Vocabulary 6: Quechua numbers – Cardinal and Ordinal

Quechua uses a very transparent system when it comes to numbers.

Unfortunately, Quechua numbers are less and less used in everyday speech, from 1 to 10 are still widely used, and also multiples of 10, multiples of 100 and 1000, but, for example, to express amounts of money other than round numbers, many people prefer to use Spanish numbers, which are perfectly understood among the majority of Quechua-speakers.

Cardinal numbers

From 1 to 10

1	Huk	One
2	Iskay	Two
3	Kinsa	Three
4	Tawa	Four
5	Pisqa	Five
6	Soqta	Six
7	Qanchis	Seven
8	Pusaq	Eight
9	Isqon	Nine
10	Chunka	Ten

From 11 to 30

To the second digit is added the ending -yoq if the number ends in a vowel and -niyoq if the number ends in a consonant.

11	Chunka hukniyoq	21	Iskay chunka hukniyoq
12	Chunka iskayniyoq	22	Iskay chunka iskayniyoq
13	Chunka kinsayoq	23	Iskay chunka kinsayoq
14	Chunka tawayoq	24	Iskay chunka tawayoq
15	Chunka pisqayoq	25	Iskay chunka pisqayoq
16	Chunka soqtayoq	26	Iskay chunka soqtayoq
17	Chunka qanchisniyoq	27	Iskay chunka qanchisniyoq
18	Chunka pusaqniyoq	28	Iskay chunka pusaqniyoq
19	Chunka isqonniyoq	29	Iskay chunka isqonniyoq
20	Iskay chunka	30	Kinsa chunka

From 31 to 50

31	Kinsa hukniyoq	41	Tawa chunka hukniyoq
32	Kinsa iskayniyoq	42	Tawa chunka iskayniyoq
33	Kinsa kinsayoq	43	Tawa chunka kinsayoq
34	Kinsa tawayoq	44	Tawa chunka tawayoq
35	Kinsa pisqayoq	45	Tawa chunka pisqayoq
36	Kinsa soqtayoq	46	Tawa chunka soqtayoq
37	Kinsa qanchisniyoq	47	Tawa chunka qanchisniyoq
38	Kinsa pusaqniyoq	48	Tawa chunka pusaqniyoq
39	Kinsa isqonniyoq	49	Tawa chunka isqonniyoq
40	Tawa chunka	50	Pisqa chunka

Multiples of 10

10	Chunka	110	Pachak chunka
20	Iskay chunka	120	Pachak iskay chunka
30	Kinsa chunka	130	Pachak kinsa chunka
40	Tawa chunka	140	Pachak tawa chunka
50	Pisqa chunka	150	Pachak pisqa chunka
60	Soqta chunka	160	Pachak soqta chunka
70	Qanchis chunka	170	Pachak qanchis chunka
80	Pusaq chunka	180	Pachak pusaq chunka
90	Isqon chunka	190	Pachak isqon chunka
100	Pachak	200	Iskay pachak

Multiples of 100

100	Chunka	1010	Waranqa chunka
200	Iskay pachak	1200	Waranqa iskay pachak
300	Kinsa pachak	1030	Waranqa kinsa chunka
400	Tawa pachak	1400	Waranqa tawa pachak
500	Pisqa pachak	1050	Waranqa pisqa chunka
600	Soqta pachak	1600	Waranqa soqta pachak
700	Qanchis pachak	1070	Waranqa qanchis chunka
800	Pusaq pachak	1800	Waranqa pusaq pachak
900	Isqon pachak	1090	Waranqa isqon chunka
1000	Waranqa	2000	Iskay waranqa

Multiples of 1000

1000	Waranqa	20 000	Iskay chunka waranqa
2000	Iskay waranqa	40 000	Tawa chunka waranqa
3000	Kinsa waranqa	60 000	Soqta chunka waranqa
4000	Tawa waranqa	80 000	Pusaq chunka waranqa
5000	Pisqa waranqa	100 000	Pachak waranqa
6000	Soqta waranqa	300 000	Kinsa pachak waranqa
7000	Qanchis waranqa	500 000	Pisqa pachak waranqa
8000	Pusaq waranqa	700 000	Qanchis pachak waranqa
9000	Isqon waranqa	900 000	Isqon pachak waranqa
10 000	Chunka waranqa	1 000 000	Hunu

Ordinal numbers

1st	Ñawpaq kaq
2nd	Iskay kaq
3rd	Kinsa kaq
4th	Tawa kaq
5th	Pisqa kaq
6th	Soqta kaq
7th	Qanchis kaq
8th	Pusaq kaq
9th	Isqon kaq
10th	Chunka kaq

As you can see, you just have to add the particle “kaq” at the end of the number to make it ordinal, this is valid for all other numbers as well.