Oromo Numbers

Welcome to the sixth Oromo lesson about numbers. This time we will learn about cardinal and ordinal numbers, followed by grammar rules, then animal names, finally a conversation in Oromo to help you practice your daily phrases.

Cardinal	Oromo	Ordinal	Oromo
one	tokko	first	tokkoffaa
two	lama	second	lammaffaa
three	sadii	third	sadaffaa
four	afur	fourth	arfaffaa
five	shan	fifth	shanaffaa
six	jaa'a	sixth	jaa'affaa
seven	torba	seventh	torbaffaa
eight	saddeet	eighth	saddeetaffaa
nine	sagal	ninth	saglaffaa
ten	kudhan	tenth	kurnaffaa
eleven	kudhatokko	eleventh	kudhatokkoffaa
twelve	kudhalama	twelfth	kudhalammaffaa
thirteen	kudhasadii	thirteenth	kudhasadaffaa
fourteen	kudhafur	once	al-tokko
fifteen	kudhashan	twice	al-lama
sixteen	kudhajaa'a	Monday	dafinoo / ojja duree
seventeen	kudhatorba	Tuesday	facaasaa
eighteen	kudhasaddeet	Wednesday	roobii
nineteen	kudhasagal	Thursday	kamisa
twenty	digdama	Friday	jimaata
seventy one	torbaatami tokko	Saturday	sambata xinnaa / sambata duraa
one hundred	dhibba tokko	Sunday	dilbata / sambata guddaa

Numbers Grammar Rules

Oromo cardinal numbers refer to the counting numbers, because they show quantity. For example: I speak twolanguages. Ordinal numbers on the other hand tell the order of things and their rank: my first language is Oromo. The examples below use numbers in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Grammar + Rules	Oromo
I have three dogs [number + noun]	saree sadii nqaba
my daughter has two cats [number + noun]	intalli ko adurree lama qabdi
she speaks seven languages [verb + number]	afaan torba dubbatti
my brother has one son [number + singular noun]	obboleessi ko ilma tokko qaba
this is my second lesson [ordinal number + noun]	kun barnota ko lammaffaadha
did you read the third book? [ordinal number + noun]	kitaabicha saddaffaa dubbiftee?

We're not done yet! The following is a list of animals.

cow sa'a	goat reettii	donkey harree	horse farda
dog saree	cat adurree	mouse antuuta	bird simbira

Conversation in Oromo

Now we finally reach the last part, the practice of the daily conversations. These phrases are used to get to know new people, and break the ice.

English	Oromo
Where are you from?	biyyi ke eessa?
I'm from the U.S	biyyo ko usa
I'm American	ani nama amaarikaaniti
Where do you live?	essa jiraatta?
I live in the U.S	biyya amaarikaani njiraadha
What do you do for a living?	maal hojiin ke?
I'm a student	ani barataadha

Source: learn101