 513 | Sejuta lima ratus tiga belas | One million five hundred and thirteen |
| 1, 500 000 | Sejuta lima ratus ribu | One million and five hundred thousand |
| 10,000 000 | Sepuluh juta | Ten thousand million |
| 100,000 000 | Seratus juta | One hundred million |
| 1,000,000,000 | Satu bilion | One billion |
| 1,500,000,000 | Satu billion lima ratus juta | One billion five hundred million |
| 10,000,000,000 | Sepuluh bilion | Ten billion |
| 100,000,000,000 | Seratus bilion | One hundred billion |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | Satu trilion | One trillion |
Learn Malay Today
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