Counting is a fundamental skill you need when learning a new language.

Albanian numbers follow a very logical system once you learn the base words from zero to ten.

You’ll use these numbers daily to shop at local markets, ask for bus times, and pay for your morning coffee in Tirana or Pristina.

This guide breaks down the entire Albanian numbering system from zero to one million into simple steps.

Numbers 0 to 10 in Albanian

The first step to counting in Albanian is memorizing the numbers from zero to ten.

These base numbers are the building blocks for almost every other number you’ll ever use.

Pay special attention to the letter ë at the end of many numbers.

In standard Albanian, a final ë is barely pronounced, acting mostly to lengthen the vowel that comes before it.

Here’s how you use a basic number in a simple conversation.

Numbers 11 to 19 in Albanian

Once you know the numbers from one to ten, learning the teens is effortless.

Albanian forms the numbers 11 through 19 using a simple math formula: [digit] + mbë + dhjetë.

The word mbë is an old preposition that means “on” or “upon”.

Therefore, the number 11 (njëmbëdhjetë) literally translates to “one upon ten”.

When speaking quickly, native speakers often shorten the mbë sound so it flows smoothly.

Numbers 20 to 99 in Albanian

The tens in Albanian mostly follow a regular pattern of multiplying the base number by ten.

However, the numbers 20 and 40 are unique because they use an ancient vigesimal (base-20) counting system.

The word zet is an old Albanian word that means “twenty”.

Because of this, 20 is njëzet (one twenty) and 40 is dyzet (two twenties).

All the other tens simply attach the word dhjetë (ten) to the end of the base number.

Notice that 30 uses the feminine form tri instead of tre to make tridhjetë.

To form compound numbers like 21 or 55, you put the word e (which means “and”) between the ten and the single digit.

Keep them as three separate words when writing them down.

Here’s an example of how you’ll hear compound numbers when shopping.

Hundreds, thousands, and one million

Counting into the hundreds and thousands is very straightforward.

The word for hundred is qind, and you attach it directly to the base number as a single word.

The word for thousand is mijë, and the word for million is milion.

Unlike qind, both mijë and milion are written as separate words from the number that comes before them.

Notice that the Albanian letter q is a soft sound, similar to the “ch” in “cheese” but pronounced with the middle of your tongue.

When building large numbers, you use the linker e before the tens and ones, and also between thousands and hundreds.

For example, 150 is njëqind e pesëdhjetë.

The number 1,200 is një mijë e dyqind.

If you’re dealing with the Albanian currency (Lek), you’ll use thousands every single day because 1,000 Lek is roughly equal to 10 US dollars.

Grammar rules for Albanian numbers

There’s only one number that changes for grammatical gender in standard Albanian, and that’s the number three.

You use tre when counting masculine nouns and tri when counting feminine nouns.

When you’re just counting out loud without referring to an object, you always use tre.

In casual, everyday speech, many Albanians simply use tre for both masculine and feminine nouns, so don’t stress too much if you forget this rule.

You’ll also need to know how to turn these cardinal numbers into ordinal numbers (like “first”, “second”, and “third”).

To make an ordinal number, you take the base number and add the ending -të to it, along with a grammatical particle (i for masculine, e for feminine) in front.

The only major exception is “first”, which uses the word parë instead of një.

• First: i parë (m) / e parë (f)
• Second: i dytë (m) / e dytë (f)
• Third: i tretë (m) / e tretë (f)
• Fourth: i katërt (m) / e katërt (f)

Notice that katër just adds a -t instead of -të because it ends in an R.

Regional differences in Gheg and Tosk

The Albanian language is divided into two main dialects: Tosk in the south and Gheg in the north (including Kosovo).

Standard Albanian is based mostly on Tosk, which is what you learned in the tables above.

If you travel to northern Albania, Kosovo, or parts of North Macedonia, you’ll hear the Gheg dialect.

Gheg speakers use nasal vowels, and the standard ë sound often shifts to a nasal a or o sound.

Additionally, Gheg speakers completely drop the final unstressed ë at the end of words.

The biggest vocabulary difference in the Gheg numbering system is the number 40.

While standard Albanian uses the base-20 word dyzet, Gheg speakers usually say katërdhjet (literally “four tens”), which follows the regular pattern of the other tens.

In spoken Gheg, the teen numbers are also heavily shortened.

Instead of saying njëmbëdhjetë for 11, a speaker in Pristina will typically say njimdhjet.

Instead of pesëmbëdhjetë for 15, you’ll hear pesmdhjet.

Locals in every region understand standard Albanian numbers perfectly, so you can always rely on the standard forms no matter where you travel.