Age, dates, money and “how many times”
Numbers in real life: which gender and in what order
Four situations where the gender of the number trips people up. Age is feminine (counting שָׁנִים). Dates are masculine (counting יָמִים). Shekels are masculine (שֶׁקֶל is m.). Occurrences are feminine (פַּעַם is f.).
| Hebrew | Meaning |
|---|---|
| בֶּן כַּמָּה אַתָּה? / בַּת כַּמָּה אַתְּ?ben kama ata? / bat kama at? | how old are you? (m / f) |
| אֲנִי בֶּן שְׁלוֹשִׁיםani ben shloshim | I'm thirty (a man) |
| אֲנִי בַּת עֶשְׂרִים וְחָמֵשׁani bat esrim vechamesh | I'm twenty-five (a woman) |
| הוּא בֶּן שָׁלוֹשׁhu ben shalosh | he is three |
| הִיא בַּת שָׁנָהhi bat shana | she is one |
| בֶּן כַּמָּה הַבַּיִת?ben kama habayit? | how old is the house? |
Literally “son of thirty”, “daughter of twenty-five”. The number is feminine because we are counting שָׁנִים (years).
| Hebrew | Meaning |
|---|---|
| מָה הַתַּאֲרִיךְ הַיּוֹם?ma hata'arich hayom? | what's the date today? |
| הַיּוֹם הָעֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה בְּסֶפְּטֶמְבֶּרhayom ha'esrim ve'arba'a beseptember | today is the twenty-fourth of September |
| בָּרִאשׁוֹן בְּמַאיbarishon bemai | on the first of May |
| בַּחֲמִשָּׁה בְּיוּנִיbachamisha beyuni | on the fifth of June |
| בִּשְׁנַת אַלְפַּיִם עֶשְׂרִים וָשֵׁשׁbishnat alpayim esrim vashesh | in the year 2026 |
| נוֹלַדְתִּי בְּאֶלֶף תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת תִּשְׁעִיםnoladeti be'elef tsha me'ot tish'im | I was born in 1990 |
| 24.9.2026|— | in writing: day.month.year |
The day of the month is masculine (counting יָמִים) and takes the article: הַחֲמִשָּׁה בְּיוּנִי. Only “the first” is an ordinal: הָרִאשׁוֹן.
| Hebrew | Meaning |
|---|---|
| כַּמָּה זֶה עוֹלֶה?kama ze ole? | how much does it cost? |
| שֶׁקֶל אֶחָדshekel echad | one shekel |
| שְׁנֵי שְׁקָלִיםshnei shkalim | two shekels |
| חֲמִשָּׁה שְׁקָלִיםchamisha shkalim | five shekels |
| עֲשָׂרָה שְׁקָלִיםasara shkalim | ten shekels |
| מֵאָה שֶׁקֶלme'a shekel | a hundred shekels (colloquial, singular) |
| עֶשְׂרִים שֶׁקֶל וַחֲמִשִּׁים אֲגוֹרוֹתesrim shekel vachamishim agorot | 20 shekels 50 agorot |
| זֶה יָקָר / זוֹלze yakar / zol | it's expensive / cheap |
| בְּמְזֻמָּן / בְּאַשְׁרַאיbimzuman / be'ashrai | in cash / by card |
שֶׁקֶל is masculine, so the numbers are masculine. From 11 up, speech usually keeps the singular: עֶשְׂרִים שֶׁקֶל rather than עֶשְׂרִים שְׁקָלִים.
| Hebrew | Meaning |
|---|---|
| פַּעַם אַחַתpa'am achat | once |
| פַּעֲמַיִםpa'amayim | twice |
| שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִיםshalosh pe'amim | three times |
| הַרְבֵּה פְּעָמִיםharbe pe'amim | many times |
| פַּעַם בְּשָׁבוּעַpa'am beshavua | once a week |
| פַּעֲמַיִם בְּיוֹםpa'amayim beyom | twice a day |
| כָּל פַּעַםkol pa'am | every time |
| אַף פַּעַם (לֹא)af pa'am (lo) | never |
| פַּעַםpa'am | once upon a time, at one time |
| עוֹד פַּעַםod pa'am | once more, again |
| בַּפַּעַם הַבָּאָהbapa'am haba'a | next time |
Practise it in the app. Shoresh has conjugation, tense and binyan trainers, and the dictionary shows the forms of any word.
