Bulgarian Numbers: Counting 0 to 1,000,000 (With Audio)

Bulgarian numbers 0 to 20

Bulgarian numbers are regular once you learn the first ten. The numbers 11 to 19 are built as “one-on-ten,” “two-on-ten” and so on, and the tens are built as “two-tens,” “three-tens.” Only 1 and 2 change their form to match the gender of the noun they count.

The table below gives the forms you use when counting out loud or reading a number on its own. For 1 and 2 this is the neuter едно and the feminine/neuter две, the forms Bulgarians use when simply counting.

Number	Bulgarian	Say it	Hear
0	нула	nula	▶
1	едно	edno	▶
2	две	dve	▶
3	три	tri	▶
4	четири	chetiri	▶
5	пет	pet	▶
6	шест	shest	▶
7	седем	sedem	▶
8	осем	osem	▶
9	девет	devet	▶
10	десет	deset	▶
11	единадесет	edinadeset	▶
12	дванадесет	dvanadeset	▶
13	тринадесет	trinadeset	▶
14	четиринадесет	chetirinadeset	▶
15	петнадесет	petnadeset	▶
16	шестнадесет	shestnadeset	▶
17	седемнадесет	sedemnadeset	▶
18	осемнадесет	osemnadeset	▶
19	деветнадесет	devetnadeset	▶
20	двадесет	dvadeset	▶

The teens all end in -надесет (-nadeset), a shortened “on ten.” Spot the root: пет + на + десет gives петнадесет, “five-on-ten,” 15. In everyday speech, Bulgarians clip these to -найсет: единайсет (edinayset), дванайсет (dvanayset), петнайсет (petnayset). Both versions are correct; the full forms are standard in writing.

Tens: 30 to 90

The tens add -десет (-deset) or -йсет in speech, to the unit number. Note the spelling of 50 and 60: петдесет and шестдесет keep the т even though it blends into the д in fast speech.

Number	Bulgarian	Say it	Hear
30	тридесет	trideset	▶
40	четиридесет	chetirideset	▶
50	петдесет	petdeset	▶
60	шестдесет	shestdeset	▶
70	седемдесет	sedemdeset	▶
80	осемдесет	osemdeset	▶
90	деветдесет	devetdeset	▶

Colloquial forms are very common for 20 and 30: двайсет (dvayset) and трийсет (triyset). You will hear them in shops and taxis, and see them in informal messages.

Hundreds, thousands and millions

The hundreds have three special forms. Сто is 100, двеста is 200 and триста is 300. From 400 on, the pattern is unit + стотин: четиристотин, петстотин and so on.

Number	Bulgarian	Say it	Hear
100	сто	sto	▶
200	двеста	dvesta	▶
300	триста	trista	▶
400	четиристотин	chetiristotin	▶
500	петстотин	petstotin	▶
600	шестстотин	sheststotin	▶
700	седемстотин	sedemstotin	▶
800	осемстотин	osemstotin	▶
900	деветстотин	devetstotin	▶
1,000	хиляда	hilyada	▶
2,000	две хиляди	dve hilyadi	▶
1,000,000	един милион	edin milion	▶
2,000,000	два милиона	dva miliona	▶

Хиляда (1,000) is a feminine noun, so 2,000 uses the feminine две: две хиляди. Милион is masculine, so 2,000,000 is два милиона, with the masculine два.

Gender forms of 1 and 2 in Bulgarian numbers

Every Bulgarian noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, and the numbers 1 and 2 agree with it. This is the single most important grammar point for using Bulgarian numbers in real sentences.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Hear
One	един (edin)	една (edna)	едно (edno)	▶
Example	един град one town	една жена one woman	едно дете one child	▶
Two	два (dva)	две (dve)	две (dve)	▶
Example	два града two towns	две жени two women	две деца two children	▶

Most masculine nouns end in a consonant (град, “town”), most feminine nouns in -а or -я (жена, “woman”), and most neuter nouns in -о or -е (дете, “child”). The same pattern applies inside compound numbers: 21 women is двадесет и една жени, 22 towns is двадесет и два града.

The feminine and neuter share две. That is why counting aloud (“one, two, three”) uses едно, две, три: the neuter is the default form.

The counting form and the “men” numbers

Bulgarian has two more quirks after numbers. First, masculine nouns that are not people take a special counting form (бройна форма) ending in -а or -я. The plural of час (“hour”) is часове, but “two hours” is два часа (dva chasa). Linguists still debate how to classify this form; a 2023 paper in the Journal of Slavic Linguistics analyzes it as an accusative singular form.

Second, when counting male people, or mixed groups, Bulgarian uses special personal numerals from 2 to about 6: двама (dvama), трима (trima), четирима (chetirima), петима (petima), шестима (shestima). So “two brothers” is двама братя (dvama bratya) and “three friends” is трима приятели (trima priyateli).

Joining numbers with и

Compound numbers use и (i), “and,” before the last element. 25 is двадесет и пет (dvadeset i pet). 125 is сто двадесет и пет (sto dvadeset i pet). 1,999 is хиляда деветстотин деветдесет и девет (hilyada devetstotin devetdeset i devet). If a number has only two parts, the и goes between them: 105 is сто и пет (sto i pet).

Years are read as full cardinal numbers with an ordinal at the end, followed by година (“year”). 2026 is две хиляди двадесет и шеста година (dve hilyadi dvadeset i shesta godina), literally “two thousand twenty-sixth year.”

Ordinal numbers: first, second, third

Ordinals behave like adjectives and change for gender: първи (parvi) / първа (parva) / първо (parvo) for “first.” The others are втори (vtori) (second), трети (treti) (third), четвърти (chetvarti) (fourth) and пети (peti) (fifth). From fifth on, most are built by adding -и to the cardinal: шести, седми, осми, девети, десети.

You will meet ordinals on dates (24 май is двадесет и четвърти май (dvadeset i chetvarti may), the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture covered in our page on the Day of the Bulgarian Alphabet), on floors and on tram lines.

Reading the numbers in Cyrillic

Numbers are excellent reading practice because you already know what each word means. Look for the letters that differ from English: ш in шест is “sh,” ч in четири is “ch,” я in хиляда is “ya,” and х is the throaty [x], like the “ch” in Scottish “loch.” Our Bulgarian alphabet chart lists every letter with audio, the learn the Bulgarian alphabet plan helps you memorize them, and the Bulgarian pronunciation guide explains stress. In official Latin spelling, the numbers follow the Streamlined System of Bulgaria’s 2009 Transliteration Act.

Common mistakes

• Using один or два for everything. Один is Russian. Bulgarian has един / една / едно, and два only for masculine nouns.
• Using the plural after два. Say два часа, not два часове.
• Forgetting the и. 35 is тридесет и пет, never тридесет пет.
• Writing петесет or шейсет in formal text. The standard written forms are петдесет and шестдесет.
• Saying две милиона. Милион is masculine, so it is два милиона.

Frequently asked questions

How do you count to 10 in Bulgarian?

едно, две, три, четири, пет, шест, седем, осем, девет, десет (edno, dve, tri, chetiri, pet, shest, sedem, osem, devet, deset).

Why do Bulgarian numbers have different forms for one and two?

One and two agree with the gender of the noun: един/една/едно for one, два (masculine) and две (feminine and neuter) for two.

What is двама in Bulgarian?

Двама means two when counting male people or mixed groups, as in двама братя, “two brothers.” Similar forms exist for three (трима) and up.

How do you say 100 and 1,000 in Bulgarian?

100 is сто (sto) and 1,000 is хиляда (hilyada). 2,000 is две хиляди (dve hilyadi).

Are Bulgarian numbers like Russian numbers?

Many look similar, but forms differ. Bulgarian says един, not один, and has no noun cases after numbers, only the special counting form.

Sources

• Pancheva, Morphosyntactic variation in numerically-quantified noun phrases in Bulgarian (Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 2023)
• Romanization System in Bulgaria (UN conference paper, Republic of Bulgaria)
• Bulgarian language (Wikipedia)

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