✨ Updated Dec 2025

14.1 Dialogue

A.	kw’inus thun’ telu?	‘How much money do you have?’
B.	’uw’ xuthinus ’ul’ thunu telu.	‘I have just four dollars.
	nutsim’ ’a’lu?	Why?’
A.	’iluqut tsun tse’ kw’ lhihwuqun sqewth.	‘I will buy three sacks of potatoes.’
	nu stl’i’ kw’ ’upanus.	‘I need ten dollars.’
	’uw’ t’xumus ’ul’ tu’i.	‘There is just six dollars.’
B.	xthinus ’i kw’ t’xumus sis ’uw’ hwu ’apunus.	‘Four dollars plus six dollars makes ten dollars.’
A.	’uy’. nem’ tsun tse’ tl’shhwimelu.	‘Good. I will go to the store.’

14.2 Vocabulary: Numbers

kw’shem	‘count’
kw’shet	‘count it’
kw’in	‘how many?’
nuts’a’	‘one’
yuse’lu	‘two’
lhihw	‘three’
xu’athun	‘four’
lhq’etsus	‘five’
t’xum	‘six’
th’a’kwus	‘seven’
te’tsus	‘eight’
toohw	‘nine’
’apun	‘ten’
’apun ’i’ kw’ nuts’a’	‘eleven’
’apun ’i’ kw’ yuse’lu	‘twelve’
’apun ’i’ kw’ lhihw	‘thirteen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ xu’athun	‘fourteen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ lhq’etsus	‘fifteen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ t’xum	‘sixteen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ tth’a’kwus	‘seventeen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ te’tsus	‘eighteen’
’apun ’i’ kw’ toohw	‘nineteen’
tskw’ush	‘twenty’

14.3 Using numbers.

14.3a A number can be placed before a noun to make a noun phrase.

lhihw lutem	‘three tables’
’apun shts’e’nutstun	‘ten chairs’
yuse’lu shelh	‘two doors’
tskw’ush li’lutem’	‘twenty desks’

14.3b A number can be used as a predicate and placed at the beginning of the sentence. The noun phrase will follow.

’apun tthu shts’e’nutstun	‘There are ten chairs (visible).’
yuse’lu p’e’ kwthu shelh	‘There are two doors (out of sight).’

14.3c Use kw’in as a predicate to ask ‘how many’. Place it at the beginning of the sentence and follow it with the noun phrase.

kw’in ’a’lu tthu shts’e’nutstun?	‘How many chairs (visible) are there?’
kw’in ’a’lu kwthu lutem?	‘How many tables (out of sight)?’

14.4 Addition.

Examples (1) and (2) show how to express addition. Translate the remaining examples.

1.	nuts’a’ ’i’ kw’ nuts’a’ ni’ hwu yuse’lu.
	1 + 1 = 2 (‘One and a one becomes two.’)
2.	’apun ’i’ kw’ lhihw ni’ hwu ’apun ’i’ kw’ lhihw.
	10 + 3 = 13 (‘Ten and a three is thirteen.’)

3. yuse’lu ’i’ kw’ lhihw ni’ hwu lhq’etsus.
4. t’xum ’i’ kw’ xu’athun ni’ hwu ’apun.
5. toohw ’i’ kw’ lhihw ni’ hwu ’apun ’i’ kw’ yuse’lu.
6. te’tsus ’i’ kw’ tth’a’kwus ni’ hwu ’apun ’i’ kw’ lhq’etsus.
7. 1 + 2 = 3
8. 5 + 4 = 9
9. 7 + 1 = 8
10. 3 + 17 =20

14.5 Subtraction.

Example (1) shows how to express subtraction. Translate the remaining examples.

1. xu’athun me’sh kw’ yuse’lu ni’ hwu yuse’lu ’ul’.
   4 – 2 = 2 (‘Four take off a two becomes just two.’)
   
2. ’apun ’i’ mesh kw’ t’xum ni’ hwu xu’athun.
3. tskw’ush ’i’ mesh kw’ te’tsus ni’ hwu ’apun ’i’ kw’ yuse’lu.
4. 9 – 5 =4
5. 7 –4 = 3

14.6 Vocabulary: Time Expressions

netulh	‘early morning’
q’ilt	‘late morning’
snet	‘night’
hwune’unt	‘evening’
hwune’nut	‘evening’ (Snuneymuhwqun)
tahw	‘close’, ‘near’ ‘exactly’
tahw skweyul	‘midday (noon)’
tahw snet	‘midnight’
yu hunum’	‘before’, ‘going on to’
yul’ew’	’after’, ‘past’
yul’ew’ tahw skweyul	’afternoon’
lhsuq’	‘half’

14.7 Telling time

Tell the time by using numbers and tintun ‘bell’, ‘o’clock’. This use of tintun goes back to when ships were anchored in the harbour and the ship’s bells would be sounded on the hour.

lhihw tintun	‘three bells (three o’clock)’
lhq’etsus munut kws yul’ew’s lhihw	‘3:05’
’apun munut  kws yu hunum’s tth’a’kwus	‘6:50 (ten minutes to 7:00)’
lhq’etsus munut  kws yu hunum’s th’a’kwus	‘6:55’
lhsuq’ kws yul’ew’s lhihw.	‘It is 3:30 (half past 3:00).’

14.8 Giving the time

na’ut wulh lhihw tintun.	‘It is already 3:00.’
ni’ wulh kw’in?	‘What time is it?’
na’ut wulh te’tsus tintun.	‘It is 8:00.’
na’ut wulh tahw skweyul.	‘It is noon.’
na’ut wulh tahw snet.	‘It is midnight.’
na’ut wulh yu hun’um’ tahw skweyul.	‘It is before noon.’
na’ut wulh yul’ew’s nuts’a’.	‘It is after 1:00.’

14.9 Pattern practice

It’s already 3:00.	na’ut wulh lhihw tintun.
6:00
10:00
8:00
2:00
5:00

14.10 Translation.

1. 1:20
   tskw’ush kws yul’ew’s nuts’a’
   
2. 4:40
3. 3:10
4. 6:40
5. 8:15
6. lhsuq’ kws yul’ew’s xu’athun
7. tskw’ush kws yu hun’um’s yuse’lu
8. ’apun kws yul’ews te’tsus
9. ’apun kws yu hun’um’s ’apun ’i’ kw’ nuts’a’
10. tskw’ush kws yul’ew’s yuselu

14.11 Vocabulary: days of the week

Notice that several of the days of the week are based on words for numbers.

sil’uw’lhnet or sil’wulhnet	‘Monday’ (yul’ew’ past)
sthumunt-s	‘Tuesday’ (second)
slhihws	‘Wednesday’ (third)
sxu’athuns	‘Thursday’ (fourth)
slhq’etsus	‘Friday’ (fifth)
t’qw’atum or t’aqw’tum	‘Saturday’ (t’qw’at ‘cut it off’)
suxulhnet	‘Sunday’ (xexe’ ‘sacred, holy’)

14.12 Pattern practice

Q: What day is this? A: It is Wednesday today.	skw’ins tun’a kweyul? slhihws tun’a kweyul.
Friday
Sunday
Tuesday
Monday
Saturday
Thursday

14.13 Money: counting dollars

When you are counting money, a lexical suffix for round things -us is attached to the number.

nuts’us	‘one dollar’
yusa’lus	‘two dollars’
lhihwus	‘three dollars’
xuthinus	‘four dollars’
lhq’atssus	‘five dollars’
t’xumus	‘six dollars’
tth’a’kwsus	‘seven dollars’
ta’tssus	‘eight dollars’
toohwus	‘nine dollars’
’upanus	‘ten dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ nuts’us	‘eleven dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ yusal’us	‘twelve dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ lhihwus	‘thirteen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ xuthinus	‘fourteen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ lhq’atssus	‘fifteen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ t’xumus	‘sixteen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ tth’a’kwsus	‘seventeen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ ta’tssus	‘eighteen dollars’
’upanus ’i’ kw’ toohwus	‘nineteen dollars’
tskw’shas	‘twenty dollars’
kw’inus?	‘how many dollars?’

14.14 Pattern practice

Q: How much (does it cost)? A: Five dollars.	Q: kw’inus ’a’lu? A: lhq’atssus.
two dollars
ten dollars
one dollar
fifteen dollars
twelve dollars
seventeen dollars

14.15 Pattern practice

Q: How much money do you have? A: I have ten dollars.	Q: kw’inus ’a’lu? A: lhq’atssus.
eight dollars
six dollars
nine dollars
twenty dollars
fifteen dollars

14.16 Answer and translate.

Answer one dollar less.

1. ’upanus ’i’ kw’ lhq’atssus ’u lhun’ telu?
   ‘Do you have fifteen dollars?’
   ’uwu, ’uw’ ’upanus ’ul’ ’i’ kw’ xuthinus lhunu telu.
   ‘No, I just have fourteen dollars.’
   
   
2. ’upanus ’i’ kw’ toohwus ’u lhun’ telu?
   
3. tskw’shas ’u lhun’ telu?
   
4. ta’tssus ’u lhun’ telu?
   
5. tskw’shas ’i’ kw’ lhq’atssus ’u lhun’ telu?
   

14.17 Translation.

1. ’upanus ’i’ kw’ xuthinus
   fourteen dollars
   
2. ’upanus ’i’ kw’ toohwus lhunu telu.
3. kw’inus ’a’lu lhun’ telu?
4. tskw’shas ’i’ kw’ lhihwus
5. yusa’lus ’u lhun’ telu?
6. I have nine dollars.
7. How much (does this cost)?
8. It is fifteen dollars.
9. Do you have twenty dollars?
10. I have only twenty dollars.

14.18 Counting people

When counting people, a lexical suffix for ‘people’ appears on the number. This usually takes the form of -elu.

na’nuts’a’	‘one person’
yey’sul’u	‘two people’
lhhwelu	‘three people’
xuthiinu	‘four people’
lhq’utsse’lu	‘five people’
t’xumulu	‘six people’
th’ukwse’lu	‘seven people’
te’tsselu	‘eight people’
toohwelu	‘nine people’
’apeenu	‘ten people’
tskw’ushelu	‘twenty people’
kw’iinu	‘how many people?’

14.19 Pattern practice

I have three children.	lhhwelu kwthunu me’mun’u.
five children
seven children
ten children
two children
eight children

14.20 Pattern practice

Two men sang.	ni’ t’ilum kwthu yey’sul’u swuwuy’qe’.
four men
six men
twenty men
nine men
ten men

14.21 Other counters

There are around twenty counter suffixes in all. Here are three really common ones.

14.21a The suffix =mat gets used for counting pieces of stuff, especially flexible things that you can pile up, such as blankets, mats, clothing, paper, and books.

nuts’umat	‘one piece of stuff’
yusa’lumat	‘two pieces of stuff’
lhihwumat or lhhwumat	‘three pieces of stuff’
xuthinumat	‘four pieces of stuff’
lhq’utssumat	‘five pieces of stuff’
t’xumumat	‘six pieces of stuff’
th’ukwsumat	‘seven pieces of stuff’
ta’tssumat or te’tsumat	‘eight pieces of stuff’
toohwumat	‘nine pieces of stuff’
’upanumat	‘ten pieces of stuff’
tskw’ushumat or tskw’ushmat	‘twenty pieces of stuff’
kw’inumat	‘How many pieces of stuff?’

14.21b The lexical suffix =’ew’t-hw gets added when counting buildings or rooms.

nuts’uw’t-hw	‘one building/room’
thumt-hw	‘two buildings/rooms’
lhihwuw’t-hw or lhhwew’t-hw	‘three buildings/rooms’
xuthinuw’t-hw	‘four buildings/rooms’
lhq’etsuw’t-hw	‘five buildings/rooms’
kw’inew’t-hw?	‘how many buildings/rooms?’

14.21c The suffix -qun is used for counting containers, such as sacks, jars, and cans. It is used for counting stuff that comes in containers, such as sacks of potatoes, jars of tomatoes, and cans of salmon.

nuts’uqun	‘one container’
yuse’luqun	‘two containers’
lhihwuqun	‘three containers’
xuthinuqun	‘four containers’
lhq’etssuqun	‘five containers’
t’xumuqun	‘six containers’
ttha’kwsuqun	‘seven containers’
te’tssuqun	‘eight containers’
toohwuqun	‘nine containers’
’upenuqun	‘ten containers’
tskw’ushuqun	‘twenty containers’
kw’inuqun?	‘how many containers?’

14.22 Substitution drill

I have three sacks of potatoes.	lhihwuqun kwthunu sqewth.
three books
three houses
three children
three blankets
three dollars

14.23 Translation

1. m’ewustuhw ch yusa’lumat luxwtun!
   Bring two blankets!
   
   
2. te’tsselu  kwthu ’um-’imuth ’utl’ Mary.
3. ’iluqut tst tse’thumt-hw lelum’.
4. nem’ kwunut lhq’etssuqun sqewth!
5. thumt-hw kwthunu ’umutew’t-hw.
6. I will buy three sacks of potatoes.
7. Four girls danced.
8. How many children do you (pl) have?
9. We have ten books.
10. How many blankets do you have?

14.24 Reading lesson

te’tssumat kwthu luxwtun tst. tskw’ushmat kwthu sil tst. ’upenuqun kwthu sqewth tst. ’apun ’i’ kw’ lhq’etsus kwthu stseelhtun tst. qux kwthu suplil tst. qux tthu sqw’iil’muhw tst. qux tthu syalh tst. tl’eshun’ tst tse’ kwu’elh.