I'd venture a guess that most people know how roman numerals are written, but do you know how they're pronounced?

Astound your parents! Impress your friends!

Here we go:
num   Cardinal       Ordinal
1.    unus -a -um    Primus -a -um
2.    duo, -ae -o    Secundus, alter
3.    tres, tria     tertius
4.    quattuor       quartus
5.    quinque        quintus
6.    sex            sextus
7.    septem         septimus
8.    octo           octavus
9.    novem          nonus
10.   decem          decimus
11.   undecim        undecimus
12.   duodecim       duodecimus
13.   tredecim       tertius decimus
14.   quatuordecim   quartus decimus
15.   quindecim      quintus decimus
16.   sedecim        sextus decimus
17.   septendecim    septimus decimus
18.   duodeviginti   duodevicesimus
19.   undeviginti    undevicesimus
20.   viginti        vicesimus
21.   viginti unus   vicesimus primus
28.   duodetriginta  duodetricesimus
29.   undetriginta   undetricesimus
30.   triginta       tricesimus
40.   quadraginta    quadragesimus
50.   quinquaginta   quinquagesimus
60.   sexaginta      sexagesimus
70.   septuagina     septuagesimus
80.   octoginta      octogesimus
90.   nonaginta      nonagesimus
100.  centum         centesimus
101.  centum unus    centesimus primus
200.  ducenti        ducentesimus
300.  trecenti       trecentrsimus
400.  quadreginti    quadrigentesimus
500.  quingenti      quingentesimus
600.  sescenti       sescentesimus
700.  septigenti     septingentesimus
800.  octigenti      octindentesimus
900.  nongenti       nondentesimus
1000. mille          millesimus
2000. duo milia      bis millesimus

Declension of Numbers:
     mas    fem    neu
nom  unus   una    unum     (one)
gen  unius  unius  unius    (of one)
dat  uni    uni    uni      (to one}
acc  unum   unum   unum     (one)
abl  uno    una    uno      (from one)

nom  duo    duae   duo      (two)
gen  duorum duarum duorum   (of two)
dat  duobus duabus duobus   (to two)
acc  duos   duas   duos     (two)
abl  duobus duabus duobus   (from two)

nom  tres   tres   tria     (three)
gen  trium  trium  trium    (of three)
dat  tribus tribus tribus   (to three)
acc  tres   tres   tria     (three)
abl  tribus tribus tribus   (from three)

A few commom mistakes to beware of:
  • 18 and 19 (unlike 11-17) aren't written "ten and eight" or "ten and nine". Instead, they're "two from twenty" and "one from twenty", respectively...
  • Yes, ten is 'Decem', but when 'decem' is attached to the end of another word (undecim, for example), the 'e' changes to an 'i'.
  • Always remember that cardinals show value (one, two, three), while ordinals show order (first, second, third, etc).


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