Russian Numbers to a Million: Hundreds, Thousands and Prices

Ты́сяча (a thousand) is a noun, not just a number, so it follows the same one / two-four / five-up rule as a noun after a number: две ты́сячи, пять ты́сяч. Even the hundreds carry that rule inside them. This page builds on Russian numbers 1-100.

The whole system on one screen

Each number group in its own colour, the same as on the 1-100 page:

Read down any column and you hear the rule from the 1-100 page: nominative after one, genitive singular after two to four, genitive plural after five.

The hundreds

The endings echo the counting rule: -ста after three and four matches the genitive singular of сто (ста), and -сот after five is an old genitive plural. Две́сти keeps an ending from the old dual, the form for pairs.

Like the tens, the hundreds are joined largest first, with no and:

• сто два́дцать пять - a hundred and twenty-five
• триста шестьдеся́т пять дней - three hundred and sixty-five days

Thousands are nouns

Ты́сяча is a feminine noun, declined like кни́га, so it obeys the three groups itself, and две because it is feminine:

Whatever a thousand counts goes into the genitive plural, however many thousands there are. And because it is a noun, it takes the case the sentence needs:

• Э́то сто́ит ты́сячу рубле́й. - It costs a thousand roubles. (accusative, like кни́гу)

Одна́ ты́сяча turns up in formal writing, such as an amount written out in words on a cheque or a contract. In speech, ты́сяча alone is normal.

Millions and billions

Миллио́н is a masculine noun, declined like стол, and миллиа́рд (a billion) works exactly the same way:

• В го́роде миллио́н челове́к. - There are a million people in the city.
• Э́то сто́ит миллио́н до́лларов. - It costs a million dollars.

Putting a big number together

Largest first, each part said in full. If a smaller number follows a thousand, the last word takes over the noun again:

Ты́сяча три дня is one thousand and three days: the last word is три, so дня. Years in a sentence become ordinals instead; see Russian dates and years.

Prices

The Russian currency is the рубль (rouble), and it follows the rule like any masculine noun:

• Ско́лько сто́ит? - How much is it?
• Сто два́дцать рубле́й. - A hundred and twenty roubles.

Numbers in the other cases

Everything above holds when the number phrase is the subject or a thing as the object. Elsewhere, the number and the noun decline together, and the three-group rule stops applying:

With people or animals as the object, two to four copy the genitive plural: двух бра́тьев. Recognise these forms now; they take longer to learn.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

Cardinal numbers are on the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Russian specification at Foundation and Higher tier, and using them in every case at Higher tier.

1. Say the hundreds aloud and listen for -сти, -ста, -сот.
2. Price five things in roubles: сто рубле́й, две ты́сячи рубле́й.
3. Do the drill below.