Numbers

1. གཅིག

   Chig

   1 (one)

   Usage

   Number 1 in Dzongkha. Shares origin with Tibetan "chig"

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha numerals share many forms with Tibetan. Numerals are placed after the noun in Dzongkha

2. གཉིས

   Nyis

   2 (two)

   Usage

   Number 2 in Dzongkha. Identical form to Tibetan "nyis"

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha uses Tibetan script for numerals. Written and spoken forms can differ considerably

3. གསུམ

   Sum

   3 (three)

   Usage

   Number 3 in Dzongkha. Significant in Buddhism as the number of the "Three Jewels"

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, and its numeral system is closely related to Tibetan

4. བཞི

   Zhi

   4 (four)

   Usage

   Number 4 in Dzongkha. Related to the "Four Heavenly Kings" in Bhutanese Buddhist art

   Grammar Note

   Written as "bzhi" in Tibetan script but pronounced "Zhi." There is a significant gap between spelling and pronunciation

5. ལྔ

   Nga

   5 (five)

   Usage

   Number 5 in Dzongkha. Similar pronunciation to "nga" (I/me); context clarifies meaning

   Grammar Note

   Five "nga" and first person "nga" (I) are near-homophones in Dzongkha; context is key

6. དྲུག

   Drug

   6 (six)

   Usage

   Number 6 in Dzongkha. Similar sound to "Druk" (Thunder Dragon) but a different word

   Grammar Note

   The numeral "drug" (6) and "druk" (Thunder Dragon) sound similar but are different words

7. བདུན

   Duen

   7 (seven)

   Usage

   Number 7 in Dzongkha. Seven is significant in Buddhism (Seven Buddhas, etc.)

   Grammar Note

   Written "bDun" in Tibetan script but actually pronounced "Duen" - another example of spelling vs pronunciation divergence

8. བརྒྱད

   Gyay

   8 (eight)

   Usage

   Number 8 in Dzongkha. Eight is important in Buddhism (Noble Eightfold Path)

   Grammar Note

   Written "brgyad" has a complex consonant cluster but is spoken simply as "Gyay"

9. དགུ

   Gu

   9 (nine)

   Usage

   Number 9 in Dzongkha. Paro Tsechu lasts 9 days, among other associations with nine

   Grammar Note

   "Gu" for nine is distinct from similar-sounding words. Dzongkha tone and initial consonants differentiate meaning

10. བཅུ

    Chu

    10 (ten)

    Usage

    Number 10 in Dzongkha. Also the source of "Tsechu" (10th day) for Buddhist festival names

    Grammar Note

    "Tshe-chu" (day + ten) means "the 10th of the month," the origin of the Tsechu festival name

11. བརྒྱ

    Gya

    100 (hundred)

    Usage

    100 in Dzongkha. Important for prices. 100 Ngultrum (Nu.100) is approximately $1.20 USD

    Grammar Note

    Numbers above 100 combine "gya" (100) with additional numerals. E.g., "gya dang chig" = 101

12. སྟོང

    Tong

    1000 (thousand)

    Usage

    1000 in Dzongkha. Used for hotel rates and higher-priced items

    Grammar Note

    "Tong" means thousand and is also used in Buddhist texts for expressions like "a thousand..."

13. ང་ལོ་ཉེར་བདུན་ཨིན།

    Nga lo nyer-dun in

    I'm 27 years old

    Usage

    How to answer when asked your age; the reply to "Chö lo g'adeci 'im?"

    Grammar Note

    Dzongkha states age as person + "lo" (year) + numeral + "in". For example, "Chö lo g'adeci 'im?" (How old are you?); replacing the interrogative with a numeral gives the answer. Dzongkha has two sets of forms for 21-29, "tsa-" and "nyer-"; this card uses "nyerdün". 28 is "nyergä".

14. དུས་ཅི་ང་ལོ་ཉེར་བརྒྱད་ཨིན།

    Due-chi nga lo nyer-gyay in

    I turn 28 this year

    Usage

    Saying that your birthday falls within this year, so your age changes. Dzongkha needs no separate verb for "become": just put "this year" in front of the age pattern

    Grammar Note

    The age pattern is "Nga lo nyerdün in" with only the numeral changed, plus a time word in front. "Düci" is a noun and adverb meaning "this year, current year", so it can open the sentence. A time word before the subject also appears in "nahing lä düci lo chig song" (a year has passed from last year to this year). "Nyergä" is the numeral "twenty eight", used for age as in "gung lo nyergä lu" (at the age of 28).

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