Category: Lessons

Notice the following chart showing how we count numbers from one hundred and above:

The table helps us to see that we can count complex numbers in Lingala, though they are a little long…

So a hundred is nkama, while two hundred is nkama mibale. We continue to use the word na to add groups of numbers to the main one. A thousand is nkóto, whereas ten thousand is nkóto zomi. A million is take from a French word and is milio.

If we look at the last number in the table, a complex number, notice how we write it in English: one million five hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred and eleven. Now compare the way we write it in Lingala: milio moko (one million) na nkóto nkama mitano (with five hundred) na zomi (with ten) na misato (with three) na nkama mitano (with five hundred) na zomi (with ten) na moko (with one). Looking at it this way we see that even though it looks complex at first, it has any similarities to how we write numbers in English.

Note: While Lingala numbers are used, most Lingala speakers will use French numbers once they reach four or five in Lingala. Knowing the Lingala numbers is useful as some written books and magazines use them. However expect most Lingala speakers to use French, so learning French numbers as well is also very useful to a Lingala learner.

We have in the list above the first ten numbers in Lingala. Along with that we also have a list of ordinal numbers. In English ordinal numbers would be first (1st), second (2nd), etc. Notice that Lingala creates ordinal numbers by adding the word ya before the number.

But what about counting higher than ten? Lingala’s way of counting beyond ten is consistent. Notice the next ten numbers, as well as a few sample numbers beyond twenty. Ordinals continue to work exactly the same as they do in the table above, though we won’t list all of them here.

When counting from eleven to nineteen, we use zomi plus the word na (with) and then one of the numbers from one to nine. For example: eleven is zomi na moko.

When we reach twenty, instead of using the word zomi, we replace it with ntuku. This word means the same as ten, but is then used to help count the higher numbers. We do this by using ntuku and then one of the numbers from one to nine. So twenty is ntuku mibale, thirty is ntuku misato. Numbers beyond twenty are created in the same was as we did earlier with eleven to nineteen. We say ntuku mibale na moko to mean twenty one.

This principle continues onward with higher numbers. More information on this can be found in the Advanced Numbers article.

Note: While Lingala numbers are used, most Lingala speakers will use French numbers once they reach four or five in Lingala. Knowing the Lingala numbers is useful as some written books and magazines use them. However expect most Lingala speakers to use French, so learning French numbers as well is also very useful to a Lingala learner.