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Numbers in use
A number word can do more than count. This page shows how to write a code or label (room 12), a clock time or date, an amount of a unit (two meters), a range (3 to 5), and a percent. How the number word itself is built (markers, endings, exponents, writing) is in numbers.md.
On this page
Intermediate
Digit-strings
When English uses a number as a code (a phone, room, channel, or serial number) rather than an amount, write it with the digit-string marker ro (written _). Leave exponents off, and group the digits in threes. The code can then fill whatever role the clause needs (/d/, /b/, /ɡ/).
zazawan d_555,123,4567 vahahal.🔊
zazawan drovavavathowodurethomovagulel vahahal.z-Azawan | d-_555,123,4567 | v-see
"Azawan sees 555-123-4567."
Ending is usually -l (exact label); -n for an official designation; -r with digits repeats a code already mentioned. Digitless dror / gror is some code, or what number? in a question; digitless -l …_ is an unspecified label (digitless).
For numeric plus or minus, use: sign on a count or ordinal. A label keeps its digits exactly as written.
To place an event by a code (on channel 7), put the code in /b/ after a relation word (/h/ on + b_7), or put it on a noun as /ɡ/ (channel g_7).
Plural labels
English makes a label plural to name the whole run of labels that start with it: the ’90s are the years 90 through 99, and the 1800s are 1800 through 1899. Put plural -x on the label: z_90x. The final zeros stand for any digit, so _90x covers 90 to 99. Only a label with digits takes -x; a count does not.
zazawan vowogal huwem b_90x.🔊
zazawan vowogal huwem bronazolx.z-Azawan | v-walk | [h-while | b-_90-x]
"Azawan walks in the ’90s."
Time
To say when something happens by the clock or the calendar (at 15:30, on 22 July), write a digit string under /h/ with no relation word before it. Clock takes marker ro (spoken hro, written h_…). Date takes calendar-ordinal oe (spoken hroe, written h_#…). Fields are read by position, so the word already says which number is the hour or the month.
h_15,30 zazawan vowogal.🔊
hrowovathorezol zazawan vowogal.h-_15,30 | z-Azawan | v-walk
"At 15:30 Azawan walks."
Clock and date together:
| Job | How |
|---|---|
| Clock / schedule | Digit-string ro as bare /h/. Default 24h. Fields left to right; commas are writing only: hour, minute, optional seconds (h_15,30, h_15,30,00). Digitless h_ = at some (unspecified) clock time. |
| Calendar date | Digit-string _ with oe (spoken roe, written h_#…). Fields: day, month, optional year (h_#22,7, h_#22,7,2026; modifier g_#22,7). Zero-padding is optional. Write a year as one digit group (2026 is one group). Digitless h_# covers an unspecified date. A date may stop after the day (h_#12, on the 12th); context gives the month. You may also name the relation with a date word plus /b/, but you do not need to. |
| Day of the week | Ordinal on elaga weekday, counting from Monday: zelagam grewol is Monday, zelagam grelel is Sunday (the seventh). |
| Month or year alone | A month is an ordinal on umuha month, counting from January, the same way as weekdays: zumuham grerel is March. A year is a label on avawe year: zavawem g_1962 is 1962. To place an event in one, put it in /b/ after huwem during: huwem bumuham grerel (in March), huwem bavawem g_1962 (in 1962). |
| When-frame | Ordinary lexicon /h/ (until, before, recency), clock/date above, a signed offset on the channel (three hours ago / in three hours) or on a time pole (until tomorrow), or a stance word that places the event in time (LIVE / MEMORY, or a channel plus b+ for a forecast). RESIDUE / FORMER do not place an event in time. There is no past or future ending. An amount of time (for 3 days) is a relation word plus a measure phrase. |
zazawan vowogal huwem bumuham grerel.z-Azawan | v-walk | [h-while | [b-month | g-3rd]]
"Azawan walks in March."
zazawan vowogal huwem bavawem g_1962.🔊
zazawan vowogal huwem bavawem growonagudul.z-Azawan | v-walk | [h-while | [b-year | g-_1962]]
"Azawan walks in 1962."
Endings: -l exact; -m fuzzy (around 15:30); -n conventional schedule or date name; -r with digits repeats a clock time or date already mentioned; digitless hror asks when? / what time? in a question (digitless). Timezone, era, and calendar system are ordinary lexicon /h/ beside the number word.
For from … to with clock times, put each time in /b/ after the hooks ul from and oel toward (extra nouns). As with any two extra nouns, keep a non-/b/ word, such as the verb, between them.
zazawan ul b_9 vowogal oel b_17.🔊
zazawan ul bronal vowogal oel browolel.z-Azawan | [from | b-_9] | v-walk | [toward | b-_17]
"Azawan walks from 9:00 to 17:00."
For a decade (the ’90s), use a plural label.
Compare with: a phone or room code uses the same _ marker under /d/ /b/ /ɡ/, not bare /h/. Restrictor har is sometimes; digitless hrol is some clock or date.
Not the same job as: hrarel (three times) and hrerel (for the third time). Clock time h_15,30 is still a digit-string.
Measure phrases
To say how much of a unit (two meters, three hours), use the unit's noun and put the amount on it as a /ɡ/ number, the same way a count sits on a noun. Each SI or everyday unit is the abstract sense of a published root, so the unit noun ends in -m. Say that word, not a Latin abbreviation (m, kg, s). Once the unit phrase has been mentioned, resume it with -r.
zazawan bezezem gradul vowogal.z-Azawan | [b-meter | g-two] | v-walk
"Azawan walks two meters."
For a price (for five grams), put the same measure phrase in /b/ after the exchange word hehem.
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
bezezem g+2 | extra noun (/b/) | two meters |
zazadem g+3, dabayum g+5 | subject / object / … | three seconds, five grams |
gezezem g+2 after a noun | modifier on a noun | rare; prefer unit as /b/ or a freestanding noun phrase |
The amount takes the usual number endings, so -m makes it fuzzy (gradum ≈ about two). The unit takes ordinary word endings.
Stock units
Each unit is a metaphor on a published root. The Literal on same root column gives that root's everyday meaning.
| SI / everyday unit | Unit root (metaphor) | Example | Literal on same root | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| meter | ezeze meter | bezezem g+2 | ezezel set-square | 📐: exact length |
| gram | abayu gram | babayum g+5 | abayul pound (banknote) | 💷: standard mass |
| second | azade second | bazadem g+3 | azadel stopwatch | ⏱️: short tick |
| minute | avega minute | bavegam g+5 | avegal three-o'clock | 🕒: the hand steps one minute at a time |
| liter | ubuho liter | bubuhom g+1 | ubuhol pool | 🎱: liquid volume |
| ampere | agude ampere | bagudem g+2 | agudel cable-car | 🚠: current along a line |
| kelvin | azaho kelvin | bazahom g+300 | azahol ice | 🧊: thermodynamic temperature |
| mole | amagu mole | bamagum g+1 | amagul microscope | 🔬: amount of substance |
| candela | ado candela | badom g+100 | adol lightbulb | 💡: luminous intensity |
| hour (civil duration) | agaze hour | bagazem g+3 | agazel hourglass | ⏳: civil hour block |
| day | azaza day | bazazam g+2 | azazal sunrise | 🌅: sunrise to sunrise |
| week | agada week | bagadam g+1 | agadal calendar | 📅: one row of the calendar page |
| month | umuha month | bumuham g+6 | umuhal moon | 🌙: one lunar cycle |
| year | avawe year | bavawem g+10 | avawel fireworks | 🎆: fireworks greet each new year |
| inch | ebewu inch | bebewum g+3 | ebewul pinch | 🤏: about a finger-pinch |
| foot | uvuda foot-length | buvudam g+6 | uvudal foot | 🦶: about one foot long |
| mile | ubuda mile | bubudam g+2 | ubudal boot | 🥾: a long walk |
| pound | ahabu pound-mass | bahabum g+5 | ahabul shopping-bag | 🛍️: sold by the pound |
| heat grade (not kelvin) | evede temperature | bevedem g+37 | evedel thermometer | 🌡️: how hot or cold |
Words for a quantity itself (heavy, flow, time as a continuum, …) are ordinary roots (aragam heavy, gadaham duration, …), not units.
Spelled out, bagazem g+3 is bagazem grarel three hours.
Ranges
To give a range of numbers (from 3 to 5, 3 through 5), write the two ends with the hook al between them: A al B. No join word closes it, and no extra word names the scale.
zrarel al zraval.z-three | through | z-five
"From 3 to 5."
Between two numbers, 3, including 5 has nothing to include into, so al reads as through: the band from A reaching and including B. This reading needs both endpoints to be the same kind of number (both amounts, both ranks, or both labels / times), each with digits. A number with no digits keeps the ordinary hook (zral al zraval = some number of them, including 5), and so do mixed kinds.
To count a range of things, put the endpoints on the counted noun, the same way one count sits on it. The noun names the line:
zodogal grarel al graval vowogal.[z-dog | g-three] | through | g-five | v-walk
"Three to five dogs walk."
zagazem grarel al graval.[z-hour | g-three] | through | g-five
"Three to five hours."
A word after B describes B alone, and a word on the counted noun describes the whole range. To add a detail to the range itself, put a /w/ word right before the hook (detail on the hook).
Exclude an end with ul. 3, except 5 reads as the band that stops short of 5: the hook excludes the endpoint after it. The ends are read in the order you say them, so to exclude the low end, say it second.
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
zrarel al zraval | both ends in | 3 to 5 ([3, 5]) |
zrarel ul zraval | 5 left out | 3 up to but not including 5 ([3, 5)) |
zraval ul zrarel | 3 left out | more than 3, up to 5 ((3, 5]) |
zrarel am zraval | soft ends | roughly 3 to 5 |
zrarel um zraval | soft exclusion | 3 up to about 5, not quite 5 |
zrarel ual zraval | both ends out | strictly between 3 and 5 ((3, 5)) |
zrarel uel zraval | outside the band | below 3 or above 5 |
ual and uel are the range hooks, which also work on scales that are not numbers. An endpoint can still be fuzzy on its own (zrarel al zravam = 3 to about 5).
Compare with: zrarel zraval zael is 3, then 5: two values in order, not a band. zrarel zraval zal is 3 and 5. zazawan zalahen zel gamadam ranks people on a scale. A place path (from a station to a train) uses two place relation words, each with its /b/, not this hook.
Percent and percentage points
To give a percent of a whole (25% of the cats), end a count number (ra / ru) with yo. Put it on the noun for the whole, in the same /ɡ/ slot as a count (zagadulx grarel = three cats).
zagadulx g+25%.🔊
zagadulx graduvayol.z-cat-x | g-25yo
"25% of the cats."
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
yo | percent (portion of a whole) | everyday percent figure (25 in 25%); those digits ÷ 100 |
yu | percentage points (point-scale amount or delta) | point figure (2 in +2%*); those digits ÷ 100 |
Digits follow the normal digit rules (including optional ye inside the percent/point reading). Say the digits you mean (g+100% → spoken grawozozoyol).
Order: integer digits, optional ye + fractional digits, then yo or yu. yo / yu sit on ra / ru only. At most one yo or yu group in the number word; leave ba / bu off that word. Endings still apply (-l exact, -m about, -n conventional label, -r resume).
In preferred writing: % → speech yo; %* → speech yu (sign still on ra / ru, written + / -).
Fractions (half of)
To name one part of a whole (half of the cats, a third of the tea), put a minus number g-N right after the noun. Here the ru marker divides, as it does in /h/ h-N: with N of 2 or more, the word names one part in N.
zagadulx grudul vehahel.[z-cat-x | g-half-of] | v-sit
"Half of the cats sit."
zedehel grurel vehahel.[z-tea | g-third-of] | v-sit
"A third of the tea sits there."
To say how many parts, put the count first and the fraction after it: g+N then g-M is N parts of M. English two thirds is the same two words in the same order.
zagadulx gradul grurel vehahel.[z-cat-x | g-two | g-third-of] | v-sit
"Two thirds of the cats sit."
g-N alone is a fraction only right after a plain noun. After a measure unit, a minus number is still a negative amount (bezezem grudul minus 2 meters). The count makes the fraction plain in any slot, a unit included: a count then a minus is never a negative amount, since a unit takes one amount.
zazawan vowogal bagazem grawol grurel.z-Azawan | v-walk | [b-hour | g-one | g-third-of]
"Azawan walks for a third of an hour."
Half of a unit also has a decimal route (bezezem g+0.5).
Practice
Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a pharmacy
New words:
| English | Agazan | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| pill | ebezal | 💊 |
| bottle | abadul | 🍼 |
| spoon | uzubul | 🥄 |
| meter | ezezem | 📐 from set square |
| hour | agazem | ⏳ from hourglass |
Review:
| English | Agazan |
|---|---|
| Azawan | azawan |
| Alahen | alahen |
| Ahaben | ahaben |
| walk | vowogal |
| see | vahahal |
| scream | vezugel |
English → Agazan
1. Azawan sees 555-123-4567.
Show answer
zazawan d_555,123,4567 vahahal.
🔊 zazawan drovavavathowodurethomovagulel vahahal.
z-Azawan | d-_555,123,4567 | v-see
2. At 15:30 Azawan sees Ahaben.
Show answer
h_15,30 zazawan dahaben vahahal.
🔊 hrowovathorezol zazawan dahaben vahahal.
h-_15,30 | z-Azawan | d-Ahaben | v-see
3. 25% of the pills.
Show answer
zebezalx g+25%.
🔊 zebezalx graduvayol.
z-pill-x | g-25yo
4. Azawan walks two meters.
Show answer
zazawan bezezem gradul vowogal.
z-Azawan | [b-meter | g-two] | v-walk
5. Three to five hours.
Show answer
zagazem grarel al graval.
[z-hour | g-three] | through | g-five
6. Two thirds of the pills.
Show answer
zebezalx gradul grurel.
[z-pill-x | g-two | g-third-of]
Agazan → English
1. zabadul g_7.
Show answer
🔊 zabadul grolel.
z-bottle | g-_7
Bottle 7.
2. h~_23,59 zalahen vezugel.
Show answer
🔊 hrodurethovanam zalahen vezugel.
h-_23,59.about | z-Alahen | v-scream
Around 23:59 Alahen screams.
3. zabadulx g+50%.
Show answer
🔊 zabadulx gravazoyol.
z-bottle-x | g-50yo
50% of the bottles.
4. z+10 uel z+20.
Show answer
🔊 zrawozol uel zraduzol.
z-ten | outside | z-20
Outside 10–20.
5. h_#1,4 zalahen vowogal.
Show answer
🔊 hroewothomol zalahen vowogal.
h-_1,4 | z-Alahen | v-walk
On 1 April, Alahen walks.
6. zabadulx grarel grumol.
Show answer
[z-bottle-x | g-three | g-quarter-of]
Three quarters of the bottles.
Pick one
1. Alahen sees spoon 3 (its label). zalahen duzubul grorel vahahal. or zalahen duzubul grarel vahahal.
Show answer
zalahen duzubul grorel vahahal.
z-Alahen | [d-spoon | g-_3.spelled] | v-see
A label is a digit string, marker ro; ra counts three spoons.
2. a third of the pills zebezalx grurel. or zebezalx grarel.
Show answer
zebezalx grurel.
z-pill-x | g-third-of
Marker ru divides: a third of; ra is three pills.
Fix it
1. one through three zrawol zrarel zal.
Show answer
zrawol al zrarel.
z-one | through | z-three
An and-join names only the two ends; a range of numbers puts al between them.
Advanced
Rays
English 5 or more / less than 5 is a ray: a band with only one end. Write it as a range whose other end is infinity: zrabal (+∞) or zrubal (−∞), the digitless exponents. The same al / ul rules apply, so the hook excludes the endpoint after it.
zraval al zrabal.z-five | through | z-plus-infinity
"5 or more."
zrubal ul zraval.z-minus-infinity | through-excluding | z-five
"Less than 5."
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
zraval al zrabal | 5 up to +∞ | 5 or more (≥ 5) |
zrabal ul zraval | +∞ down to 5, 5 left out | more than 5 (> 5) |
zrubal al zraval | −∞ up to 5 | 5 or less / at most 5 (≤ 5) |
zrubal ul zraval | −∞ up to 5, 5 left out | less than 5 (< 5) |
zraval am zrabal | soft | about 5 or more |
For counts, −∞ reads as no lower limit: zagadulx grubal al graval is up to five cats.
Ranks take the first and last place as ends. grebal is the last place and grebul the first, so zredul al zrebal is 2nd through last.
Compare with: a rank join on one number is not a ray: zraval zel is only 5 matters, and zraval zael is start with 5.
Named and unknown ranges
The range hook takes the other hook endings too.
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
z+13 an z+19 | -n: a named band | the teens |
zrarel ar zraval | -r: some value in the band | some value from 3 to 5 |
zrarel ur zraval | -r: some value in the band, 5 left out | some value from 3 up to 5 |
z+13 an z+19.🔊
zraworel an zrawonal.NAME[z-13 | through | z-19]
"The teens."
With -r, the hook stands in for one value you are not naming. Under a question it asks for that value, as zar asks who?:
zazawan dagadulx grarel ar graval vahahal.z-Azawan | [d-cat-x | g-three] | some.through | g-five | v-see
"Azawan sees some number of cats from 3 to 5."
The range hooks take -r the same way: zrarel uar zraval is some value strictly between 3 and 5, and zrarel uer zraval some value outside 3–5.
Ordinal generation: digitful exponent on # / #-
On a rank number (forward # / re or end-relative #- / rue), an exponent with digits is not a power of ten. It says how many generations away from the person, version, or outline point in focus. Use it when English would say the third grandchild or the 3rd sub-point.
The marker still counts from the start or from the end, but only among the members of that generation (its cohort). The exponent eK names the generation K steps deeper (descendants), and e-K the generation K steps up (ancestors). The mantissa picks which member; leave it off to name the whole cohort. Leave the exponent off for the focus's own generation (grerel = 3rd peer). Writing e0 says current generation outright, which is usually redundant.
| Piece | Job |
|---|---|
Marker # / #- | Count from the start / from the end within that generation’s cohort |
Digitful exp eK / e-K | Generation +K (descendants / nested deeper) or −K (ancestors / enclosing layer) |
| Mantissa | Which slot in that cohort (omit mantissa = bare OoM: the generation as a whole) |
| Exp omitted | Same generation as the focus (g#3 = 3rd peer); formal default |
Named e0 | Assert current generation (gen 0); usually redundant when omit already means current |
| Form | Reading |
|---|---|
g#3 | 3rd of the focus’s own generation (from the start) |
g#-3 | 3rd of the focus’s own generation (from the end) |
g#3e0 | 3rd of the current generation, exp asserted (gen 0) |
g#e0 | current generation cohort as a whole (member unspecified) |
g#3e2 | 3rd from the start in generation +2 (e.g. 3rd in the grandchild cohort) |
g#3e-2 | 3rd from the start in generation −2 (e.g. 3rd in the grandparent cohort) |
g#-1e2 | last of generation +2 (end-framed within that cohort) |
g#e2 | generation +2 cohort as a whole (member unspecified) |
g#e-1 | generation −1 / parent layer (member unspecified) |
g#1e-1 | 1st of generation −1 (often the parent when the cohort is singleton-framed) |
On /x/, generations are levels of an outline: x#3e2 is the 3rd sub-sub-point under the current point, and xrebazol is the point or points on the current level. /h/, /v/, and /y/ read generations the same way when the series comes in levels (for the 3rd time at level +2, place 3rd at level +2, …). For a plain count of occasions, use h#N.
Kin
Generations form a tree, like an outline. A cohort is only the members under the same node, so the plain forms name close family and never side branches:
grebuwolis the layer directly above the focus: the parents, not aunts or uncles.grebazolis the others under the same parent: the siblings, not cousins. It never includes the focus.grebawol/grebadulare the focus's own children / grandchildren, not nieces or nephews.
The mantissa is birth order within that cohort: g#1e0 is the eldest sibling, g#-1e0 the youngest. To say whose family it is, put the anchor person in /b/ right after the number. (cue: the number says how far up or down the tree; /b/ says from whom)
zalahen grebazol bazawan vowogal.[z-Alahen | [g-#-e0 | b-Azawan]] | v-walk
"Alahen, Azawan's sibling, walks."
With no /b/ after a joined subject, each member is a sibling of the others.
zazawan zalahen zal grebazol.[z-Azawan | z-Alahen | z-and | g-#-e0]
"Azawan and Alahen are siblings."
zalahen g#1e0 bazawan vowogal.🔊
zalahen grebazoyawol bazawan vowogal.[z-Alahen | [g-#-1e0 | b-Azawan]] | v-walk
"Alahen, Azawan's eldest sibling, walks."
zahadol g#2e1 bazawan vowogal.🔊
zahadol grebawoyadul bazawan vowogal.[z-child | [g-#-2e1 | b-Azawan]] | v-walk
"Azawan's second child walks."
For a side branch, nest a second anchor: first step to the relative, then from there. Aunt or uncle is a sibling of a parent.
zalahen grebazol bobel g#1e-1 bazawan vowogal.🔊
zalahen grebazol bobel grebuwoyawol bazawan vowogal.[z-Alahen | [g-#-e0 | [b-person | [g-#-1e-1 | b-Azawan]]]] | v-walk
"Alahen, a sibling of Azawan's first parent, walks." (Azawan's aunt or uncle)
Compare with: friends, bosses, and other non-kin relations are not generations, so these forms do not name them.
See also
- Number-word anatomy (markers, endings, exponents): numbers.md
- Kind morphs (
ROOTlNUM): numeric-derivation.md - Hooks behind ranges: hooks.md
- Measured differentials on comparative scales: comparatives.md