In short

Once you have 1–10 (lesson 12), everything bigger is built from those same digits by stacking three ingredients: a teens block (11–19), an invariable tens block (20, 30 … 90), and the hundreds / thousands words. You read a big number left to right just as in English — thousands, then hundreds, then tens, then units — and glue a single ו (and) in front of the very last piece: אלף תשע מאות ארבעים ושמונה (elef tsha me’ot arba’im u-shmone) ‘1948’.

The good news is that only one digit ever cares about gender: the unit (the 1–10 part). The tens are frozen, the hundreds and thousands have fixed shapes, so the polarity you already learned (masculine ־ה form vs bare feminine form) rides only on the final unit digit. The one fresh trick is a spelling flip inside the teens, described below.

The rule

Teens = unit + the word “ten”, and the ־ה flips sides. 11–19 are a unit digit followed by עשר (asar, m) / עשרה (esre, f): שלושה עשר (shlosha asar) ‘13 m’, שלוש עשרה (shlosh esre) ‘13 f’. Notice the mirror image of lesson 12: there the masculine unit carried the ־ה (שלושה) and the feminine was bare (שלוש). Here the “ten” word reverses it — the masculine ten is bare עשר, the feminine ten ends in ־ה עשרה. So in the regular teens the ־ה sits on opposite words: masculine [unit+ה] עשר, feminine [unit] עשרה. The units that stood outside the polarity in lesson 12 keep their own shape here too — masculine אחד עשר and שנים עשר carry no ־ה at all, and שמונה is spelled with ־ה in both genders (שמונה עשר / שמונה עשרה).

The tens (20–90) never change for gender. עשרים (esrim), שלושים (shloshim), ארבעים (arba’im) … תשעים (tish’im) are single frozen words used with masculine and feminine nouns alike. There is no second set.

Compounds join tens + ו + unit, and only the unit shows polarity. For 21–99 you say the ten, then ו, then the 1–9 unit — and only that unit swaps for gender: עשרים ושלושה בנים (esrim u-shlosha banim) ‘23 sons’ vs עשרים ושלוש בנות (esrim ve-shalosh banot) ‘23 daughters’; חמישים ושבעה (chamishim ve-shiv’a, m) / חמישים ושבע (chamishim ve-sheva, f) ‘57’. The tens word is identical in both; the polarity lives on the last digit exactly as in 1–10.

Hundreds take the short feminine numeral. מאה (me’a, feminine) is ‘100’, and its dual מאתיים (matayim) is ‘200’ — one word, never שתי מאות. From 300 up you put the bare feminine number in front of מאות (me’ot): שלוש מאות (shlosh me’ot) ‘300’, חמש מאות (chamesh me’ot) ‘500’ — because מאה is feminine, so it is always שלוש, never שלושה. Note the vowel shrinks before מאות: shalosh → shlosh, sheva → shva.

Thousands take the counting (construct) form. אלף (elef) is ‘1000’, its dual אלפיים (alpayim) is ‘2000’ — again one word, never שני אלפים. From 3000 up the number takes its bound counting form + the plural אלפים (alafim): שלושת אלפים (shloshet alafim) ‘3000’, ארבעת אלפים (arba’at alafim) ‘4000’, עשרת אלפים (aseret alafim) ‘10,000’. This is the same construct shape (שלושת, ארבעת …) you meet in smichut (lesson 23).

Build big numbers left to right, ו before the last piece only. Read the scales in descending order and coordinate just the final element: מאה עשרים וחמישה (me’a esrim ve-chamisha) ‘125’, אלף תשע מאות ארבעים ושמונה (elef tsha me’ot arba’im u-shmone) ‘1948’. The ו is pronounced u before a shva or a b/v-m-p sound (u-shlosha, u-shmone) and ve otherwise (ve-echad, ve-sheva).

“Two” at every scale. Standing alone it is שניים / שתיים (shnayim / shtayim); before a noun it clips to שני / שתי (shnei / shtei); before עשר it is שנים / שתים (shneim / shteim); and for the round 200 / 2000 it hides inside the frozen duals מאתיים / אלפיים. For a scale with no dual you use the bound form: שני מיליון (shnei milyon) ‘two million’.

Forms & patterns

Teens 11–19 — the “ten” word flips: masculine bare עשר, feminine ־ה עשרה, while the unit keeps its own polarity:

Tens 20–90 — invariable, one form for both genders:

Compounds tens + ו + unit — only the unit digit swaps for gender:

Hundreds — מאה is feminine, so use the short feminine numeral:

Thousands & up — counting (construct) form + אלפים:

Examples

Common mistakes

• שניים עשר (shnayim asar) -> שנים עשר (shneim asar) - before עשר “two” clips to שנים / שתים, never the free-standing שניים / שתיים.
• שלושה עשרה (13 m) -> שלושה עשר (shlosha asar) - the masculine “ten” is bare עשר; keep the ־ה only on the unit digit.
• שלוש עשר (13 f) -> שלוש עשרה (shlosh esre) - the feminine “ten” ends in ־ה עשרה; it is the masculine one that is bare.
• שתי מאות -> מאתיים (matayim) - ‘200’ is a single frozen dual word, not “two hundreds”.
• שני אלפים -> אלפיים (alpayim) - ‘2000’ is likewise one word, never שני + אלפים.
• שלושה מאות -> שלוש מאות (shlosh me’ot) - מאה is feminine, so hundreds always take the short feminine numeral.
• שלוש אלפים -> שלושת אלפים (shloshet alafim) - thousands use the counting form שלושת with the plural אלפים.
• עשרים שלושה -> עשרים ושלושה (esrim u-shlosha) - the tens and the unit must be joined by ו.
• עשרים ושלוש בנים -> עשרים ושלושה בנים (esrim u-shlosha banim) - בנים is masculine, so the unit still shows its ־ה polarity even inside a compound.

Tips

• Read a big number the English way — thousands, hundreds, tens, units — and drop a single ו only in front of the final piece.
• Only the unit digit ever changes for gender. Once 1–10 polarity is automatic, every larger number is free: the tens, hundreds and thousands are fixed shapes.
• The teen flip is the one thing to memorize: masculine ends in bare עשר (asar), feminine in ־ה עשרה (esre) — the mirror image of the 1–10 endings.
• Track “two” through its four disguises: שתיים/שניים alone, שתי/שני before a noun, שתים/שנים before עשר, and the baked-in מאתיים / אלפיים for 200 / 2000.
• Before מאות and before עשרה the vowel of 3 and 7 shrinks: shalosh → shlosh, sheva → shva (shlosh me’ot, shva esre).
• Pronounce ו as u before a shva or a b/v-m-p sound (u-shlosha, u-shmone), and ve otherwise (ve-echad, ve-sheva).
• When you recite a bare number with no noun — a code, a house number, a price said aloud — default to the feminine set, exactly as with 1–10.