Greek numbers and gender

Counting is neuter

Reciting numbers, Greek uses the neuter: ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα. The Triantafyllidis dictionary says so in its entry for ένας, with the example “Ένα, δύο ... είκοσι ένα”. Charts, number lines and the worksheets on this site print these counting forms. Put a noun after the number and the number agrees with it:

• ένας άντρας, τρεις άντρες: one man, three men (masculine)
• μία γυναίκα, τρεις γυναίκες: one woman, three women (feminine)
• ένα παιδί, τρία παιδιά: one child, three children (neuter)

Inside big numbers

From 2,000 Greek counts thousands with χιλιάδες, a feminine noun, so the part of the number in front of it is feminine whatever is being counted: τρεις χιλιάδες βιβλία, three thousand books, even though βιβλία is neuter. Only the last part of the number agrees with the noun: 3,003 books is τρεις χιλιάδες τρία βιβλία. More on the big numbers page.

Cases: the genitive and the accusative

The gendered numbers also take case endings. The genitive turns up in ages and with “of”: ένα παιδί τριών χρόνων (a child of three years, the dictionary's example), ομάδα τεσσάρων ατόμων (a group of four people). The masculine accusative of one is ένα, or έναν before a vowel and some consonants.