Numbers

1. ༡ གཅིག

   chig

   One (1)

   Usage

   Number 1 in Tibetan. "Chig" is the spoken form

   Grammar Note

   Tibetan numerals (༡༢༣...) derive from Indian Brahmi but have unique shapes. Arabic numerals (1,2,3) are also commonly used today. "Chig" (one) also means "unique/singular"

2. ༢ གཉིས

   nyi

   Two (2)

   Usage

   Number 2 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Nyi" (two) represents duality in Tibetan. Buddhism values "two truths" (worldly and ultimate). The pronunciation is close to the English "knee"

3. ༣ གསུམ

   sum

   Three (3)

   Usage

   Number 3 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Sum" (three) is deeply tied to the Buddhist "Three Jewels" (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha). Many Tibetan Buddhist rituals involve multiples of three

4. ༤ བཞི

   zhi

   Four (4)

   Usage

   Number 4 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Zhi" (four) relates to the Buddhist "Four Noble Truths." Suffering, origin, cessation, path — the foundational teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Pronounced close to "jee"

5. ༥ ལྔ

   nga

   Five (5)

   Usage

   Number 5 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Nga" (five) relates to Buddhist "Five Aggregates" (skandhas: form, feeling, perception, formation, consciousness). Note: "lnga" (five) sounds like "nga" (I/me) — context distinguishes them

6. ༦ དྲུག

   drug

   Six (6)

   Usage

   Number 6 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Drug" (six) relates to the six-syllable mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum." This sacred mantra, associated with Avalokitesvara, is inscribed on prayer wheels throughout Tibet

7. ༧ བདུན

   dün

   Seven (7)

   Usage

   Number 7 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Dün" (seven) is connected to the "seven celestial bodies" (moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, sun) used in the Tibetan calendar — deeply linked to Tibetan astronomy

8. ༨ བརྒྱད

   gye

   Eight (8)

   Usage

   Number 8 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Gye" (eight) relates to the "Eight Auspicious Signs" (Ashtamangala) in Tibetan Buddhism. Pronounced close to "gay." Eight is one of the most significant numbers in Buddhism

9. ༩ དགུ

   gu

   Nine (9)

   Usage

   Number 9 in Tibetan

   Grammar Note

   "Gu" (nine) is considered a complete/full number in Tibetan culture. Auspicious gifts are sometimes given in multiples of 9. Tibetan medicine also describes nine bodily orifices

10. ༡༠ བཅུ

    chu

    Ten (10)

    Usage

    Number 10 in Tibetan

    Grammar Note

    "Chu" (ten) is the decimal base. "Chu chig" (eleven), "chu nyi" (twelve) — formed as "chu + digit." Similar to English "teen" numbers. Pronounced close to "choo"

11. ༡༠༠ བརྒྱ

    gya

    One hundred (100)

    Usage

    Number 100 in Tibetan

    Grammar Note

    "Gya" (hundred) starts the large number system in Tibetan. "Gya chig" = 101. Tibetan has unique words for large units: "stong" (thousand), "khri" (ten thousand)

12. ཁྱོད་ལ་ག་ཚོད་ཡོད།

    Khyö la ga tsö yö?

    How many do you have?

    Usage

    Asking about quantity (in shopping or transactions)

    Grammar Note

    "Ga tsö" (how much / how many) is the question word for quantity. "Khyö la … yö" is the possessive pattern "you have …"

13. ང་ལོ་ཉེར་བདུན་ཡིན།

    Nga lo nyer-dün yin

    I'm 27 years old

    Usage

    Answering when someone asks "Khye rang lo ga tsö yin nam?" (how old are you?)

    Grammar Note

    Nga lo + numeral states one's own age. Nyer-dün is the contraction of nyi shu rtsa bdun (20 + 7). The egophoric copula yin is used for a first-person statement

14. ད་ལོ་ང་ལོ་ཉེར་བརྒྱད་ལ་སླེབས་ཀྱི་རེད།

    Da-lo nga lo nyer-gye la leb-kyi re

    I turn 28 this year

    Usage

    Saying that your birthday falls within this year, so your age changes

    Grammar Note

    Reaching an age is "lo + numeral + la leb", as in "nga lo gu chu lhak tsam la leb kap" (when I reach about ninety). The future adds kyi re

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