The Nepali numbers

I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but even after 5-6 years of learning Nepali language (quite casually), I'm still not able to count to a hundred in Nepalese! Sounds amazingly stupid, doesn't it? But only until you see the words for the Nepali numbers! They are tricky, to say the least. At first glance, there's no system in it at all. Like in English, if you can count 1-9 and you know how to say '50' then you can easily figure out how to say fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three etc... Not so with the Nepali numbers!

In Nepali, for instance, '30' and '50' are tis and pachas.And '1', '2' and '3' is ek, dui, teen.

• 31, then, is simply ek-tis
• 32, do you think it's dui-tis? Wrong! It's båttis. (Where did that bå- come from?)
• 51, logically, must then be ek-pachas, right? Wrong! It's ekaunnå. (Where did -aunnå come from?)
• 52, now, is baunnå. There's a little logic to it, since b-something apparently means '2-something', and the unexplained -aunnå apparently means '50'...
• 53, so you think you've figured it out now?... The system changes slightly, and '53' becomes tri-pånnå... (What happened to the -aunnå that we just figure out?)..........

Beginning to see my difficulties?

But I actually have a solution! All the teach-yourself-Nepali books and materials I've seen, simply list the numbers from 1-100 in a long list. Sometimes broken into 10 small lists. But it still doesn't make sense. Instead, try arranging the numbers in a grid. I can't explain it, but you can start to see some sense in the words for the Nepali numbers! At least I could! Finally!

Here they are, the smart way to learn Nepali numbers:

0 shunya	10 dos	20 bis	30 tis	40 chalis	50 pachas	60 sathi	70 såttri	80 åsi	90 nåbbe
1 ek	11 eghara	21 ekkais	31 ektis	41 ektalis	51 ekaunnå	61 eksåtthi	71 ekhåttår	81 ekasi	91 ekannåbbe
2 dui	12 bhara	22 bais	32 båttis	42 båyalis	52 baunnå	62 båyåsåtthi	72 båhåttår	82 båyasi	92 båyannåbbe
3 teen	13 tærdå	23 tæis	33 tættis	43 trichalis	53 tripånnå	63 trisåtthi	73 trihåttår	83 triyasi	93 triyannåbbe
4 char	14 chowdha	24 chowbis	34 chårtis	44 chåvalis	54 chowbånnå	64 chowsåtthi	74 chowhåttår	84 chowrasi	94 chowrannåbbe
5 panch	15 pandra	25 pachis	35 pointis	45 pointalis	55 påchpånnå	65 painsåtthi	75 panchhåttår	85 påchasi	95 pånchannåbbe
6 chhå	16 shordå	26 chhåbis	36 chhåttis	46 chåyalis	56 chåpånnå	66 chåyåsatthi	76 chåyåhåttår	86 chåyåsi	96 chåyannåbbe
7 saath	17 såtra	27 såttais	37 sointis	47 satchalis	57 såtaunnå	67 såtsåtthi	77 såthåttår	87 såtasi	97 såntannåbbe
8 aath	18 åtharå	28 åthais	38 åthtis	48 åthchalis	58 åthaunnå	68 åthsåtthi	78 åthhåttår	88 åthasi	98 ånthannåbbe
9 nau	19 unnais	29 unåntis	39 unånchalis	49 unånchas	59 unsåtthi	69 unhåttår	79 unasi	89 unannåbbe	99 unansåy