How to Count People in Irish – Counting people in Irish is a little different from counting objects. Irish uses special words, called “Uimhreacha Pearsanta” (Personal Numbers), to count people. This guide will walk you through the basics for numbers 1 to 20.
Counting People in Irish from 1 to 10
Here’s how to say the numbers from 1 to 10 in Irish when you’re counting people:
| Number of People | Irish | Meaning |
| 1 | duine amháin | one person |
| 2 | beirt | two people |
| 3 | triúr | three people |
| 4 | ceathrar | four people |
| 5 | cúigear | five people |
| 6 | seisear | six people |
| 7 | seachtar | seven people |
| 8 | ochtar | eight people |
| 9 | naonúr | nine people |
| 10 | deichniúr | ten people |
Each number has its own special word for counting people, which helps make it clear that you’re talking about people and not things.
Counting People from 11 to 20
When counting people from 11 to 19, Irish adds “déag” after the word, which is similar to adding “-teen” in English. For 20, Irish has a unique term.
| Number | Irish | Meaning |
| 11 | aon duine dhéag | eleven people |
| 12 | dháréag | twelve people |
| 13 | trí dhuine dhéag | thirteen people |
| 14 | ceithre dhuine dhéag | fourteen people |
| 15 | cúig dhuine dhéag | fifteen people |
| 16 | sé dhuine dhéag | sixteen people |
| 17 | seacht nduine dhéag | seventeen people |
| 18 | ocht nduine dhéag | eighteen people |
| 19 | naoi nduine dhéag | nineteen people |
| 20 | fiche duine | twenty people |
These words let you count groups of people up to 20 with ease!
