Numbers and Counting — Tok Pisin Grammar

Every number in Tok Pisin comes from English, so the whole system is already half-familiar. What has changed is the pronunciation, and the changes are regular enough to predict.

One to Twelve

, , , , ,
, , , , ,

Yumi kaunim: wan, tu, tri, foa, faiv
Let's count: one, two, three, four, five

How the Sounds Changed

Three regular adjustments account for most of the list, and they apply throughout the language, not just to numbers.

English "th" has no equivalent, and becomes t: three → , thirteen → , thirty → .
Consonant clusters get broken up by a vowel: six → . Tok Pisin does not allow the "-ks" ending, so a vowel is inserted.
Vowels simplify: four → , eight → .

The Tens and Beyond

13, 15, 17, 18, 19
20, 30, 40, 50, 80, 90
100, 1000

Compound numbers are formed as in English, the ten followed by the unit, joined with a hyphen.

Krismas bilong em nainti-faiv.
She is ninety-five.
Taim em i nain fifti-faiv.
The time is nine fifty-five.
Rum namba bilong mi em fotin.
My room number is fourteen.
Namba bilong ol i winim wan handet.
Their number exceeds one hundred.

Counting Things: the '-pela' Suffix

When a number counts a noun it usually takes the same that goes on short adjectives.

Mi gat wanpela maus na tupela ia.
I have one mouth and two ears.
Haus bilong mi i gat tupela rum slip.
My house has two bedrooms.
Ol tripela pikinini bilong mi, olgeta wankain krismas.
My three children are all the same age.
Yu gat tupela naispela pikinini stret.
You have two really lovely children.

It is not confined to the first three. Larger numbers take it too when they count something directly.

Taim em i fiftinpela minit i lusim pinis eleven klok.
It's fifteen minutes past eleven.
Long faivpela minit, em bai ten klok.
In five minutes it will be ten o'clock.

No Plural on the Noun

Notice , , - the noun is identical whether there is one or fifteen. And because the number already establishes how many, the plural marker is left out.

Money and Prices

Counting money works the same way, with the currency simply following the number.

Twenti dola ya.
Twenty dollars, that is.
Hamas long dispela?
How much is this?

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Tok Pisin course

125 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Numbers and Counting” is about in bold:

Dispela em pren bilong mi, Anna. Em wanpela sumatin.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Mi gat tupela kar, tupela baisikol, na tripela motobaik.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33
Mi bai baim wanpela banana na sikispela kiau.
I am buying one banana and six eggs.
Lesson 43

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