| # | Hindi | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | एक | ek |
| 2 | दो | do |
| 3 | तीन | teen |
| 4 | चार | chaar |
| 5 | पाँच | paanch |
| 6 | छह | chhah |
| 7 | सात | saat |
| 8 | आठ | aath |
| 9 | नौ | nau |
| 10 | दस | das |
English builds numbers from parts: twenty-one, twenty-two. Hindi does not. Every number from 1 to 100 is its own word, and you have to learn all hundred. 21 is ikkis, 22 is baais, 31 is ikattis — the pattern rhymes but never quite repeats.
This is genuinely the most tedious part of learning Hindi, and there is no shortcut. The good news is that it is pure memorisation with no grammar attached, so it is the one thing an app is perfect for.
1 to 20, then the tens (20, 30, 40…). That covers prices, time and most conversations. Fill in the gaps as you meet them.
Indians count large numbers in lakhs (100,000) and crores (10,000,000), not millions. A price written "₹5,00,000" is not a typo — the digit grouping is different too.
Reading an answer is one thing; being corrected while you say it is another. EkGuru tutors teach one to one from $6 a lesson, and most offer a trial.